Tag: Calvin Booth

George Karl blasted the Nuggets for willingly messing with Nikola Jokic’s prime

George Karl thinks Nikola Jokic deserves so much better.

As a three-time MVP, Nikola Jokic has established himself as one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA. Jokic is a walking bucket, a rebounding machine who lifts the Denver Nuggets’ championship ceiling like no one else could. He is unquestionably the best player in the world and is still just 29 years old.

According to George Karl, the Nuggets’ brain trust isn’t doing everything it possibly could to compete for championships with its brilliant Serbian center.

Over the weekend, the former Nuggets coach tweeted a blunt assessment of Denver’s puzzling offseason. This coincidentally happened after Jokic effortlessly dropped 20 points and 12 rebounds against France’s Victor Wembanyama and Rudy Gobert—the two best defenders in the game—in an Olympic exhibition on Friday.

Karl wasn’t kind. He thinks Denver could be doing much more to contend for titles with Jokic and just isn’t as it watches the rest of the NBA pass its roster by:

I’m inclined to agree with Karl.

After not matching his contract offer, the 2023 NBA champions lost valuable ex-starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Orlando Magic. Yes, Caldwell-Pope was technically Denver’s fifth starter, but he was also the Nuggets’ third-best 3-point shooter and their best point-of-attack defender.  You don’t replace that kind of critical production overnight. They also lost this year’s first-round pick, DaRon Holmes II, to a torn Achilles and have yet to add a viable backup point guard for Jamal Murray. (Uh, is Russell Westbrook still coming?)

In response to Denver’s calamitous offseason, general manager Calvin Booth has consistently preached the importance of drafting well. It’s a noble thought process, and he’s not entirely incorrect — good teams do need good young talent in the pipeline. The Nuggets are also not without promise waiting in the wings. Recent first-round picks Peyton Watson, Christian Braun, and Julian Strawther all might be quality rotation players soon enough.

But Booth’s approach to drafting well while he has the clear best player in the world is fraught in practice. It essentially asks several young players to reach their 99th percentile developmental outcome while hoping you don’t waste some of your franchise player’s finest years as they mature. It could happen, but it’s more likely that it won’t.

Because let’s be honest: Jokic won’t be this good forever. Father Time is undefeated. He catches up with everyone eventually.

So, Karl is right. The Nuggets could be doing more for Jokic. They could be giving him as robust of a supporting cast as possible. At this very moment, it looks like they’re instead simply hoping his individual brilliance will shine through regardless.

And that is a belief that’s already likely cost them at least one another NBA title.

Brad Stevens’ son Brady commits to Notre Dame for 2024

Another future get for the Irish.

The [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] era at Notre Dame seems to be defined early by luring the offspring of established basketball minds. Shrewsberry’s son, Braeden and Calvin Booth’s son, Carey, will make their Irish debuts this coming season. Recently, Nazr Mohammed’s son, Sir, committed for 2024. Now, the Irish can add Brad Stevens’ son, Brady, to the mix in 2024 after the following Instagram post was made:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CwIx4yvpCpO/?img_index=1

Not much seems to be known about the younger Stevens other than he plays for the high school in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He doesn’t even have a 247Sports profile, suggesting he was only lightly recruited if at all. However, Shrewsberry was an assistant for the elder Stevens with Butler and then, the Boston Celtics. That alone might have made Notre Dame the best college option for someone who clearly will be walking on.

While the 2023-24 Irish will struggle, there is hope that the 2024-25 Irish  will allow Shrewsberry to do more than try to patch something together with a makeshift roster. Do you have the patience for that? Well, you won’t have a choice regardless. After all, good things come to those who wait.

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Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Carey Booth asks for release from Penn State after Shrewsberry’s departure

Penn State’s top commit in 2023 has asked to be released from his NLI

To say this has been a challenging week for Penn State’s men’s basketball program would be an understatement.

After losing head coach Micah Shrewsberry to Notre Dame and seeing a pair of players enter the transfer portal, Penn State’s top commitment in the Class of 2023 has asked for a release from his national letter of intent. [autotag]Carey Booth[/autotag], one of the top recruits to commit to Penn State in program history, wants to explore anew his opportunities to play college basketball.

The news of Booth asking to be released from his letter of intent was first shared by his high school basketball coach, Jason Smith, via Twitter. The development has since been confirmed by multiple reports.

Booth, the son of former Penn State basketball star [autotag]Calvin Booth[/autotag], committed to the program in August 2022. The legacy commitment was considered a major recruiting victory for Shrewsberry, and the future of Penn State basketball was looking pretty bright with Booth coming in. But as so often happens in the world of college sports, a coaching change can happen at the worst possible time for a student-athlete.

With Shrewsberry moving on to Notre Dame, Booth has every right and reason to contemplate if Penn State is still the best spot for him. Without knowing for sure who the head coach will be for the Nittany Lions, it makes sense for Booth to want to step back and monitor the situation before going all in for the program his father played for. Maybe Penn State will still end up being the place Booth chooses to play for, but the cloud of uncertainty is ominous.

Penn State is continuing its search for a head coach to take over the program. No timeline has been announced for when a hire will be made.

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Meet Penn State basketball’s second highest recruit ever: Carey Booth

Penn State basketball’s second highest-rated recruit is a legacy commit.

Head coach [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] has been attacking the recruiting trail hard since he’s come to State College.

The 2022 class was the highest-rated class in Penn State basketball program history. Headlined by four-star recruit [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag], there were five overall commits with the other players being three-start recruits according to 247Sports.

Njie, [autotag]Kanye Clary[/autotag] and [autotag]Evan Mahaffey[/autotag] were all in the rotation this season getting valuable experience as Penn State looks to rebuild their roster talent.

One of the things that has plagued the Nittany Lions in recent years is their lack of size and talent at the big man positions. Their inability to rebound and guard taller players in the Big Ten has been a big reason why Penn State has struggled during conference play.

It looks like Shrewsberry found his answer to those problems.

Four-star recruit and ESPN Top 100 player, [autotag]Carey Booth[/autotag], committed to Penn State in the Class of 2023.

He’s the son of former Penn State star, [autotag]Calvin Booth[/autotag], who is now the General Manager of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets.

Booth is the second highest-rated recruit in program history according to 247Sports. He ranks second behind [autotag]Tony Carr[/autotag] from the 2016 class.

Booth ranks 74th in the ESPN Top 100 for the class of 2023. He is listed at 6’10” and 190 pounds with a very advanced skill set.

He’s an athletic big who can attack and play above the rime. He also possesses the ability to dribble and create his own shot off the bounce. Booth is a natural athlete who is a shot blocker on the defensive end.

This is a major recruit for Shrewsberry and Penn State. Getting the son of a program legend is always a good sign about the health of the program overall.

It’s to be seen if Booth’s game at the high school level can translate to high major basketball in the Big Ten, but this is an exciting signing for Penn State as they continue to increase the level of athlete on the roster.

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I think a lot of it’s the same. I think …

I think a lot of it’s the same. I think Tim and I talked a lot of basketball, and we knew that we need to improve defensively and try to get more versatile. Find that guy that can shoot and guard in the starting lineup that didn’t necessarily need the ball. I think — with COVID the last couple of years and injuries and everything — we ended up with a little bit smaller team than we probably envisioned a few years ago. So, we tried to get bigger on the perimeter and stuff. That was a goal this summer.

Yeah, they both look promising. We saw …

Yeah, they both look promising. We saw Jamal play in our gym the other day; he’s moving while cutting well. When you have an injury of that nature, you just wonder about the apprehension in certain situations. You’re starting to see that dissipate more, which is good. As long as he’s comfortable moving and exploding and knowing that like he might be in some uncomfortable positions, but he’s not going to hurt himself again, I think that’ll be useful. As far as Mike goes, I think he just kind of takes it slow and steady. Feels great. He’s shooting. He’s lifting a lot, working on getting healthy.

Scotto: In talking with Klutch Sports …

Scotto: In talking with Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, he told HoopsHype, “KCP was eligible for the extension, and he loves the fit in Denver.” Paul and Nuggets GM Calvin Booth and the Kroenke ownership group are all very close, which helped make a deal happen quickly. Singer: The Nuggets eyed KCP at the trade deadline. They wanted him and discussed various scenarios that could have potentially landed him in February. They re-visited that deal in the offseason, and it got out that the Wizards desperately needed a veteran point guard. That was Monte Morris. Other teams were curious about Bones Hyland and if he would be available.

“The hard part about where I’m at right …

“The hard part about where I’m at right now is we’ve done a great job. Tim and Coach Malone and Mr. K and Josh, all of our best players getting us to this point, and now you’re inside the 10-yard line and the job becomes really, really hard,” Booth said. “But on the other side, what’s really easy is I know what Coach Malone likes. I have a feeling or a vision for the kind of guys, Nikola, Jamal or Michael would like to play with, and it just happens to be in line with my philosophy anyway.”