[Shams] MPJ out for the season

[TheNewEra]

That sucks for any player to go through this but at least he secured a deal first.

[Plutonashfan]

It was the right call. He was struggling mightily to start the season which was likely due to the injury.

As for those saying it was a bad contract. Sure, in hindsight it might turn out to be. But put yourselves in the Nuggets shoes: he didn't have back issues the last two seasons, he only really missed some time due to COVID, and he was very good last season. You can't just let someone go who had the kind of season that MPJ had last season. He was a borderline all-star and you're not going to find many players who are 6'10 that shoot 45% from 3. The upside was too great not to extend.

That's all fine and dandy but they could have waited a year before extending him. There was absolutely no rush as they could have match any offers made to him. They really screwed the pooch here.

[phanman]

It was the right call. He was struggling mightily to start the season which was likely due to the injury.

As for those saying it was a bad contract. Sure, in hindsight it might turn out to be. But put yourselves in the Nuggets shoes: he didn't have back issues the last two seasons, he only really missed some time due to COVID, and he was very good last season. You can't just let someone go who had the kind of season that MPJ had last season. He was a borderline all-star and you're not going to find many players who are 6'10 that shoot 45% from 3. The upside was too great not to extend.

Dude was pending RFA and played terribly against the Suns last playoffs.

Was he potentially worth the deal? - Yes but you don't jump the gun, especially with a 5 year deal man.

[Wolfgang630]

It was the right call. He was struggling mightily to start the season which was likely due to the injury.

As for those saying it was a bad contract. Sure, in hindsight it might turn out to be. But put yourselves in the Nuggets shoes: he didn't have back issues the last two seasons, he only really missed some time due to COVID, and he was very good last season. You can't just let someone go who had the kind of season that MPJ had last season. He was a borderline all-star and you're not going to find many players who are 6'10 that shoot 45% from 3. The upside was too great not to extend.

This wasn’t some do or die situation though. The Nuggets could’ve waited. There was zero need to rush an extension.

[Mr B]

The Chandler Parsons Path.

MPJ makes twice as much as Chandler Parsons was making.

Well ofc. That was years ago when the salary cap wasn't that big as is right now.

MPJ is on a max contract. Chandler Parsons was paid too much but wasn’t making anywhere near max money.

[Golden Knight]

It was the right call. He was struggling mightily to start the season which was likely due to the injury.

As for those saying it was a bad contract. Sure, in hindsight it might turn out to be. But put yourselves in the Nuggets shoes: he didn't have back issues the last two seasons, he only really missed some time due to COVID, and he was very good last season. You can't just let someone go who had the kind of season that MPJ had last season. He was a borderline all-star and you're not going to find many players who are 6'10 that shoot 45% from 3. The upside was too great not to extend.

That's all fine and dandy but they could have waited a year before extending him. There was absolutely no rush as they could have match any offers made to him. They really screwed the pooch here.

Exactly but then some Nuggets fans will say "what if he gets injured next year?", well if he gets injured then he gets injured but you won't have regrets like this where you could have waited a year and avoided this situation.

This is like playing your star player in garbage time and he gets injured. Anyone can get injured anytime whether in practice or in an actual game time but you won't have the same regret like when your star gets injured in useless garbage time...

[Slacktard]

MPJ makes twice as much as Chandler Parsons was making.

Well ofc. That was years ago when the salary cap wasn't that big as is right now.

MPJ is on a max contract. Chandler Parsons was paid too much but wasn’t making anywhere near max money.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/16679527/chandler-parsons-agrees-max-deal-memphis-grizzlies

Chandler Parsons agrees to 4 year, $94.8M max deal with Grizzlies

The 27-year-old Parsons also met with and received a max contract offer from the Portland Trail Blazers when free agency opened.

[Kvothe22]

He is done.

Back to the mud.

[DelAbbot]

Denver GM that handed out the max to MPJ one season earlier than necessary should be fired.

[slicedbread2]

It was the right call. He was struggling mightily to start the season which was likely due to the injury.

As for those saying it was a bad contract. Sure, in hindsight it might turn out to be. But put yourselves in the Nuggets shoes: he didn't have back issues the last two seasons, he only really missed some time due to COVID, and he was very good last season. You can't just let someone go who had the kind of season that MPJ had last season. He was a borderline all-star and you're not going to find many players who are 6'10 that shoot 45% from 3. The upside was too great not to extend.

That's all fine and dandy but they could have waited a year before extending him. There was absolutely no rush as they could have match any offers made to him. They really screwed the pooch here.

I think it's fair to say in retrospect they jumped the gun. They could've gone the Hayward/Love route where you let them play and see if they can stay healthy except unlike Porter Jr., those 2 could stay healthy. They could've gone the 4 year contract to see if that could've worked, but hindsight's 20/20. Plus another concern is that Denver is not a FA destination and it's hard to convince players to come there.

Honestly the best thing to do is punt the season, let Jokic and Murray get healthy and get a higher pick. A starting 5 of Morris/Murray/Barton/Gordon/Joker is still among the best starting 5's in the league. Yes it's a bit rough timing with the Warriors and Suns being legit, but I don't think it's the be all and end all. A shame Dozier got hurt too and hopefully he'll get healthy for next year. They could use the rest of they year to develop Hyland, Nnaji and whoever else is on the roster to see who's worth keeping going forward.

As for the Porter Jr. cap hit yes that'll be a tough pill to swallow. As far as Jokic is concerned, the Nuggets can offer him a 5 year max starting at 241M and quite frankly knowing the way this game can be, I think he'll take the max deal knowing that if things don't work out he can be dealt to a team of his choice if need be. He's a smart player and I really feel for him and Nuggets fans as they've done practically everything right and have been snake bitten. Curse of the ABA perhaps?(look at the Pacers and Nets for example. Spurs somehow broke it).

[Mr B]

Well ofc. That was years ago when the salary cap wasn't that big as is right now.

MPJ is on a max contract. Chandler Parsons was paid too much but wasn’t making anywhere near max money.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/16679527/chandler-parsons-agrees-max-deal-memphis-grizzlies

Chandler Parsons agrees to 4 year, $94.8M max deal with Grizzlies

The 27-year-old Parsons also met with and received a max contract offer from the Portland Trail Blazers when free agency opened.

I thought we were talking about his Mavs contract that got after leaving the Rockets. My bad, I stand corrected.

[Slacktard]

It was the right call. He was struggling mightily to start the season which was likely due to the injury.

As for those saying it was a bad contract. Sure, in hindsight it might turn out to be. But put yourselves in the Nuggets shoes: he didn't have back issues the last two seasons, he only really missed some time due to COVID, and he was very good last season. You can't just let someone go who had the kind of season that MPJ had last season. He was a borderline all-star and you're not going to find many players who are 6'10 that shoot 45% from 3. The upside was too great not to extend.

That's all fine and dandy but they could have waited a year before extending him. There was absolutely no rush as they could have match any offers made to him. They really screwed the pooch here.

I think it's fair to say in retrospect they jumped the gun. They could've gone the Hayward/Love route where you let them play and see if they can stay healthy except unlike Porter Jr., those 2 could stay healthy. They could've gone the 4 year contract to see if that could've worked, but hindsight's 20/20. Plus another concern is that Denver is not a FA destination and it's hard to convince players to come there.

Honestly the best thing to do is punt the season, let Jokic and Murray get healthy and get a higher pick. A starting 5 of Morris/Murray/Barton/Gordon/Joker is still among the best starting 5's in the league. Yes it's a bit rough timing with the Warriors and Suns being legit, but I don't think it's the be all and end all. A shame Dozier got hurt too and hopefully he'll get healthy for next year. They could use the rest of they year to develop Hyland, Nnaji and whoever else is on the roster to see who's worth keeping going forward.

As for the Porter Jr. cap hit yes that'll be a tough pill to swallow. As far as Jokic is concerned, the Nuggets can offer him a 5 year max starting at 241M and quite frankly knowing the way this game can be, I think he'll take the max deal knowing that if things don't work out he can be dealt to a team of his choice if need be. He's a smart player and I really feel for him and Nuggets fans as they've done practically everything right and have been snake bitten. Curse of the ABA perhaps?(look at the Pacers and Nets for example. Spurs somehow broke it).

I don't even think it is completely 'in retrospect' for many posters when quite a few of the posters saying things are saying the SAME THINGS they said when MPJ signed that extension. Here's what the facts were. MPJ had a break-out year last year. It was the best year he had as a pro and substantially better than the previous season. He would be a RESTRICTED FREE AGENT after this season.

Many posters brought up those facts back then and said those things. MPJ knows his back... Do you really think if the Nuggets waited one more year and offered him a max deal after next season(which is now 'this season') that he would reject it, sign the qualifying tender and then become an UFA? If the nuggets didn't even offer him a deal and another NBA team offered him a max deal the Nuggets could have simply matched that offer.

The Nuggets just went out there way to take a risk they had no need to take.

[rand]

It was the right call. He was struggling mightily to start the season which was likely due to the injury.

As for those saying it was a bad contract. Sure, in hindsight it might turn out to be. But put yourselves in the Nuggets shoes: he didn't have back issues the last two seasons, he only really missed some time due to COVID, and he was very good last season. You can't just let someone go who had the kind of season that MPJ had last season. He was a borderline all-star and you're not going to find many players who are 6'10 that shoot 45% from 3. The upside was too great not to extend.

Didn't he have back issues just three months before Denver signed him to this massive extension, causing his horrible play vs Phoenix?

They signed a restricted free agent with chronic back issues to a truly massive contract just three months after those back issues torpedoed his postseason when they had the free option to wait another season before offering the extension. It's a colossal f*** up.

[Johnny Bball]

Well, now they don't have a choice on how to play this season out.

[slicedbread2]

That's all fine and dandy but they could have waited a year before extending him. There was absolutely no rush as they could have match any offers made to him. They really screwed the pooch here.

I think it's fair to say in retrospect they jumped the gun. They could've gone the Hayward/Love route where you let them play and see if they can stay healthy except unlike Porter Jr., those 2 could stay healthy. They could've gone the 4 year contract to see if that could've worked, but hindsight's 20/20. Plus another concern is that Denver is not a FA destination and it's hard to convince players to come there.

Honestly the best thing to do is punt the season, let Jokic and Murray get healthy and get a higher pick. A starting 5 of Morris/Murray/Barton/Gordon/Joker is still among the best starting 5's in the league. Yes it's a bit rough timing with the Warriors and Suns being legit, but I don't think it's the be all and end all. A shame Dozier got hurt too and hopefully he'll get healthy for next year. They could use the rest of they year to develop Hyland, Nnaji and whoever else is on the roster to see who's worth keeping going forward.

As for the Porter Jr. cap hit yes that'll be a tough pill to swallow. As far as Jokic is concerned, the Nuggets can offer him a 5 year max starting at 241M and quite frankly knowing the way this game can be, I think he'll take the max deal knowing that if things don't work out he can be dealt to a team of his choice if need be. He's a smart player and I really feel for him and Nuggets fans as they've done practically everything right and have been snake bitten. Curse of the ABA perhaps?(look at the Pacers and Nets for example. Spurs somehow broke it).

I don't even think it is completely 'in retrospect' for many posters when quite a few of the posters saying things are saying the SAME THINGS they said when MPJ signed that extension. Here's what the facts were. MPJ had a break-out year last year. It was the best year he had as a pro and substantially better than the previous season. He would be a RESTRICTED FREE AGENT after this season.

Many posters brought up those facts back then and said those things. MPJ knows his back... Do you really think if the Nuggets waited one more year and offered him a max deal after next season(which is now 'this season') that he would reject it, sign the qualifying tender and then become an UFA? If the nuggets didn't even offer him a deal and another NBA team offered him a max deal the Nuggets could have simply matched that offer.

The Nuggets just went out there way to take a risk they had no need to take.

The major concern with letting him go to restricted FA and matching another team's offer is that you could end up in a similar situation the Jazz ended up in with Gordon Hayward. Obviously Porter Jr. has a lot of confidence and I'm sure the Nuggets wouldn't have hesitated to play Russian roulette if it came down to it, but I do agree that the Nuggets should've waited it out.

The other concern was that if he did stay healthy and wanted a 5 year max, he'd have gotten $207M if he made an all-NBA team. Going the Hayward route could result in a team slipping a P/O and MPJ could end up feeling resentful and leave at the 1st opportunity and as the Love/Hayward situation shows it's never a good idea to be in that situation.

It's a shame he has these back issues b/c otherwise he'd be a real great asset. I'm sure that before this the Nuggets had tried to use him as a centrepiece to get some players that'd be a great fit next to Jokic but the deals never materialized. Honestly this one will look real bad on Tim Connelly(Nuggets president of Basketball ops) and Calvin Booth(Nuggets GM) as they've done a splendid job otherwise.

[homecourtloss]

It was the right call. He was struggling mightily to start the season which was likely due to the injury.

As for those saying it was a bad contract. Sure, in hindsight it might turn out to be. But put yourselves in the Nuggets shoes: he didn't have back issues the last two seasons, he only really missed some time due to COVID, and he was very good last season. You can't just let someone go who had the kind of season that MPJ had last season. He was a borderline all-star and you're not going to find many players who are 6'10 that shoot 45% from 3. The upside was too great not to extend.

That's all fine and dandy but they could have waited a year before extending him. There was absolutely no rush as they could have match any offers made to him. They really screwed the pooch here.

Just awful. All that cap space on a player who will likely never return to where he was last year. Jokic is having a generational season and is at a level that he can theoretically keep up (close to at least) for years and is now saddled with this.

[CobraCommander]

I’m sad as hell for MPJ

Yall heartless


Also Denver cursed and Jokic is now the best player in the league with the worse supporting roster

They should trade Jokic to the wizards for 2 future second round picks and our 1st this year

No, they should trade him for KP, and all of our available picks, that's what they should be doing.

Naw we throwing in some John wall and Westbrook bobble heads to sweeten the deal.

Jokic in DC...

Plus Dallas can’t have Jokic and Luka....you think you Miami or GS or Brooklyn or LA or Boston...y’all gotta win like the rest of us through sheer luck...

[KG_And1]

This was the risk with drafting him. The back issues were known. He was expected to go #1 several months prior to the draft, but the lingering back issues were always present. There is a reason why he fell to Denver.

[DusterBuster]

Brandon Roy 2.0? Funnily MPJ recently interviewed BRoy on his podcast.

Roy had more success in the league than MPJ has had so far. Might stay that way too.

It was worth the gamble drafting MPJ, but that contract should have been held off on until he was an RFA. They just outbid themselves instead of letting the market set his value. Maybe they were worried it would alienate him and make him unhappy, but if he's that kind of player, he's probably an ego you don't want in the lockerroom anyway.

Sure hope they put a lot of protections on that contract.

[jokeboy86]

Feel sorry for Jokic. Know it's not going to happen this year but I wish Denver would trade for either Irving or Lillard(especially Lillard) at some point before they get too old. Jokic deserves to be able seriously contend for a title with his greatness.