Category: Nuggets

Offseason winners and losers, James Harden and trade candidates with Bobby Marks and Michael Scotto

HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto and ESPN’s Bobby Marks discuss NBA trade candidates, James Harden rumors, and predict each NBA award winner.

On the latest episode of the HoopsHype podcast, Michael Scotto welcomed ESPN NBA front office insider Bobby Marks. Scotto and Marks discuss the winners and losers from the NBA offseason, James Harden trade talks, trade candidates around the league, and predict each award winner for the upcoming season. Listen to the podcast above or check out some snippets of the conversation in a transcribed version below. 

1:25 Winners of the NBA offseason starting with the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers 

6:00 Denver Nuggets: Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. 

MORE: Is what Murray did in the playoffs sustainable? We asked NBA executives

6:40 Serge Ibaka’s impact on the Los Angeles Clippers 

7:00 Can Chris Paul lead the Phoenix Suns to the playoffs?

8:37 Why Marks thinks the Utah Jazz are a sleeper team 

11:24 Examining the Jrue Holiday trade for the New Orleans Pelicans

MORE: NBA execs on Jrue Holiday and Bogdan Bogdanovic: ‘Perfect reasoning for Giannis to want to re-sign’

13:37 Why the Atlanta Hawks are one of the offseason winners

MORE: Podcast: Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Rajon Rondo, and futures of Lloyd Pierce and John Collins

18:00 Expectations for the Washington Wizards 

Scotto: From what I’ve heard within their organization, they think they can be a playoff team certainly with the Russell Westbrook trade and maybe even go higher than that somewhere around the sixth (seed) range in the East. 

MORE: NBA execs react to the Westbrook for John Wall trade: ‘It’s a wash’

19:22 Losers of the NBA offseason starting with the Sacramento Kings and the Bogdan Bogdanovic situation

23:05 Reviewing the offseason for the Detroit Pistons and why Derrick Rose is a prime trade candidate 

Marks: I thought three years, $25 million for Mason Plumlee was a huge reach, especially considering where centers were on the market. You’ve got Hassan Whiteside basically going for the minimum, and Aron Baynes went for two years with a non-guarantee in year two.

Scotto: I do think they’re eventually going to look to flip Derrick Rose at the trade deadline and get an asset back for him. It’s been already determined that Killian Hayes, their rookie draft pick, is going to be the point guard of the present and the future. That doesn’t mean that a guy like Rose doesn’t have value to a team that’s contending. I do look for him to be their most sought after asset as we get into the season. 

26:18 Thoughts on the Charlotte Hornets adding Gordon Hayward and LaMelo Ball 

28:20 James Harden trade talks 

Marks: I think with Harden, and we’ll wait and see what he has to say, but from the outside looking in, it is probably the worst case of player empowerment that I’ve ever seen in my 20 years with the Nets and five years in the media. You have a player that’s got three years left on his contract, has basically had an opinion on how that roster was put together when you look at Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, John Wall, and basically how they built that roster. It’s different than what Anthony Davis went through in New Orleans where AD was there for seven or eight years, had gotten to a Conference Semifinals one time in his career, and basically said, ‘I want out. I want to go somewhere where I can win.’ The front office hasn’t done a good enough job, but you can get something for me in value here. He was on an expiring contract. The Harden situation, he’s got three years left on his contract. Everyone says it’s two. I still say it’s three because it’s $47 million in year three. Who knows where we’re going to be in three years from now? 

The Jrue Holiday trade to Milwaukee at least sets the bar from a draft standpoint when you’re getting three ones (first-round picks), two pick swaps, Eric Bledsoe and George Hill. If you’re Houston, you’re saying I’ve got Harden under contract for three years. Holiday could be a free agent next offseason. I’m getting double that. Does Brooklyn have double of that to offer? I don’t think they do. Is it Philadelphia? Does Ben Simmons become available here? Does that appeal to the Rockets? 

Scotto: You touched on Philadelphia. I think Simmons would be possibly the best player they can get right now on the market if they were going to do a trade. We know Daryl Morey has a love for Harden like no other.

32:46 More trade candidates 

Scotto: You look at San Antonio and LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan as some guys I could see being on the trade block because, to me, San Antonio is on the cusp of a rebuild with their young team. 

Marks: You can probably put Rudy Gay in there too. They’re three really big large expiring contracts.

I think an interesting name is PJ Tucker in Houston. I think that’s going to be fascinating because Tucker is on an expiring contract who wants an extension. This guy is an ironman. He doesn’t miss games. He plays multiple positions. He is a team-first player. He’s on a really good number close to $8 million. I think he’s a name to keep an eye on. I think Spencer Dinwiddie in Brooklyn. Certainly, keep an eye on him. Can this Brooklyn team afford keeping Dinwiddie on a high number when you’ve already got Kyrie Irving making $33 or $34 million? They brought back Joe Harris. Your luxury tax bill for 2021-22 would go through the roof like it is right now. 

Certainly what happens in Indiana with Victor Oladipo if that team gets off to a slow start with him on an expiring contract.

Scotto: Myles Turner as well is another guy with Indiana whose name has been floated out there. They have a ton of big men with Domantas Sabonis and Goga Bitadze. 

I would say in Orlando, Aaron Gordon is a guy to keep an eye on. A lot of teams have checked in on him. 

MORE: The players most likely to be traded on each team

40:15 NBA awards predictions

41:15 MVP 

44:47 Defensive Player of the Year 

46:35 Rookie of the Year 

49:33 Sixth Man of the Year 

51:10 Most Improved Player 

53:22 Coach of the Year 

Nuggets’ Facundo Campazzo for HoopsHype: This is not mission accomplished

To say I’m proud and thrilled about making it to the NBA would be an understatement. When you’re 5-foot-11 (or maybe 5-foot-10) and come from a country where basketball takes such a backseat to soccer, you’re not really supposed to end up playing …

To say I’m proud and thrilled about making it to the NBA would be an understatement. When you’re 5-foot-11 (or maybe 5-foot-10) and come from a country where basketball takes such a backseat to soccer, you’re not really supposed to end up playing with the best in the world.

But here I am, at age 29 and about to become the shortest player without college basketball experience in league history. (I learned about this recently).

Like many of my future peers, playing in the NBA has been a lifelong dream. When I was a kid, me and my friends played like we were Jason Kidd, Steve Nash and Vince Carter and pretended we were in the league. To be honest, for much of my life I didn’t think actually playing in the NBA was a really attainable thing. It was only later on in my career, once I was with Real Madrid, that I even looked at it as a goal and maybe not a particularly realistic one.

But at one point I figured I may be NBA material and had a pretty decent shot at it. I heard there was interest and when I realized 3-4 months ago that interest was going to materialize into actual offers this year, I decided to really try my best to make it here. It was a family decision that we were not going to pass on this opportunity. I didn’t want to look back on my career down the road and have regrets about not pursuing a contract in the States. This was it.

That said, it was not an easy process at all. I mean, the basketball part was easy because playing is what I enjoy doing. But when you’re not playing, your mind wanders whether you like it or not. I wanted to go to the NBA, but I had to play the earlier portion of the basketball season in Europe. So you’re kind of like competing and in free agency at the same time. Not ideal!

I’ve had a bunch of sleepless nights thinking, “Man, what if I get injured now and cannot go to the NBA when it’s at the tip of my fingers? How hard is it going to be to move to a new city in a new country? Will my family settle in and be OK?” Once the games started, that was not a thought anymore. But before and after? It was there all the time.

It was stressful and not just for me. I spoke to my brother after agreeing to a deal with the Nuggets and he told me he had many sleepless nights as well antsy at the prospect of me being so close to making it to the NBA. He says he can’t stop crying now once the dream has finally been realized. My mother got worried too because, well, that’s what mothers do, right? (Full disclosure: She was not thrilled with my decision to leave Real Madrid early on because she loved watching me with Real and loved the city… though she’s on board my choice now).

Aside from being super happy about becoming an NBA player, I’m also ecstatic about doing it so with the Nuggets. There was mild interest from New York and Minnesota made a hard run at my services with my friend Pablo Prigioni recruiting me all the time, but it was impossible to say no to Denver. The fact that they are a playoff team where you can compete for major things and get a lot of visibility really factored into my decision. Not to mention they have a bit of an international flavor, which made Denver even more appealing.

Also Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni and Luis Scola put in the good word for the organization and the city. At that point, I was sold. Luis’ advice has been so important throughout my career. He’s the one that really convinced me that in order to get to the next level I really had to take better care of my body and be even more of a pro. I was fortunate to cross paths with him on the Argentinian National Team.

In case you didn’t know, I’m a bit afraid of flying. I guess I have improved a lot on that recently because I chose one of the teams with long flights to pretty much everywhere. I don’t know if I could have done this back in the day. Anyway, I still need my window seat so I can look out and relieve some of the tension. I know it’s stupid, but it helps me a big deal when I can’t travel with my wife and hold her hand to be more relaxed.

It goes without saying that signing with the Nuggets is a dream come true, but it’s by no means mission accomplished for me. I’m coming here to stay and have a relevant NBA career.

I don’t know how much playing time will be available for me in Denver, but I do know my old antics to draw the attention of the coaches may not fly well over here. I was very much the type of guy who sat next to the assistants and moved a lot and made every possible effort to get noticed – going as far as to spit on the floor and rub my shoe there. (I’m not proud). It got on Argentina coach Nestor Garcia‘s nerves a lot. He was like “Stop it, Facu! Yes, I see you! You will be on the court eventually, please stop it!”

Really looking forward to starting the NBA season now, especially to play against guys like Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard and see if I can measure up to them. Luckily, I get to play both of them in the preseason, so I get an early taste of what’s ahead for me. Hopefully, it’s as exciting as the path that took me here.

Is what Jamal Murray did in the playoffs sustainable? We asked NBA executives

Will Murray become an All-Star? HoopsHype posed those questions to two general managers, one executive and three scouts to get the answers.

Can Jamal Murray’s historical play in the bubble be sustained next season and beyond? Will he become an All-Star?

HoopsHype posed those questions to two general managers, one executive and three scouts to get the answers.

“I think All-Star is likely, but I would argue he’s been playing at All-NBA borderline superstar level in the bubble,” one Eastern Conference general manager told HoopsHype. “That level I’m not sure about.”

Murray shot 50.5 percent from the field, 45.3 percent from three-point range and 89.7 percent from the foul line this postseason. How good are those numbers? Since the NBA added three-pointers in the 1979-80 season, only Larry Bird, Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Malcolm Brogdon have shot 50-40-90 over a full season.

“I don’t know if he can shoot this consistently over time, but he’s still a very good player,” one Western Conference scout told HoopsHype. “He’s probably a guy who can be an All-Star, but not a game-changer like this like a superstar level. I’m not sure he can do that consistently. Maybe he can, he’s still young, but I’d bet a little lower than what he’s doing right now.”

In Game 4, Murray displayed a new bag of tricks in his scoring repertoire with an off-balance left-handed floater, a high-arching one-handed fall away shot over Anthony Davis, and an up-and-under layup that drew comparisons to Michael Jordan.

After leading the league in playoff minutes, and battling through a right knee contusion in Game 5, another Eastern Conference general manager believes Murray’s bubble play is sustainable and could be a preview of him scratching the surface of his potential.

“I expect him to continue to get better,” the general manager told HoopsHype. “His confidence should be through the roof going into next season. He can score so many ways. He doesn’t have the pressure to create for others since they play through (Nikola) Jokic.”

Murray proved to be a willing passer averaging 6.6 assists in the playoffs, but his mentality has always been scorer-first. Murray dropped 20 or more points in seven straight playoff games. The last Nugget to do this in a single postseason was Carmelo Anthony in 2009.

“He’s an All-Star for years to come in my book,” one Eastern Conference scout told HoopsHype. “I forget which game it was, but in last year’s playoffs, he scored like 21 straight points to beat the Spurs in a game. He has a high-level skill and confidence with a green light.”

“It’s been pretty impressive,” another Western Conference scout told HoopsHype. “I feel it will springboard him into the All-Star conversation each year. He’ll make it, maybe just not every year.”

Next season, Murray begins his five-year, $170 million maximum-salary contract extension, so All-Star expectations are certainly warranted given his play in the bubble and upcoming paycheck.

While Murray is now on the verge of realizing his potential, the groundwork was laid several years ago while he was in high school. According to one Eastern Conference executive, Murray’s All-Star foundation was built while learning from a Canadian legend and playing against older competition.

“I don’t think it’s a fluke at all,” the executive told HoopsHype. “I saw him work out with Nash the year before he went to Kentucky and saw the talent then. It’s just a matter of time for him, not if, in my opinion. I’m happy that it’s coming together for him. During that time, he was a high school graduate going at Cory Joseph and CJ McCollum after Canadian National team practices.”

Those workouts with Nash, Joseph and McCollum raised Murray’s game rapidly. The former Kentucky Wildcat became the second Canadian to win MVP of the Jordan Brand Classic International Game in 2013. Two years later, Murray scored a game-high 30 points and was named MVP of the Nike Hoop Summit.

Soon, the Canadian guard could add some hardware for his country in the Olympics as well.

“He’s really becoming a superstar in the league,” Toronto Raptors and Canadian National team coach Nick Nurse said. The coach added all signs point to Murray playing for Canada.

MORE: Find out where NBA executives ranked Murray in our top players under 25 to build around poll

You can follow Michael Scotto on Twitter: @MikeAScotto