Denver Nuggets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nuggets Officially Name Calvin Booth GM

July 7th, 2020 at 1:39pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets have officially announced what was first reported in April: Calvin Booth has been the named the team’s new general manager.

“Calvin is one of the brightest basketball minds in our league,” president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said in a statement. “We are very fortunate to have him as part of our organization and are extremely excited for his new role.”

Booth, who played in the NBA from 1999-2009, joined the Pelicans as a scout for the 2012/13 season, then spent four years with the Timberwolves, eventually ascending to the role of director of player personnel.

He had been an assistant general manager in Denver’s front office since 2017, moving up to claim the general manager position after the Nuggets’ previous GM – Arturas Karnisovas – departed to become the new head of basketball operations in Chicago.

Connelly will retain the final say on basketball decisions in Denver, but Booth figures to take on an expanded role in the team’s front office, given his new title. It’s not yet known if the Nuggets will hire any new executive(s) to fill the hole created by Booth’s promotion.

More Details On PJ Dozier's New Contract

July 2nd, 2020 at 11:08am CST by Luke Adams

PJ Dozier‘s new deal with the Nuggets is a three-year pact that was completed the team’s using mid-level exception, as Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights notes (via Twitter). It features minimum salaries in all three seasons, including about $183K this season and a partial guarantee of $1.2MM in 2020/21, for a total guarantee in the neighborhood of $1.4MM.

Malone Expects Jokic To Join Nuggets In Orlando

July 1st, 2020 at 2:26pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Nuggets head coach Michael Malone said in a Zoom video conference call today that he anticipates the team’s lone All-Star, Nikola Jokic, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, will join Denver when the squad departs for Orlando next week, in comments captured by Nick Kosmider of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Malone acknowledged during the call that Denver’s practice facility is currently closed after there were “multiple” positive test results, but would not divulge which team personnel or players for the Nuggets tested positive, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

Jokic is not yet stateside. The 25-year-old seven-footer has been residing in his native Serbia since the middle of June, according to Mike Singer of the Denver Post.

“Next Tuesday, we depart for Orlando,” Malone said. “The hope and expectation is that Nikola Jokic will be with us on that plane.”

The 43-22 Nuggets are currently the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, behind the two star-studded Los Angeles clubs. This season, Jokic is averaging an eye-popping stat line of 20.2 PPG, 10.2 RPG, and 6.9 APG.

Malone voiced his reservations about Disney employees being permitted to enter and depart the NBA’s proposed bubble — while NBA teams’ traveling parties are not — in an Orlando restart, per Kendra Andrews of The Athletic (Twitter link). The Nuggets head coach hopes that the NBA will make some adjustments to this component of the league’s un-pausing.

Three Members Of Nuggets Traveling Team Have Tested Positive For COVID-19

June 30th, 2020 at 9:06pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Among the Nuggets‘ anticipated team traveling party for the NBA’s Orlando restart, two members tested positive over the weekend and a third had a positive test since then, though all are presently asymptomatic, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post. The team closed its practice facility in response to the news. The Nuggets as an organization have been dealt with six COVID-19 cases since March.

Nuggets Sign Tyler Cook

June 30th, 2020 at 5:55pm CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 30: The Nuggets have officially signed Cook to a replacement two-way contract, the team announced today in a press release.

JUNE 26: After promoting PJ Dozier from a two-way deal to a standard contract, the Nuggets are expected to sign power forward Tyler Cook as their substitute two-way player, reports Nick Kosmider of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Cook, who received a two-way contract from Denver last summer, spent training camp and the preseason with Denver last fall, but was released before the regular season began. Cleveland claimed him off waivers and he spent most of the 2019/20 season either in the NBA or G League with the organization, later signing a pair of 10-day contracts with the Cavaliers.

Cook only played very limited minutes in 11 NBA games, but had a bigger role in the NBAGL, posting 12.9 PPG and 5.7 RPG in 29 games (21.3 MPG) for the Canton Charge and Oklahoma City Blue.

NBA teams typically aren’t permitted to fill their two-way contract slots with newly-signed players after January 15, but the 22 clubs participating in the restart have been given the opportunity to do so for depth purposes. Once Dozier is moved to the 15-man roster and Cook has been signed, Denver will have a full roster.

Nuggets Sign PJ Dozier To Multiyear Contract

June 30th, 2020 at 2:12pm CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 30: The Nuggets’ deal with Dozier is now official, per the NBA’s transactions log. According to John Hollinger of The Athletic (Twitter link), Dozier is believed to have received more than $1MM in guaranteed money on his new contract.

Denver is now expected to sign Tyler Cook as a substitute two-way player for Dozier.

JUNE 24: The Nuggets will move two-way player PJ Dozier to their standard 15-man roster during this week’s transaction window, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). Dozier will sign a multiyear deal, according to Nick Kosmider of The Athletic (via Twitter).

Dozier, 23, has appeared in 21 games (11.1 MPG) for the Nuggets this season, averaging 4.1 PPG, 1.4 RPG, and 1.4 APG. He was a regular rotation player for a few weeks in January and February when Jamal Murray and Gary Harris were banged up, but otherwise hasn’t seen much action in 2019/20.

Still, Denver likes his size and potential impact as a combo guard, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post, who tweets that he wouldn’t be shocked to see the South Carolina native play in Orlando.

With an open spot on their 15-man roster, the Nuggets won’t have to waive anyone to add Dozier. On top of that, as of Saturday, Denver will be able to sign a player to a two-way contract to replace Dozier, though that player will become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Bol Bol, whose contract runs through 2020/21, currently occupies the club’s other two-way slot.

Nuggets Close Practice Facility Following Positive COVID-19 Tests

June 30th, 2020 at 10:44am CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets have become the latest NBA to close their practice facility, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that Denver made the decision after members of the team’s travel party tested positive for the coronavirus.

As Wojnarowski notes, the Nuggets closed their practice facility to players and staff on Saturday. There’s a chance it could open again later this week — the next few days of COVID-19 testing will help determine when it reopens, Woj adds (via Twitter).

A report last week indicated that Nikola Jokic tested positive for the coronavirus, but he was in Serbia at the time. It’s not clear if any Nuggets players in Denver has contracted the virus as well or if the positive tests belonged to team staffers. Two members of the travel party tested positive, tweets Mike Singer of The Denver Post.

Of the 22 teams participating in the NBA’s restart this summer, Denver is at least the fourth known to have closed its practice facility temporarily due to positive COVID-19 tests. The Suns, Heat, and Nets reportedly did the same last week.

Monte Morris Inspired After Sliding On Draft Night

June 28th, 2020 at 12:03pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nuggets guard Monte Morris has used the frustration of sliding in the 2017 draft as incentive to prove he belongs in the NBA, writes Steve Kosmider of the Athletic. Morris was projected as a first-rounder in some circles, but went to Denver with the 51st pick and had to work his way up from a two-way contract. “I was really mad about it,” Morris recalled. “Guys I dominated in college on multiple occasions were getting picked ahead of me. I got hurt during the draft process. I pulled my quad at the Laker workout, which was like my third workout. I still had about 15 workouts to go. I feel like if I had did them I would have moved up. I only worked out for three teams so that may have hurt me, but I still think my resume, doing what I did at Iowa State, should have had me going higher.”

Nikola Jokic Tests Positive For Coronavirus; U.S. Return Delayed

June 23rd, 2020 at 3:41pm CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic tested positive for the coronavirus last week in Serbia, delaying his return to the United States, report Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst of ESPN (via Twitter).

According to the ESPN duo, Jokic has been asymptomatic since testing positive. The All-Star big man is expected to be cleared to travel to Denver within the next week, per Woj and Windhorst.

We learned last week that Jokic may have been exposed to COVID-19, having been in close proximity to KK Partizan center Nikola Jankovic, who tested positive shortly thereafter. Tennis star Novak Djokovic, who was at the same event, announced earlier today that he has tested positive for the coronavirus as well.

While Jokic’s return to Denver will be delayed, it doesn’t sound as if he’s suffering from any symptoms, and it seems likely he’ll be recovered before the Nuggets travel to Orlando in July. Assuming that’s the case, the 25-year-old will be able to participate in training camp with the team and should be good to go for the eight seeding games and the postseason.

Nuggets Likely To Fill Open Roster Spot

June 23rd, 2020 at 3:37pm CST by Luke Adams

There’s a good chance the Nuggets will use the open spot on their 15-man roster to add a player this week, according to Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Although Denver has no pressing needs, the team will likely fill that opening for insurance purposes, Singer notes.

The Nuggets, who haven’t had a ton of breathing room below the luxury tax line for much of the season, have carried 14 players (not including their two-way players) for most of 2019/20, maintaining roster flexibility.

Given the extra financial flexibility the club created at the trade deadline and the modest cost of a free agent signing at this point in the season, Denver wouldn’t be in any danger of going into the tax by filling that open roster spot with a minimum-salary player.

Singer doesn’t identify any specific players the Nuggets might be targeting, but they’ll be able to choose from anyone who is currently a free agent and didn’t play in an international league this season.

Denver would also have the option of converting PJ Dozier‘s two-way contract into a standard deal, having him become the team’s 15th man. In that scenario, the Nuggets would be able to sign a new player to a two-way contract, starting Saturday. That player would need to have between zero and three years of NBA service — that same restriction wouldn’t apply to a player signing a standard contract.