The Nuggets have been one of the most short-handed teams at the NBA’s campus so far, having been limited to just eight players in each of their first two scrimmages this summer. However, reinforcements are on the way for Monday’s game against Orlando.
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone told reporters this afternoon that Jamal Murray, Will Barton, Michael Porter Jr., and Keita Bates-Diop will all be available to play in tonight’s game, increasing the team’s roster count to 12 (Twitter link via Kendra Andrews of The Athletic).
While he won’t be active tonight, Nuggets guard Monte Morris moved one step closer to getting back on the court as well, having cleared quarantine, as Mike Singer of The Denver Post tweets. He seems likely to be ready by the time Denver plays its first seeding game vs. Miami on Saturday.
Let’s round up a few more Northwest items…
- Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard missed Sunday’s scrimmage against Toronto due to inflammation in his left foot, but head coach Terry Stotts said the club doesn’t expect it to be “a long-term thing,” writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com.
- Sarah Todd of The Deseret News takes a deep dive into the Jazz‘s ability to retain both Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert long term, exploring the odds of the team doing so and speculating about what their contracts might look like.
- University of Denver guard Ade Murkey, a Minnesota native, has interviewed with his hometown Timberwolves during the pre-draft process, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link). Murkey averaged 18.6 PPG and 6.3 RPG with a .481/.400/.731 shooting line as a senior.
Either Donovan Mitchell or Rudy gobert will be gone and not be with the team long-term. It better be gobert. I’m tired of watching him fumble passes and screw things up on offense. Yet he demands touches LOL. He needs to buy into the player he is. Trust me I’ve heard that many times myself LOL.
I don’t think there’s any way the Jazz volunteer to let Donovan Mitchell go. He’s a keeper in every sense of the word. The only way he leaves is if he tells them he won’t resign and he’s out of there anyway. But that’s why you move Rudy. So you can keep Mitchell.
Call me crazy, but I think Rudy is more valuable than Mitchell. Mitchell is a volume scorer, those players are replaceable. Rudy is DPOY, all first defense and all NBA player…that is not as easy to find
Agree, The Rudy’s are harder to come by than the Donovan’s
Gobert – Embiid swap?
Mitchell goto The Knicks to make up for not drafting him
Mitchell is a leader and great young player. You want to try find another all star talent in the draft goodluck. It’s easy to find 10-10 defensive centres.
How I look at it Gobert is just as easy to replace. Mitchell is much younger if you trade Mitchell you might stay good for another 3/5 years but if you trade Gobert your going to be good asking as Mitchell is there.
Like I said ages ago I’d swap Rudy Gobert for Spencer Dinwiddie, T. Prince and Jarrett Allen.
Allen replaces Gobert and is much younger which fits around Mitchell and Dinwiddie is the near all star level player to partner Mitchell in the backcourt. Then next offseason you have 30mil to spend with Conley going off contract. That’s the perfect amount to get a young player coming off his rookie contract like Lauri Markeneen, John Collins or Kyle Kuzma.
1. Dinwiddie
2. Mitchell
3. Bogdanovic
4. Markeneen/Collins/Kuzma
5. Allen
All of a sudden you’ve got yourself a contending team that is young enough to be a threat for the next 5-10 years.
Donovan can bedevil a defense as much as Gobert can bedevil on offense. I think Utah would get more for Donovan… unless a team thinks they don’t want to start a 4 with a center big enough. Utah is trying that but will it work?— Bogdans is out.
Both players will stay. You read it here.
I think the Nugget make a big trade in the next year. They have so many good young pieces and are also a win now team but they can’t afford to keep everyone.
I mean they maxed Jokic, maxed Murray, overpaid Harris, plus have paid Barton and will mostly pay for Grant. Plus they have to make a decision on Plumblee. That doesn’t leave much for the likes of Micheal Porter Jr or Bol Bol in the coming seasons. And I mean for a team trying to win they aren’t good enough for the WCF or the NBA finals.
Like how about trading Gary Harris, Micheal Porter Jr and a protected first for Jrue Holiday and a second round pick.
Holiday is the prefect fit with Murray and Jokic. He brings that leadership, aloha mentality and experience. That and the fact he is elite defensively, can play either as a scorer or creator and be a good presence in the locker room. Yes Porter is a huge loss but Holiday literally makes this team a real threat.
They could also be looking at Bradley Beal, Victor Oladipo, DeMar DeRozan, Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker and Ben Simmons.
This may sound like 50% of the best SGs and you’d ask why is Holiday the best fit.
To start Holiday brings the a wealth of experience and is the best defender of the group. I also like that Holiday has spent a lot of time at PG and can run and offence. He averages the most assists per game (7) of this group and that’s playing with ball dominate players like Lonzo Ingram and Zion. Playing with Jokic and Murray would be a good fit as he can play on or off the ball.
Though I try to like the Wolves, the team has had enough players with Murkey futures.
TWOlves need much much talent than this guy…..unless the whole point is for Souix Falls roster filler.