Tag: Denver Nuggets

Former Bruins forward Peyton Watson invites fans to Despicable Me 4

Classy gesture.

Former UCLA Bruins forward Peyton Watson is looking to get some fans in Denver over the weekend.

The 21-year-old, from Beverley Hills California, was a five-star recruit who played in 32 games with the Bruins. He scored 3.3 points per game before getting drafted 30th in the 2022 draft.

Watson was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder and then finished the season with the Denver Nuggets, who won the NBA Finals over Miami in 2023.

Watson took to Twitter to invite 135 fans to Despicable Me 4 in Denver. The movie, where Watson will also be in attendance is set for this Sunday, July 21st in Denver. Registration was open and quickly closed after the seats sold out for the movie.

Watson played in 80 games with the Nuggets a season ago, and played nearly 19 minutes per game. He averaged 6.7 points per game. He is hoping to carve out an even larger role for the Nuggets in 2024-2025.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope: Lakers should’ve beaten the Nuggets in 2024 NBA Playoffs

Although the Nuggets beat the Lakers in five games in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, one Nuggets player feels the series should’ve gone differently.

After an extended stretch of dismal, uninspiring basketball in December and early January, the Los Angeles Lakers started to figure things out in the middle of this past season. From that point on, they started to resemble the team they were the previous spring when they surged late in the schedule and reached the Western Conference finals.

They ended this past season with a first-round playoff date against the Denver Nuggets, the same team that swept them out of the 2023 West finals. Los Angeles lost in five games, but oddly enough, it held sizable leads in each contest.

Guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who was a major part of the Nuggets’ success over the last couple of years, told Draymond Green that the Lakers should’ve beaten his time this spring, and Green agreed with him (h/t Lakers Daily).

Pope feels the Nuggets, who were the defending NBA champs this past season, expended lots of energy to claim the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, leaving them depleted afterward.

Perhaps the most vexing argument for what Caldwell-Pope said was Game 2 of the series. The Lakers led 59-44 at halftime and extended that lead to 20 shortly afterward. But they started to walk the ball upcourt and milk the shot clock, which enabled Denver to gnaw away at their lead before Jamal Murray hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer.

Caldwell-Pope, who won an NBA title with the Purple and Gold in 2020, left Denver to join the Orlando Magic in free agency this summer. Denver will miss his 3-point shooting, transition layups and ability to pressure opponents as a solid team defender.

Nikola Jokic is auditioning for the next James Bond villain, according to his new goatee

Nikola Jokic is so close to telling James Bond his master plan.

Nikola Jokic is ready to take over the world at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Oh, wait, sorry. You must mean I’m thinking about his play for Team Serbia as it tries to earn a medal in men’s basketball. Dearest readers, I am not. The reigning MVP’s new facial hair suggests that he is ready to give James Bond a navel-gazing, way-too-long monologue about his plans for actual global domination.

In an Instagram post shared by Air Serbia, Jokic is shown smiling with a flight attendant while boasting his absurd new goatee attached to a trimmed beard. While yes, the goatee sort of gives the 29-year-old Denver Nuggets superstar some character, it’s also hard not to think of him as a Bond villain any time you see him now:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C9zZjdXI16i/?hl=en

I’m just imagining the seven-foot Jokic slowly stroking his goatee and cackling as a desperate James Bond tries to escape from a pit of hungry sharks. Try to tell me he wouldn’t be perfect for the role.

Hollywood, take notes. A Serbian basketball player just gave you his best material.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope actually admitted that the Lakers had their number in the Nuggets’ series win

Lakers fans look away before you get hurt again.

In the moment, it sure felt like the Los Angeles Lakers pushed Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets to their absolute limits during their first-round series in this past NBA playoffs.

Even in a five-game series, 2023 champion Denver looked as if it was running on fumes at times against LeBron James and Anthony Davis. But when you win in five games — thanks to two buzzer-beaters by Jamal Murray — such criticisms are easily overlooked.

Not according to ex-Nuggets shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

On the latest episode of The Draymond Green Show, Caldwell-Pope admitted that the Nuggets were out of gas by the time they had to face the Lakers. So much so that they had nothing left in the tank and were dipping into their reserves just to beat a resurgent James and Davis.

Lakers fans, I’m so sorry (not really) to have reopened this wound:

If you’re a Lakers fan, I suppose that hearing this candidness from Caldwell-Pope should at least provide some measure of vindication.

Yes, the Nuggets were fatigued, but that series probably showed that a legitimate NBA title contender can still be built around James and Davis if they have a quality supporting cast surrounding them. For now, that is not the case, and they are a glorified two-man show.

If you’re a Nuggets fan, tidbits such as this likely show just how much Denver head coach Michael Malone botched the end of his team’s season. Yes, Denver had a thin bench last season, meaning its starters had to play more. But in that sort of scenario, you’d hope Malone would’ve realized the ultimate prize is winning another NBA title, not getting top seeding in the West (which the Nuggets blew anyway), and he would’ve begun resting his stars during the stretch run.

Instead, Malone had his team put the pedal to the metal the entire year, and the Nuggets had nothing left by the time the games really mattered. It’s a harsh lesson he’ll have to learn and take to heart if Denver and Jokic climb the NBA’s tallest mountain again in the coming years.

Thank you, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. You have just driven another painful dagger into both the Lakers’ and Nuggets’ fanbases.

Nikola Jokic had 2 beautiful features dedicated to his wife on his new signature shoe

Nikola Jokic showed that love is worth believing in.

Even as a three-time NBA MVP, Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic has routinely shown that he prioritizes his family above everything else. And after his wife Natalija narrated a heartwarming tribute video to his latest MVP honors in the spring, it’s so fitting that Jokic likely always had something special planned.

It’s so perfect that Jokic will be reminded of her and his family every single time he laces his shoes up on the court.

As pointed out on Twitter, Jokic’s new signature shoes with 361 — the BIG3 Future PE “Joker” — feature the Jokic couple’s name on the tongue intertwined around red and green wedding rings. Even better, Jokic can now slip his wedding ring into a pocket built into the tongue instead of tying it to one of his laces like he’s done in the past.

What an all-around dedicated family man:

Jokic is at the top of his game as the best basketball player in the world. But even he understands that there are more important things than putting an orange ball through a tall hoop. Take notes, everyone, because love is so real.

Social media reacts to Clippers trading Russell Westbrook: ‘I love Russ in Denver’

A sign-and-trade deal is finally agreed upon that will send Russell Westbrook to Utah. He is expected to get bought up and sign with Denver. Here are some immediate reactions from the Internet about Westbrook leaving the Clippers.

A sign-and-trade deal is finally agreed upon that will send Russell Westbrook to Utah. He is expected to get bought up and sign with Denver.

Here are some immediate reactions from the Internet about Westbrook leaving the Clippers.

Report: Former Thunder Russell Westbrook set to join Nuggets

Report: Former Thunder Russell Westbrook set to join Nuggets.

In a blast from the past, the Oklahoma City Thunder will see a familiar face in their divisional matchups. Russell Westbrook is expected to sign with the Denver Nuggets, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The 2016-17 MVP winner was traded to the Utah Jazz from the LA Clippers. The 35-year-old received a buyout on his deal and is set to join Denver in a presumed bench role.

Westbrook enjoyed the best years of his career with the Thunder from 2008-19. Since then, he’s jumped around the league. The Nuggets will be his fifth squad in six seasons.

Westbrook spent last season with the Clippers. He averaged 11.1 points on 45.4% shooting, five rebounds and 4.5 assists off the bench. He now joins three-time MVP Nikola Jokic.

The Thunder and Nuggets will square off as two of the top teams in the Western Conference next season.

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Nikola Jokic looked so bewildered that someone forgot his jersey before Serbia’s Olympic exhibition

How on Earth do you possibly forget your best player’s Olympics jersey???

Team Serbia has grand plans for the men’s basketball portion of the 2024 Paris Olympics. With three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic in tow, the Serbians expect to, at minimum, get a medal for their efforts in France. Thanks to the Denver Nuggets star’s brilliance, the team is certainly good enough to at least get bronze.

Before any of that happens, though, they might want to make sure their best player actually has his Serbian jersey.

READ MORE: The 12 Team USA players set to go for gold

In a video of Jokic getting ready before Serbia’s exhibition with Australia on Tuesday, the big man is looking for his jersey. And looking. And looking. And looking. Much to Jokic’s evident shock on his face, it was nowhere to be found. Again, Jokic is the main reason Serbia has high basketball hopes for these Olympics in the first place.

Fortunately, someone on the Serbian staff quickly realized their mistake and ran back into the tunnel to get the team’s talisman’s jersey before it was too late:

Phew. Crisis averted!

While Serbia didn’t fare well in an exhibition loss, the national team can rest easy knowing it, eventually, properly clothed the best basketball player in the world for the biggest international tournament on the planet. Next time, someone might want to keep tabs on the Serbian No. 15 in white threads.

They’re pretty important!

Nuggets’ DaRon Holmes II sends heartfelt message before Achilles surgery

Nuggets rookie DaRon Holmes II underwent surgery to repair his torn right Achilles tendon sustained in summer league.

Denver Nuggets rookie DaRon Holmes II underwent surgery on Monday to repair his torn right Achilles tendon sustained in the NBA Summer League, the team announced.

The injury occurred in the fourth quarter on Friday against the LA Clippers after Holmes attempted to defend a pass and landed awkwardly on the court. He was able to hobble off the court under his own power and wouldn’t return to the contest.

The procedure was performed by Dr. Kenneth Hunt at the UCHealth Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Denver. The team will provide updates on his status as appropriate, though the 22nd pick is expected to miss the entire 2024-25 surgery.

Holmes gave an update before his surgery on X, formerly Twitter.

Holmes had turned in a productive debut with the Nuggets prior to the injury, recording 11 points, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal in 25 minutes. He finished by shooting 4-of-8 from the field, including a perfect 3-of-3 from 3-point range.

The news of the injury is devastating to Holmes and the team after the 21-year-old established himself as a first-round pick. He was projected to be the backup center for the Nuggets behind Nikola Jokic after a tremendous collegiate career at Dayton.

Holmes was a consensus second-team All-American last season with the Flyers, averaging 20.4 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.1 blocks in 33 games. He was also named the Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.

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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.