2019 Off-Season Questions

[TunaFish]

I am disappointed by how quiet the buzz is out of the Denver front office is. After Tim Connelly and Josh Kroenke alluded to going after big name players in their end of season press availability, it has been crickets ever since.

I admire their desire to keep things in house - I think it make a ton of sense especially in trade discussions. I don't think it makes sense when it comes to free agency. Like it or hate it, free agency is sales, and selling to NBA players and agents and even fans in 2019 is different than 1999 or 2009. It's not just let's have a secret meeting and show you a powerpoint report. It is generating buzz and energy around your organization - and that sometimes means hot take show fodder. It sometimes means leaking that you intend to pitch LeBron James or KD or whoever and will pursue a meeting at all costs before, I don't know, the day of free agency, or three days after a guy signs.

You can hate it, but being talked about and having eyeballs matters in 2019. It just does.

The way they're operating is furthering the dusty old cow town stereotype that should be decades outdated by now.

That's a Tim Connelly trademark, you rarely hear any news around any proposed move. There was no buzz in Denver about their interest in Bol Bol. Other than the press conference you mention, there's been no sign of their target in free agency if any. Mum's the word. In the past , the one exception that I can remember was their expressed interest in Dwyane Wade.

[NuggetsWY]

I am disappointed by how quiet the buzz is out of the Denver front office is. After Tim Connelly and Josh Kroenke alluded to going after big name players in their end of season press availability, it has been crickets ever since.

I admire their desire to keep things in house - I think it make a ton of sense especially in trade discussions. I don't think it makes sense when it comes to free agency. Like it or hate it, free agency is sales, and selling to NBA players and agents and even fans in 2019 is different than 1999 or 2009. It's not just let's have a secret meeting and show you a powerpoint report. It is generating buzz and energy around your organization - and that sometimes means hot take show fodder. It sometimes means leaking that you intend to pitch LeBron James or KD or whoever and will pursue a meeting at all costs before, I don't know, the day of free agency, or three days after a guy signs.

You can hate it, but being talked about and having eyeballs matters in 2019. It just does.

The way they're operating is furthering the dusty old cow town stereotype that should be decades outdated by now.

That's a Tim Connelly trademark, you rarely hear any news around any proposed move. There was no buzz in Denver about their interest in Bol Bol. Other than the press conference you mention, there's been no sign of their target in free agency if any. Mum's the word. In the past , the one exception that I can remember was their expressed interest in Dwyane Wade.

Yeah, let's just say that Connelly does things privately unless he wants to make a statement. I suspect we never had a real chance with Wade but Connelly wanted everyone to know we were "trying" and "being considered". He frustrates me as a fan, but I respect that about him as a business man.

[Manolito]

After Bol Bol pick, IMHO only two more decissions need to be taken:
1. Decide starting PF. Millsap or check FA (Horford, Randle?). If we want a big FA, now the window is open, next year there shall be no cap available.
2. Get rid of Barton. The sooner the better, but it won't be easy, he has negative value and we gave away all our second rounds in the near future. Juancho could be included in the deal as an "asset".

Murray Harris Craig XXX Jokic
Morris Beasley MPJ Vanderbilt Plumlee
Cancar, Bol Bol

If Barton and/or Juancho are gone, bring a 3D prospect or a vet shooter. A cheap 3rd PG shall also be needed, but it should be easy to find it.

I would also offer a two way contract to Jonthay Porter

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[THE J0KER]

After Bol Bol pick, IMHO only two more decissions need to be taken:
1. Decide starting PF. Millsap or check FA (Horford, Randle?). If we want a big FA, now the window is open, next year there shall be no cap available.
2. Get rid of Barton. The sooner the better, but it won't be easy, he has negative value and we gave away all our second rounds in the near future. Juancho could be included in the deal as an "asset".

Murray Harris Craig XXX Jokic
Morris Beasley MPJ Vanderbilt Plumlee
Cancar, Bol Bol

If Barton and/or Juancho are gone, bring a 3D prospect or a vet shooter. A cheap 3rd PG shall also be needed, but it should be easy to find it.

I would also offer a two way contract to Jonthay Porter

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We can decline 30M Millsap and use unprotected 2021 first to dump negative Barton and overpaid but expiring Plumlee. With this maneuver we create cap space for two good forwards and one useful bench player OR for one big name and two useful role players. These two forwards can be for example Millsap under new 30/2 - 35/2 contract and Bojan Bogdanovic with 60/4 - 70/4 deal, and big forwards names we can target are Horford, T.Harris, Middleton, Porzingis... There is option to get not one but two new big names this summer after this Barton/Plumlee/Millsap move, where will be involved someone under contract, but that would include Gary Harris trade.

[Mickey8]

Porzingis is a trash , Horford is way too old for the money he's demanding.

[The Rebel]

The more I read and the more I listen to the radio the more I am convinced that they are going to run back basically the same team. There seems to be a huge effort to convince the public that Harris and Barton were both still hobbled by injuries and that was the cause of the issues in the playoffs. While I can see it with Harris I do not understand the love that our front office and coaching staff have for Barton. His problem was not health, it was that he refused to play in the system that got us the 2 seed and would have had us in the conference finals if not for him.

I also do not like the run it back idea, we can all see the holes in the lineup, and we all know that some guys on the team may step up and fill those roles, but why not make them earn them?

[NuggetsWY]

We have a couple other threads "Draft" and "Depth" that are becoming similar. So I'm going to just comment here.

Nope, not interested in trading Harris. He may never be an all-star (but probably will deserve it one day) and he may never get a max contract; but he is a perfect complement to Jokic & Murray.

Nope, not interested in trading Murray. He's still young. If he does not develop some consistency this season, I'll re-evaluate.

Still not interested in trading Beasley or Morris (especially Beasley). Let's see what one more year brings.

Terrified that Malone will start Barton and wishing the front office would eliminate that possibility with a trade of any kind. He'll eat up a lot of minutes that could really help Porter develop.

Still want Millsap but afraid he'll eat up forward minutes that young guys could use. Guys like Vandeerbilt and Porter and maybe Cancar (love to see him get a shot). But I think we need Millsap.

Yes, I believe the Nuggets can contend for 1st in the West.
Yes, I believe the Nuggets have a shot at making the finals and maybe even win a championship.
No, I do not believe it will happen. That would require everything to work just perfectly.
One more year of development is my focus.

[Manolito]

I would not trade any of the core pieces neither, at least not this summer.

If FO stays put, as it looks right now, it means they assume between Millsap and Vanderbilt PF position shall be covered in the next 3-4 years.

I do think that is a big risk. We have this year the cap to sign a long term great PF, but the window is closed for the next years because we won't have available cap space.

The problem is I don't see a clear candidate this FA:
Millsap or Horford? I don't see any of them being great in two years.
Randle? He is not a good fit with Jokic and has been only playing at tanking teams.
Tobias? He plays no D.
Any Morris? They are not that good to be starters in a contender.
Porzingis? Probably he will renew with Dallas.



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[NuggetsWY]

I would not trade any of the core pieces neither, at least not this summer.

If FO stays put, as it looks right now, it means they assume between Millsap and Vanderbilt PF position shall be covered in the next 3-4 years.

I do think that is a big risk. We have this year the cap to sign a long term great PF, but the window is closed for the next years because we won't have available cap space.

The problem is I don't see a clear candidate this FA:
Millsap or Horford? I don't see any of them being great in two years.
Randle? He is not a good fit with Jokic and has been only playing at tanking teams.
Tobias? He plays no D.
Any Morris? They are not that good to be starters in a contender.
Porzingis? Probably he will renew with Dallas.

I don't disagree with you; but I also wouldn't object too much to Tobias Harris or one of the Morris twins. Of those named, Porzingis is the only one I'd truly love, but ...

[TunaFish]

I would not trade any of the core pieces neither, at least not this summer.

If FO stays put, as it looks right now, it means they assume between Millsap and Vanderbilt PF position shall be covered in the next 3-4 years.

I do think that is a big risk. We have this year the cap to sign a long term great PF, but the window is closed for the next years because we won't have available cap space.

The problem is I don't see a clear candidate this FA:
Millsap or Horford? I don't see any of them being great in two years.
Randle? He is not a good fit with Jokic and has been only playing at tanking teams.
Tobias? He plays no D.
Any Morris? They are not that good to be starters in a contender.
Porzingis? Probably he will renew with Dallas.

I don't disagree with you; but I also wouldn't object too much to Tobias Harris or one of the Morris twins. Of those named, Porzingis is the only one I'd truly love, but ...

Marcus Morris, yes. His brother, no. They may be twins but I think Marcus is the better player. He was one of the Celtics best players in the playoffs and underpaid. He could be a real target.

Tobias Harris, yes. Great scorer but perhaps week defensively. More of a 3 than a power forward. Maybe not realistic.

Randle ? Scoring is great, defense is questionable. Maybe No.

Favors is weak on offensive but not an offensive liability. His March 2nd game against Milwaukee was incredible. His defense is great so possible.

Porzingis ain't available.

I don't see any of these guys fully and immediately replacing Millsap because of how balanced his game is but MIllsap is declining and they have to replace him sooner than later.

[psimanic1]

I know its kind of old but... https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2019/03/paul-millsap-wants-long-term-future-with-nuggets.html

3/45 with 3rd TO again?

[NuggetsWY]

I know its kind of old but... https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2019/03/paul-millsap-wants-long-term-future-with-nuggets.html

3/45 with 3rd TO again?

We'll find out soon. I believe the decision has to be made this week.

[NuggetsWY]

If the Nuggets make no major move, here's what our roster looks like:

Jokic-Plumlee-Bol---Welsh (two-way)
Millsap-Vanderbilt-Hernangomez-Cancar
Barton-Porter-Craig
Harris-Beasley
Murray-Morris --- Goodwin might be a two-way option

That leaves one open slot. Since we have plenty of forwards and need to figure out which ones are going to be our best options going forward; perhaps we should consider adding a guard. J.J. Redick might be an excellent addition. He provides another veteran presence and is a good team-oriented player. He adds one more thing that could really help the Nuggets: constant motion. His style of play is ideal for anyone playing with Jokic - in my opinion, but I've been wrong before.

[TunaFish]

I want to add to the list noted above with a restricted free agent, Bobby Portis. One look at the Washington Wizards payroll obligations and it is apparent that they have two max contracts, a terrible contract in Mahinmi, Howard and nearly the rest of the roster on cap holds of nearly 100 million$. I have no idea how they feel about Portis but they might take a trade for a trade exception above the MLE. Denver has three of them but they will expire in the first week of July.

Any thoughts on trying to acquire Portis.

[NuggetsWY]

I want to add to the list noted above with a restricted free agent, Bobby Portis. One look at the Washington Wizards payroll obligations and it is apparent that they have two max contracts, a terrible contract in Mahinmi, Howard and nearly the rest of the roster on cap holds of nearly 100 million$. I have no idea how they feel about Portis but they might take a trade for a trade exception above the MLE. Denver has three of them but they will expire in the first week of July.

Any thoughts on trying to acquire Portis.

I like his game - but his off-court violence against a teammate makes me shy away from. Having no idea if that changed him at all, I've no idea if we want him or not. No doubt our front office would know more about this than I do.

[TunaFish]

I want to add to the list noted above with a restricted free agent, Bobby Portis. One look at the Washington Wizards payroll obligations and it is apparent that they have two max contracts, a terrible contract in Mahinmi, Howard and nearly the rest of the roster on cap holds of nearly 100 million$. I have no idea how they feel about Portis but they might take a trade for a trade exception above the MLE. Denver has three of them but they will expire in the first week of July.

Any thoughts on trying to acquire Portis.

I like his game - but his off-court violence against a teammate makes me shy away from. Having no idea if that changed him at all, I've no idea if we want him or not. No doubt our front office would know more about this than I do.

Washington may be set on letting him go by not extending a qualifying offer due in days. His statistics compare with Millsap and he is the same age as Jokic. The few times that I saw him play, he was good on defense and had a decent 3 point shot. As you point out, there must be something else involved with him otherwise there would be more of a buzz.

[skywalker33]

I'm OK with Portis, seems a good replacement for Lyles, perhaps with a bit more versatility and consistency. As for his incident, it hasn't been repeated and we really don't know what were all the circumstances, we weren't there. And according to Woj/SBNation, Mirotic charged Portis twice before the scuffle.....seems like a personality clash to me.

https://www.sbnation.com/2017/11/8/16626286/bobby-portis-nikola-mirotic-timeline-beef-fight-practice

[NuggetsWY]

I'm OK with Portis, seems a good replacement for Lyles, perhaps with a bit more versatility and consistency. As for his incident, it hasn't been repeated and we really don't know what were all the circumstances, we weren't there. And according to Woj/SBNation, Mirotic charged Portis twice before the scuffle.....seems like a personality clash to me.

https://www.sbnation.com/2017/11/8/16626286/bobby-portis-nikola-mirotic-timeline-beef-fight-practice

When I was younger, much younger , I was not known for my peaceful nature. I am thankful my inappropriate response were not broadcast on "social media" (which we didn't have LOL).

[THE J0KER]

I'm OK with Portis, seems a good replacement for Lyles, perhaps with a bit more versatility and consistency. As for his incident, it hasn't been repeated and we really don't know what were all the circumstances, we weren't there. And according to Woj/SBNation, Mirotic charged Portis twice before the scuffle.....seems like a personality clash to me.

https://www.sbnation.com/2017/11/8/16626286/bobby-portis-nikola-mirotic-timeline-beef-fight-practice

Portis is too high risk for our harmonic locker room. He has not repeated incident like with Mirotic, because he knows it would literally end his career. Portis was backup of Mirotic before the incident in Chicago two seasons ago. Last season he is backup of Markkanen, then he was traded from Bulls to Wizards and when next month Chicago visits in Washington, this happens:

Watch on YouTube

I see intention and accumulated bad blood from Portis towards Markkanen.

So I don't want to see Portis, a player with obvious huge problems with the previous two players he covered from the bench, as a backup player of our franchise player Nikola Jokic. BTW, isn't Portis punched Jokic in last WAS-DEN game in Denver, and even have an incident with Nikola older brother after the game?

[skywalker33]

I get not everyone would like Portis, but I think he could add some grit and nasty this team could use. That said, I don't agree with your reasons for passing on him

Portis is too high risk for our harmonic locker room. He has not repeated incident like with Mirotic, because he knows it would literally end his career.

You reiterate he hasn't had a repeat AND give a reason why he WILL not let it happen again, so is it a risk ??

Last season he is backup of Markkanen, then he was traded from Bulls to Wizards and when next month Chicago visits in Washington, this happens:

Watch on YouTube

I see intention and accumulated bad blood from Portis towards Markkanen.

Definitely a hard foul, probably got a technical and a fine from the NBA for it, but I don't see malicious intent, just a hard foul. If it caused bad blood between him and Markkanen, hard to say

BTW, isn't Portis punched Jokic in last WAS-DEN game in Denver, and even have an incident with Nikola older brother after the game?

Not sure it was a PUNCH, more of a wrap up, but his brother did have words with Portis. Just was a intentional stopping of one of Jokers inevitable dunks.

https://cdn.nba.net/nba-drupal-prod/portis-jokic-wrap.gif