Denver Nuggets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Five Possible Destinations For Blake Griffin

May 1st, 2017 at 12:20pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Clippers’ latest playoff flameout — and Blake Griffin‘s latest playoff injury — have raised the chances of a major offseason shakeup in Los Angeles. Griffin and Chris Paul are both expected to opt out this summer and seek maximum deals, and the organization would face major luxury tax payments if both are re-signed.

While Paul is believed to be likely to stay in L.A., the Clippers may not be as committed to retaining Griffin, despite owner Steve Ballmer’s pledge to spend whatever it takes to keep the current team together. Mitch Lawrence of Forbes examines five possible landing spots for the Clippers forward.

Knicks — Carmelo Anthony may be ready to leave New York and join his friend Paul in Los Angeles, where he already owns a home. Knicks president Phil Jackson could be interested in adding Griffin through a sign-and-trade deal for Anthony if both players are willing to consent to the move.
Thunder — Griffin played college ball at Oklahoma, and the franchise needs a second star to pair with Russell Westbrook. The Thunder are nearly $12MM over the cap for next season, so they would have to be creative in opening space. Lawrence suggests letting Andre Roberson leave in free agency and finding a team willing to trade for Enes Kanter, who still has two years and about $36.5MM left on his contract.
Nuggets — Cap room won’t be a problem in Denver, which will have about $40MM available if Danilo Gallinari opts out as he has indicated. The Nuggets have made trade offers for Griffin in the past, Lawrence writes, but never enough to tempt the Clippers. If a sign-and-trade is in play, Lawrence states that Denver would be willing to part with anyone except Nikola Jokic to make it work.
Celtics — Boston has the cap space to make a max offer to Griffin and the assets to swing a deal. The Celtics have a wealth of future draft choices, including the potential No.1 pick this year and the Nets’ unprotected first-rounder next season. Even though Boston was the top seed in the East, the front office is searching for star players to build around.
Pacers — Paul George‘s desire to play in L.A. has become an open secret around the league, and this could be the Clippers’ chance to land him before the Lakers do. George, who turns 27 this week, would be a new young star for the Clippers, while the Pacers could build around a formidable front line featuring Griffin and Myles Turner.

Nuggets’ Will Barton To Refuse Extension

April 30th, 2017 at 12:11pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nuggets swingman Will Barton will turn down a contract extension and become an unrestricted free agent in 2018, reports Chris Haynes of ESPN.com.

At age 26, Barton has blossomed into one of the league’s top sixth men, averaging 13.7 points per night and shooting 37% from 3-point range in 60 games this year. He will make a little more than $3.53MM in 2017/18 in the final season of a three-year contract.

The Nuggets expected Barton to test free agency and try to land a big contract in the prime of his career, Haynes adds.

The new collective bargaining agreement allows players on three-year deals to receive extensions starting on the second anniversary of the signing. Barton could have gotten a new deal starting at either 120% of his salary for 2017/18 or the average salary for next season, which is projected at about $9MM. Given 8% annual increases, Barton’s extension would have been valued at about $39MM over four years.

Haynes notes that Barton could be looking at much more, considering the contracts that were handed out to similar players last summer. The Trail Blazers matched a four-year, $75MM offer for Allen Crabbe and gave Evan Turner $70MM over four seasons. The Hawks re-signed Kent Bazemore for four years at $70MM. Barton has outscored each of them over the past two seasons.

Murray Undergoes Successful Surgery

April 27th, 2017 at 9:59pm CST by Austin Kent

After an excellent debut season with the Nuggets, 20-year-old guard Jamal Murray has undergone successful surgery to repair “core muscle-related” injuries, the team has stated in a press release.

When the procedure was announced by Nuggets personnel yesterday, we relayed that the rookie had been plagued by a sports hernia for much of the season.

The Kentucky product averaged 9.9 points per game for the Nuggets and played in all 82 contests, once taking Western Conference Rookie of the Month honors.

Murray is expected to return to basketball activities this summer and will be at full strength when the Nuggets open training camp.

Nuggets GM Discusses Nurkic, Gallinari, Defense

April 26th, 2017 at 9:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Earlier tonight, we shared Nuggets GM Tim Connelly’s announcement that rookie guard Jamal Murray will have surgery tomorrow. Here are a few other highlights of Connelly’s radio interview with Altitude Sports 950, all tweeted by Chris Dempsey:

Although Jusuf Nurkic blossomed into a key player in Portland, Connelly doesn’t regret the February deal that sent him to the Trail Blazers. Portland acquired Nurkic and a first-round pick this year in exchange for Mason Plumlee and a 2018 second-rounder. “We think Mason is going to be a huge piece of our core,” Connelly said.
Re-signing free agent forward Danilo Gallinari will be the top off-season priority. Gallinari has been with the Nuggets since 2011 when he was acquired in the Carmelo Anthony deal. Connelly also hopes to reach a new deal with Plumlee, who will be a restricted free agent, and work out an extension for third-year guard Gary Harris.
Another objective is to add a stronger defensive presence around breakout star Nikola Jokic.
Connelly believed 39 wins would be enough to grab the West’s final playoff spot. The Nuggets finished 40-42, but Portland was a game better. Connelly insists he would have been more active at the trade deadline if he had known the team would miss the postseason.
The organization is making progress in changing the league-wide perception about Denver as a place to play and live. Connelly said several lottery prospects in a recent draft were “begging” the Nuggets to select them because they wanted to be in the city.
The team needs a “pecking order” in the locker room, with a strong veteran presence to guide younger players. “Maybe our biggest struggle since I’ve been here,” Connelly said, “is we haven’t had a pecking order.” He adds that the organization has also encountered problems with “role acceptance” among players.

Nuggets GM: Jamal Murray To Have Surgery

April 26th, 2017 at 5:28pm CST by Arthur Hill

Surgery is planned Thursday for Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, tweets Chris Dempsey of Altitude Sports. Denver GM Tim Connelly made the announcement this afternoon in a radio interview with Altitude Sports 950.

The surgery is for a “couple” of injuries (Twitter link), including a sports hernia that bothered Murray for much of the season, tweets Nick Kosmider of The Denver Post.

The seventh pick in last summer’s draft, Murray had a productive rookie season despite the ailments. He appeared in all 82 games, starting 10, and averaged 9.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per night.

Murray was named to the Rising Stars Challenge and earned MVP honors with a 36-point, 11-assist performance.

Could Nuggets Look To Free Agent Market To Improve On Defense?

April 22nd, 2017 at 10:50pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Improving on the defensive end will be a top priority for the Nuggets and the team may look to the free agent market this summer to find upgrades, Nick Kosmider of The Denver Post speculates in his latest mailbag. The scribe names Gibson, Blake Griffin, and Serge Ibaka among the players who could help the team improve on that end of the floor.

Gallinari To Opt Out, Prefers To Stay With Nuggets

April 20th, 2017 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Danilo Gallinari plans to opt out of his contract, but remaining in Denver is his first choice, he said in an interview with BlitzTV. The interview was conducted in Italian, but a small excerpt was translated by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.

Gallinari, who is scheduled to make $16.1MM next season, will be seeking a long-term deal. Nuggets GM Tim Connelly has said the organization is taking a “wait and see” approach about re-signing the veteran forward, and the Celtics are among the teams expected to be interested if he hits the open market.

“The relationship between me, the city and the organization is great,” Gallinari said. “This is the reason why I would love to reach an agreement to remain in Denver. I love it here. And I would love to remain with the Nuggets.”

Gallinari has been with Denver since midway through the 2010/11 season, when the Knicks included him in the Carmelo Anthony trade. The 28-year-old averaged 18.2 points and 5.2 rebounds this season and appeared in 63 games, the most since knee surgery forced him to miss all of the 2013/14 season.

Four Teams Finished Below 2016/17 Salary Floor

April 16th, 2017 at 10:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Four NBA teams finished the 2016/17 season below the league’s salary floor and will have to make up the difference by paying a little extra money to the players who finished the season on their respective rosters. The Nets, Nuggets, Timberwolves, and Jazz each fell short of the $84.729MM floor this season.

While the 2016/17 league year isn’t over yet, the end of the regular season last week signaled the “snapshot” day for luxury tax and salary floor purposes. Teams are required to spend at least 90% of the salary cap in each NBA season, though the penalties for failing to do so aren’t exactly punitive. If a club falls $2MM short of the salary floor, for instance, it must pay that $2MM to players on its roster to reach the floor.

Our numbers aren’t official, but they should very closely resemble the NBA’s final figures. Bobby Marks of The Vertical confirmed last week that Brooklyn, Denver, Minnesota, and Utah finished below the salary floor. Here’s what those team’s end-of-season cap figures look like, per our Salary Cap Snapshots:

Brooklyn Nets: $1,336,916 below floor (team salary: $83,392,084)
Denver Nuggets: $2,147,064 below floor (team salary: $82,581,936)
Minnesota Timberwolves: $3,023,043 below floor (team salary: $81,705,957)
Utah Jazz: $4,230,808 below floor (team salary: $80,498,192)

While the current CBA doesn’t include a set formula that teams must adhere to when distributing the salary floor shortfall to their players, it’s believed that players generally receive proportional amounts based on their salaries, rather than even splits. So for the Jazz, a player like Gordon Hayward would receive a larger share than Joel Bolomboy.

With the NBA’s salary cap expected to increase to at least $101MM in 2017/18, the league’s salary floor appears likely to exceed $90MM next season.

Mike Malone Deserves More Time

April 16th, 2017 at 4:57pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Nuggets should afford coach Mike Malone at least one more season to get the team into the playoffs, Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post opines. The scribe acknowledges that Malone had a role in Jusuf Nurkic not reaching his potential on the team, but adds that the coach deserves credit for the development of Nikola Jokic, Gary Harris, and Jamal Murray.

Mavs Notes: Curry, Noel, Hammons, Harris, Cuban

April 14th, 2017 at 4:36pm CST by Milo Taibi

On the heels of a 33-49 season, the Mavericks will focus on improving their roster via free agency and the draft. Eddie Sefko of Dallas Morning News suggested two veteran FAs to provide an immediate boost: Serge Ibaka and J.J. Redick. Sefko explains that Ibaka is a “big-time rebounder” who is still relatively young, while Redick would help shore up the team’s mediocre shooting.

Sefko cautions against hoping for a point guard improvement through the draft. Unless the Mavs “get lucky” and secure one of the top two picks, they’re unlikely to obtain a top-shelf guard. In the event Dallas winds up with the 8, 9, or 10 pick, Sefko cites Jonathan Isaac, Miles Bridges, and Lauri Markkanen as potential fits.