Appearing at the Nuggets‘ media day on Thursday after joining the team as a free agent over the summer, Russell Westbrook expressed excitement about his new opportunity and earned praise from teammates and his new head coach alike, as Ryan McFadden of The Denver Post writes.
“He has a competitive, ‘I’m going to get in your s–t’ mindset that I love,” head coach Michael Malone said. “… I think he’s going to help individual players achieve their potential and push them to be the best they can be. I love guys (who) bring it every single night, and that’s what he has done.”
While the former MVP has a much different skill set than Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the Nuggets’ former starting shooting guard who signed with Orlando in July, Malone believes Westbrook is underrated on defense and is capable of making up some of what Denver lost on that end of the court as a result of Caldwell-Pope’s departure.
“When we went back and watched his defense last year with the Clippers, at the end of games, he was on the opposing team’s best player every night,” Malone said.
Here’s more on the Nuggets:
- Jamal Murray struggled in both the postseason in the spring and the Olympics in the summer, and Nuggets president Josh Kroenke said last month that health issues were a significant factor. However, Murray told reporters on Thursday that he has no injury-related limitations entering training camp and that he feels good, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post.
- The Nuggets believe their championship window remains very much open entering the 2024/25 season, as Baxter Holmes of ESPN relays. “In a best-case scenario, I think Nikola (Jokic) has a prime 10-year contention window,” general manager Calvin Booth said. “I think we’re about halfway through it. So, we probably have about five more similar shots and all the shots count. We hit one of them, that’s great. The earlier we hit it, the more we can have conversations about other things, but it’s going to be incredibly hard to win another one.” According to Malone, Murray has expressed to his teammates that they should feel a sense of urgency to capitalize on that title window. “He reminds his teammates, don’t take this for granted,” Malone said. “He goes, ‘We have a championship window, not every team has a championship window. And what do you do? Do you take advantage of that, or do you look back in 20 years and have regrets?'”
- Booth acknowledged that he’ll be keeping a close eye during the first half of the season on whether the Nuggets have enough shooting in their rotation and will be prepared to move at the trade deadline to address that area if necessary, writes Sean Keeler of The Denver Post.
- Asked on Thursday about offseason rumors of tension between him and Booth, Malone offered a diplomatic answer, Keeler notes. “Calvin and I shouldn’t always agree. If we’re always agreeing, then we’re not really accomplishing what we need to accomplish,” the Nuggets’ head coach said. “But through those disagreements and through those conversations, you come to a greater good.”
- Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, who becomes eligible on Friday for an extension worth up to $143MM over four years, indicated on Twitter that he’d be interested in representing Team USA at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. In case you missed it, Gordon and the Nuggets expressed optimism this week about the possibility of reaching a long-term deal.
- A total of 20 Nuggets games will be televised over the air for free locally in 2024/25, while a new streaming service called Altitude+ will allow subscribers to watch the team’s other non-national broadcasts, according to Durando. Nuggets executive Kevin Demoff told Durando that the team is still looking to resolve a carriage dispute between Altitude Sports and Comcast that would allow local Comcast customers to watch Nuggets games. Altitude had been blacked out on Comcast since 2019.
then Luka cooked Westbrook in the playoffs.
Who doesn’t Luka cook.
I think the Nuggets window is closed. It’s hard to stay on top with such little depth. Jokic looked worn down by seasons end and there was no chance they had a long playoff run in them again.
I think you may be writing off the Nugs a little prematurely. Hard to believe Murray, Porter, Gordon and Joker won’t always give a chance if they’re healthy.
I wasn’t a Westbrook fan early in his career, but making the Carmelo change of his game makes me like the guy.
i am not writing them off just commenting on how hard it is now to keep a team together. The new CBA was designed because a few owners complained about some owners spending. Now almost every club has to watch their spending. the new CBA hurt the Nuggets more than most teams.
It did but I really like what they did this off-season. People are VASTLY overestimating KCP’s role on the team last year. He was basically a shooter and perimeter defender. Christian Braun, who will replace him, isn’t as good a shooter (although he was in college) but might be a better, and definitely bigger and stronger, defender. And I love the Saric addition. He’s buds with Jokic going back to when they were kids. Expect him to blow up and have his career year if he stays healthy. Season probably hinges on a few of the bench guys showing up big, and the talent is there. I wouldn’t count them out and consider them the second best team in the West after OKC.
I am not sold on OKC because they didn’t have good defense last year. That is why they brought in Caruso so they could improve the defense. Saric problem is he wasn’t consistent last year with the warriors. He started great but faded out. KCP will be missed he was like a swiss army knife. Muarry needs to be more aggressive on offense bailing out Jokic when he is double and tripled teamed. injuries will play a key part in how well they do this year with a a bench that hasn’t been tested yet.
DEN’s window can last another 4-5 years. But it’s going to be somewhat dependent on the young players they’ve drafted over the past couple of drafts emerging as solid to better rotation players. It starts with Watson and Braun, but needs to include one or more of Holmes, Strawther, Pickett and/or Tyson. Gordon’s extension would also be a prerequisite (the fit with Jokic is close to perfect); but it appears that’s in the works. Another would be trading MPJ, without long term money coming back. His contract has 3 more seasons, so it might not be the easiest thing. But it needs to be a priority.