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Nuggets Sign Justin Tillman

August 26th, 2022 at 10:47am CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

AUGUST 26: The Nuggets have officially signed Tillman, according to RealGM’s NBA transactions log.

The Grand Rapids Gold – the Nuggets’ G League affiliate – announced in a press release on Thursday that they’ve obtained Tillman’s returning player rights, signaling that they expect the big man to suit up for them in 2022/23.

AUGUST 12: The Nuggets have agreed to terms on a deal with free agent power forward Justin Tillman, agent Daniel Hazan informs Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Since going undrafted out of VCU in 2018, Tillman has played for clubs in South Korea, Israel, Italy, Turkey, and Puerto Rico. He also appeared in eight games for the Grizzlies’ NBAGL affiliate, the Memphis Hustle, during the 2018/19 season.

Haynes notes that Tillman was an All-G League First-Teamer for the 2021/22 season. The 6’8″ big man averaged 13.1 PPG, 7.6 RPG and 0.6 BPG for the Hawks’ G League affiliate, the College Park Skyhawks, in 14 games.

Denver is currently carrying 15 guaranteed contracts on its roster, meaning Tillman’s deal is most likely an Exhibit 10 training camp agreement. The Nuggets also have both their two-way player slots filled.

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Grizzlies Among Teams Inquiring On Kevin Durant

August 22nd, 2022 at 8:37am CST by Luke Adams

The Grizzlies are showing interest in Kevin Durant and have made “new inquiries” on the Nets‘ star forward, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.

As Charania writes within his round-up of the latest Durant-related rumors from around the NBA, the Grizzlies could include up to five first-round picks in a package for the two-time Finals MVP (their own 2023, 2025, 2027, and 2029 selections, plus Golden State’s top-four protected 2024 pick). The team also has a bevy of young talent on its roster beyond star guard Ja Morant, including Jaren Jackson Jr., Desmond Bane, Ziaire Williams, Brandon Clarke, Kennedy Chandler, and David Roddy.

However, according to Charania, Memphis hasn’t appeared inclined to offer Jackson or Bane (or, of course, Morant) in a deal for Durant, preferring to build an offer around their draft picks. Given that the Nets are reportedly seeking a win-now return for Durant, that sort of offer is unlikely to pique their interest, even if the picks are unprotected — those first-rounders may have to be rerouted to a third team that could send Brooklyn the kind of impact players the team is seeking.

While the Grizzlies are an intriguing new suitor for Durant, there are still a number of other teams in the mix. The Celtics, Raptors, and Heat remain among the most significant threats to land the 33-year-old, Charania says, though Toronto has continued to resist including Scottie Barnes and Miami has “yet to seriously engage” in any discussions involving Bam Adebayo. Boston, meanwhile, has been unwilling to include Marcus Smart or Robert Williams in addition to Jaylen Brown, Charania says.

The Suns also remain involved, offering up Mikal Bridges and a series of draft picks, according to Charania, but they appear to be behind those Eastern teams among Durant’s most serious suitors.

Charania identifies the Sixers, Bucks, Nuggets, and Pelicans as some of the other teams that have expressed interest in Durant, though he confirms that New Orleans deemed Brandon Ingram untouchable.

According to Charania, the Hawks also made an offer for Durant, putting John Collins, De’Andre Hunter, and a draft pick on the table. The details of that pick are unclear, but Atlanta could trade its own 2023 and 2029 first-rounders or Sacramento’s lottery-protected 2024 pick.

Although Charania doesn’t specify exactly how the Nets felt about the Hawks’ offer, he says none of Brooklyn’s discussions have gained any serious traction. There are still five weeks before training camps get underway, which could be a fraught week for the Nets, assuming Durant remains on the roster — it’s unclear whether or not he’ll show up to camp if his trade request hasn’t been granted.

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Facundo Campazzo Hopes For Another NBA Opportunity

August 20th, 2022 at 6:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

Facundo Campazzo, who spent the past two years with the Nuggets, still has hopes of getting an NBA offer for the upcoming season.

In an interview with Diego Morini of La Nacion, Campazzo said he has an opportunity to return to Real Madrid, where he played for six seasons before coming to Denver. However, he’s determined not to let his NBA career end so quickly.

“I think I showed that I can compete when I’m well,” Campazzo said. “When they give me confidence and I feel part of the rotation. In fact, the first-year playoffs I started in everything but the last game. And in the regular season I played a lot. … I’m not saying no to Real Madrid. What I’m saying is that my attention and energy is on the NBA. My first choice is that, that’s the message. I feel like an NBA player and I want to stay at that level.”

The 31-year-old point guard signed a two-year deal with the Nuggets in 2020 after a successful career with both Real Madrid in Spain and Peñarol in Argentina. He played in 65 games in each of his two NBA seasons with averages of 5.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per night.

Campazzo’s immediate focus is the Argentinian national team, which has two World Cup qualifying games later this month, followed by the AmeriCup tournament in September. By that time, he hopes to have an agreement in place to attend training camp with an NBA team.

“There are times when I get a little anxious,” Campazzo admitted. “But I warn that many players who are now free agents also have the same thing happening to them. It’s unusual for everyone. I have my anxious moments, where I have a hard time sleeping, but I usually try to be calm. These are things I can’t control. When they ask me what’s going on or where I’m going to play, that’s when anxiety wins me the most, because I start to imagine and think about the situation. But since I’m active, I train, I go from one place to the other, it’s like I have a clear head.”

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Nuggets’ Jamal Murray On Injury Recovery, Expectations

August 19th, 2022 at 8:39pm CST by Rory Maher

Nuggets guard Jamal Murray admits that it was difficult to miss the entire 2021/22 season, including the team’s first-round playoff loss to the Warriors, while recovering from a torn ACL, but says he didn’t want to rush back and have second thoughts on the court.

“It was tough, but I just wanted to wait until I was healthy, until I could play the game without thinking about it. I didn’t want to be doing both out there, especially in the biggest time of the year for basketball,” he told Kane Pitman of ESPN during a trip to Australia. “It was smart of me to miss the playoffs and get my knee right, now I can go into the next season with a lot more confidence.”

Murray was in the midst of the best season of his career in ’20/21 prior to the injury, appearing in 48 games (35.5 MPG) while averaging 21.2 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 4.8 APG and 1.3 SPG on .477/.408/.869 shooting. He says that although his leaping ability hasn’t quite returned to the level it was pre-injury, he thinks his game has improved overall.

“I feel like I’ve gotten better in the span I’ve been out,” Murray said. “I may not jump as high right now, but I feel like I pass better, I see the game better, my pace is a little better, I shoot a little more efficiently. I’m just looking to bring all those aspects to my game, just so I can get a feel for how hard guys are going to play again, in front of crowds’ adrenaline is running a little different, loose balls are harder to get, stuff like that.”

The 25-year-old says he’s not worried about the stacked competition in the Western Conference entering next season, as the Nuggets are focused on their own goals.

“I don’t care. I don’t care what they’ve got. I know we have a great team,” he quickly responded when Pitman asked about the depth in the West. “We have a great team. Everybody knows what we can do, you’ve seen the snippets of what we can do when we’re all healthy together, so we just look forward to that. We don’t care what the Suns have and what the Lakers have, we just want to be healthy so we can do what we set out to do.”

Murray also went into more details about his rehabilitation process and what it was like both physically and mentally, as Pitman relays.

According to Roy Ward of The Age Sport (Twitter link), Murray says he plans to play during the preseason, so Denver fans won’t have to wait until the regular season tips off to see his return to action.

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More Than 30 NBA Players On Track To Suit Up For EuroBasket

August 18th, 2022 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

The first EuroBasket tournament in five years will tip off in two weeks and there are currently 34 NBA players on track to participate in the event, representing 17 different countries, according to Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net.

EuroBasket is a 24-team international basketball competition also known as the European Basketball Championship. It historically took place every two years, but that gap was recently adjusted to four years, emulating the FIBA World Cup schedule.

The last EuroBasket tournament was played in 2017 — the next one had been scheduled for 2021, but was pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. As a result, after being played every two years since 1947, it has now been five years since the last EuroBasket tournament, easily the longest layoff since World War II.

It’s possible that some NBA players will be cut from their teams’ rosters or will have to drop out due to injuries or personal reasons before the event begins on September 1, but in general enthusiasm to participate in the long-awaited event appears high.

Here’s the list of NBAers currently set to play in EuroBasket, per Eurohoops:

There are also multiple NBA free agents on EuroBasket rosters, including French swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and German guard Dennis Schröder.

A number of young NBA players, such as 2022 draftees Jeremy Sochan and Nikola Jovic, have dropped out to focus on getting ready for the 2022/23 season, while others, including Bogdan Bogdanovic (Serbia) and Frank Ntilikina (France), were ruled out due to injuries.

Round robin play will begin on September 1, with each team facing the other five clubs in its group once. The top four teams in each group will advance to a 16-team bracket that begins on September 10. The final will take place on September 18, just over a week before NBA training camps get underway.

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Nuggets Plan To Keep Gillespie Despite Injury

August 16th, 2022 at 10:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nuggets plan to retain rookie Collin Gillespie even though the rookie is expected to miss a chunk of next season due to a leg injury, according to Mike Singer of the Denver Post.

Denver signed the undrafted guard out of Villanova to a two-way contract in early July. Late last month, Gillespie suffered a lower left leg fracture and underwent surgery. He was at his alma mater, helping out with a team practice, when the injury occurred.

Gillespie’s father stated that he expected his son to return to the court “in five or six months.”

The Nuggets intend to support Gillespie, who has become a favorite of coach Michael Malone, throughout his recovery, Singer writes.

He averaged 15.6 PPG for Villanova last season, shooting 41.5% from three-point range. Gillespie averaged 11.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.3 APG and 1.5 SPG in four Summer League contests.

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Nuggets Second-Rounder Ismael Kamagate To Remain In Paris

August 16th, 2022 at 9:06am CST by Luke Adams

After being selected in the second round of the 2022 NBA draft, French center Ismael Kamagate will remain in his home country and will continue to play for Paris Basketball, the team announced today (via Twitter).

The No. 46 pick in June, Kamagate was technically drafted by the Pistons with a second-round selection they acquired from Brooklyn in last September’s DeAndre Jordan salary dump. Kamagate’s rights were then sent to Portland in the Jerami Grant trade and were subsequently flipped to the Nuggets in exchange for a future second-round pick.

[RELATED: 2022 NBA Draft Pick Signings]

Kamagate, who has played for Paris Basketball since 2019, received the Best Defender award in France’s top league (LNB Pro A) this past season. The 21-year-old averaged 11.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game in 34 appearances (27.1 MPG) for the club.

The Nuggets figure to keep a close eye on Kamagate’s development in Paris as they consider the possibility of bringing him stateside in a future season. The 6’11” big man suited up for Denver in Summer League play in Las Vegas last month, putting up 5.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 1.2 BPG in five contests (19.3 MPG).

Kamagate is the second draft-and-stash prospect confirmed this week to be sticking with Paris Basketball, joining 2021 Celtics second-rounder Juhann Begarin.

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Zeke Nnaji Hits Weight Room

August 15th, 2022 at 10:11pm CST by Dana Gauruder
  • Zeke Nnaji has been working with the Nuggets coaches on bulking up so that he can play all three frontcourt positions, Mike Singer of the Denver Post tweets. Nnaji has added 11 pounds of muscle and that could help him carve out a second unit role. The 21-year-old appeared in 41 regular season games last season.
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Nuggets To Make Several Scouting Hires

August 15th, 2022 at 7:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth is adding a number of professional and college scouts, Mike Singer of the Denver Post reports.

Jared Jeffries, who previously spent time in the Nuggets’ front office as director of player personnel, is returning to the organization as a college scout.

Drew Nicholas, who previously worked for the Sixers and Celtics, will be the director of scouting and oversee the department. Former Lakers assistant Mike Penberthy will be hired as a pro scout and shooting coach. Jarrett Stephens will depart the college coaching ranks to become a pro scout along with former Hornets assistant Chad Iske.

Todd Checovich, the former GM of the NBA G League’s Iowa Wolves, will be hired as a college scout and capologist.

The Timberwolves hired away Nuggets director of pro personnel Joe Connelly last week to head their scouting department.

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Northwest Notes: Hyland, Beverley, Mazzulla, Thunder

August 14th, 2022 at 10:40am CST by Arthur Hill

The Nuggets‘ decision to part with Monte Morris and Will Barton in the trade for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope creates a larger opportunity for second-year guard Bones Hyland, writes Mike Singer of The Denver Post.

Hyland made an immediate impact with Denver, averaging 10.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 69 games and earning a second-team spot on the All-Rookie Team. His strong first season gave the front office confidence to make the deal with Washington.

“I knew what the move was,” Hyland said. “They were already contacting me before and letting me know what was happening. After the moves even happened, the coaches called me, players called me, like, ‘Time to just go out there and be Bizzy. It’s a big opportunity for you.’ And they tell me every day, like, ‘You’re going to have a big role, big opportunity, a lot more minutes, just to just go out there and be yourself.’”

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

  • Patrick Beverley, who was shipped from the Timberwolves to the Jazz in the Rudy Gobert trade, disagrees with anyone who believes he was disrespected in Minnesota. Many observers were surprised to see the veteran guard moved after he helped to install a culture of toughness that enabled the Wolves to reach the playoffs, but Beverley is at peace with his time in Minnesota. “It took me five months to make $13MM,” said Beverley, who got that amount on a one-year extension in February. “Y’all can say they did me wrong. I say they did me right.” (video link from Pro City Hoops).
  • Celtics assistant Joe Mazzulla seemed like an unusual choice to be among the finalists for the Jazz head coaching job, but he told Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe that it’s how Utah CEO Danny Ainge operates. Mazzulla didn’t have a role on the front of Boston’s bench before being promoted this summer, but Ainge sees potential in him. “It was definitely surprising, but I think because Danny is Danny and a creative guy in how he thinks outside the box, that made it less surprising,” Mazzulla said. “Not many people think the way he does.”
  • Travis Roach of The Oklahoman warns that the Thunder‘s desire to build a new arena doesn’t come with guaranteed economic benefits.
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