Denver Nuggets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nuggets Sign DeMarcus Cousins For Rest Of Season

February 25th, 2022 at 5:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

FEBRUARY 25: Cousins has been signed for the remainder of the season, according to a team press release.

FEBRUARY 22: The Nuggets intend to sign center DeMarcus Cousins to a rest-of-season contract, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The plan is for the deal to be officially completed on Friday, tweets Mike Singer of The Denver Post.

Cousins has spent most of the last month with the Nuggets, first on a hardship 10-day deal, then on two standard 10-day pacts. Because a player can’t sign more than two standard 10-day contracts with the same team in a season, Denver has to commit to Cousins for the rest of the season in order to keep him on the roster.

The 6’10”, 270-pound veteran, a four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA player while with the Kings and Pelicans, saw his career fortunes take a turn after he ruptured his left Achilles with New Orleans in 2018. Cousins then sustained a torn quad in the spring of 2019 and tore his ACL while with the Lakers ahead of the 2019/20 NBA season. Since recovering from those injuries, he has become a role player for various clubs, including both the Rockets and Clippers during the 2020/21 season.

This season, Cousins first joined the Bucks, a club looking to compensate for the size it lost when starting center Brook Lopez was forced to sit with a back injury that ultimately led to surgery. The 31-year-old Cousins played a total of 17 games with Milwaukee, and to date has appeared in eight games for the Nuggets as a reserve behind reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, reuniting with former Kings head coach Michael Malone.

In 25 games total this year between the Bucks and Nuggets, Cousins holds averages of 8.1 PPG and 5.9 RPG, while shooting 41.4% from the floor and 77.6% from the free-throw line. Granted, these are far cries from his career numbers (19.9 PPG, 10.4 RPG and 3.1 APG on .459/.330/.737 shooting), but it’s nice that Cousins appears to have adjusted to his new role on two title contenders.

Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports notes (via Twitter) that the Nuggets have been undefeated in their games played with Cousins this year.

Exploring How Nikola Jokic Once Hated His Assistant Coach

February 20th, 2022 at 9:31pm CST by JD Shaw

Mike Singer of The Denver Post explores the story of how Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic once hated a Denver assistant coach. Jokic and the coach, Ogi Stojakovic, are now great friends. “He’s like a big brother, like a mentor, father, he’s like a really good friend,” Jokic said of Stojakovic. “He’s really everything. … How much he helps me on the court, he helps me off the court just to get out of the basketball … We hang out, for real. When we have a day off, my family is always with his family.”

DeMarcus Cousins’ 10-Day Contract Expires

February 20th, 2022 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

The Nuggets have expressed interest in signing DeMarcus Cousins for the rest of the season, but for now the veteran center is officially back on the free agent market.

The 10-day contract that Cousins signed on February 10 expired Saturday night. It’s his third 10-day deal with Denver and the second non-hardship one, which means he’s not eligible for another 10-day contract with the team unless someone goes into health and safety protocols. For now, the only way the Nuggets can keep Cousins is to sign him to a standard deal.

Denver doesn’t play again until Thursday, so there may not be a rush to finalize an agreement.

Cousins has appeared in eight games since first joining the team on January 21. He’s averaging 6.1 points and 6.3 rebounds in 13.1 minutes per night, although he’s shooting just 29.4% from the field. Even with the low shooting percentage, he provides a veteran backup for Nikola Jokic, which could valuable in the playoffs.

Cousins, 31, was out of the league when the season began, but he signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Bucks at the end of November. He appeared in 17 games for Milwaukee, making five starts, before being released on January 6, two days prior to all contracts across the league becoming fully guaranteed for the rest of the season.

A four-time All-Star earlier in his career, Cousins has become a journeyman player following three serious injuries to his left leg. He also played for two teams last year, earning a roster spot with the Rockets in training camp and signing with the Clippers late in the season.

Poll: Which Team Will Win Western Conference?

February 18th, 2022 at 7:48am CST by Luke Adams

On Thursday, we asked you which Eastern Conference team will make the NBA Finals this season. At the moment, no team in that poll has more than 24% of the vote, and five clubs have at least an 11% vote share.

While the East has been the conference of parity this season, the Western Conference has been something quite different. Two teams, the Suns (48-10) and Warriors (42-17), have controlled the top of the standings for essentially the entire season — no other club has cracked the top two since November 10.

Teams that have a ton of regular season success but haven’t yet proven themselves in the playoffs are often regarded with skepticism, not considered true contenders until they make a deep postseason run. But Golden State’s current core, led by Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green – has a long history of playoff success. And while Phoenix certainly can’t match the Warriors’ recent track record, the Suns showed last spring that they were no fluke, making it all the way to the NBA Finals and coming within two wins of a title.

In other words, these two teams are legit, and look like the odds-on favorites to meet in the Western Conference Finals. But that’s obviously not a foregone conclusion yet, with a handful of intriguing clubs filling out the playoff picture.

The Grizzlies, for one, are putting pressure on Golden State for the No. 2 seed in the conference — their 41-19 record puts them just a game-and-a-half back of the Dubs. Memphis is one of those teams we alluded to above, whose lack of recent playoff success means they’ll have plenty of skeptics to win over. But Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson, and company have shown they’re not willing to back down from anybody and have made the Grizzlies one of the NBA’s most exciting teams.

The Jazz (36-22) have championships aspirations and look great when they’re firing on all cylinders, but they’ve been up and down this season and have been exposed at times by smaller lineups. The Mavericks (35-24) are hoping that this year’s supporting cast is a better fit for Luka Doncic, but they’ll still only go as far as their All-NBA guard takes them.

The Nuggets (33-25) are one of the Western Conference’s most interesting contenders. Nikola Jokic has kept them firmly in the playoff mix with another MVP-caliber performance, and he could get some help before the end of the season — if Jamal Murray (ACL) and Michael Porter Jr. (back) return for the playoffs and look anything like their 2020/21 selves, Denver will be an extremely tough out.

Like Denver, the Clippers (30-31) and Lakers (27-31) could be dangerous if they’re at full strength, but Kawhi Leonard seems like a long shot to make it back this spring for the Clips, and the Lakers haven’t been able to put it all together even when their stars are healthy.

The Timberwolves (31-28) currently hold the top play-in spot ahead of the two Los Angeles teams and are looking to clinch a playoff spot for just the second time since 2004. It’s too early to rule anything out, but a deep postseason run seems unlikely for a Minnesota team that would’ve been happy entering the season just to earn a playoff berth.

If the nine teams we’ve already mentioned finish in the top 10, that leaves one play-in spot for a group that includes the revamped Pelicans (23-36) and Kings (22-38), the surprisingly-surging Trail Blazers (25-34), and Gregg Popovich‘s young Spurs (23-36). Again, never say never, but it’s a pretty safe bet that none of these teams will be representing the West in the Finals this June.

What do you think? Which Western Conference team do you expect to make it to the NBA Finals? How many legitimate contenders do you think there are in the West?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Western Notes: Hyland, Mitchell, Schröder, McCollum, Lue

February 17th, 2022 at 2:31pm CST by Rory Maher

Nuggets rookie Bones Hyland will replace Kings rookie Davion Mitchell in the 2022 Rising Stars game Friday night in Cleveland, the NBA announced in a press release. Mitchell is currently suffering from a right hand injury.

Hyland, 21, was the No. 26 overall pick by Denver after two collegiate seasons with VCU. Through 46 games this season (18 MPG), he’s averaging 8.8 PPG, 2.7 RPG, and 2.0 APG on .369/.346/.881 shooting.

Mitchell, 23, was the No. 9 overall pick by Sacramento after three collegiate seasons, the latter two with Baylor. He won a national championship with the Bears last season. Through 53 games this season (26 MPG), Mitchell is averaging 10.4 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 3.5 APG on .406/.326/.558 shooting.

Mitchell was also going to be part of the Clorox Clutch Challenge, a shooting competition where he was to team up with Scottie Barnes. The event will take place between the second and third Rising Stars games. A replacement will be announced soon, the league says.

Here’s more from the Western Conference:

Dennis Schröder has already shown how he can help the Rockets after just two games with his new club, writes Rahat Huq of The Houston Chronicle. Schröder started in place of the sick Kevin Porter Jr. Wednesday night and put up 23 points, six rebounds, and nine assists in 38 minutes in Houston’s 124-121 loss to Phoenix. Huq believes that Schröder’s addition will be beneficial for rookies Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun, who had nice games of their own with the German point guard running the show. However, he’s concerned that Schröder might hurt the development of Josh Christopher, who has been a regular member of the team’s rotation over the past few months and played just nine and 11 minutes the past two games. Huq also thinks if Schröder plays too much he could help add a few wins, which would be detrimental to the team’s lottery odds.
CJ McCollum has been showcasing his stellar ability to create shots in his brief time with the Pelicans, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “It’s a process, man,” McCollum said. “I’m getting there. I like this type of challenge. It challenges you mentally. It challenges you physically. You have to study the game more and puts you in an uncomfortable environment. I’ve been in a comfortable environment my entire career. This is a great change for me and a great challenge.”
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue says that missing stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George for much of the season has made him a better coach, per Mirjam Swanson of the Southern California News Group. “It has definitely made me a better coach this year, just trying to scratch and claw and win a game every single night,” Lue said. “Usually, you are in the playoffs and you try to win one game (at a time). It’s like that every single night.” The resilient Clippers are currently 29-31, eighth in the West.

And-Ones: MVP Race, I. Thomas, Draft, I. Clark

February 17th, 2022 at 9:46am CST by Luke Adams

The top two finishers in last season’s MVP voting appear to be the top two candidates for this year’s award too, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Bontemps recently conducted a straw poll of 100 media members and found that Sixers center Joel Embiid narrowly – and unofficially – leads Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic in the MVP race.

As Bontemps details, Embiid received 45 first-place votes from the poll respondents, while Jokic got 43. Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (nine), Suns guard Chris Paul (two), and Warriors guard Stephen Curry (one) were the other players who got first-place votes. Interestingly, Embiid was the only player to show up on all 100 five-player ballots, while Jokic was left off five.

Curry received 94 first-place votes when Bontemps conducted a similar straw poll in December, but the veteran sharpshooter has slowed down since his hot start, while players like Embiid, Jokic, and Antetokounmpo have made stronger MVP pushes.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Free agent guard Isaiah Thomas is expected to rejoin the Grand Rapids Gold – the Nuggets‘ G League affiliate – after the All-Star break, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link). Thomas had a very brief stint in Grand Rapids in December, scoring 42 points in his only NBAGL game before getting called up to the NBA. Thomas signed 10-day contracts with the Lakers and Mavericks before returning to the open market.
Sam Vecenie of The Athletic has published a new 2022 mock draft, while Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report has updated his top-50 big board. Both draft experts currently have Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren at No. 1 and Jabari Smith of Auburn at No. 2, with Purdue’s Jaden Ivey moving up to No. 3 ahead of Duke’s Paolo Banchero.
Veteran guard Ian Clark, who has 330 regular season appearances on his NBA résumé and won a title with Golden State in 2017, has signed with the Sydney Kings, the Australian team recently announced in a press release. Clark played in 60 games for New Orleans in 2018/19, but has been out of the NBA since then.

Western Notes: Cousins, George, Kuminga, Kings

February 16th, 2022 at 12:40pm CST by Luke Adams

DeMarcus Cousins‘ current 10-day contract with the Nuggets will expire this weekend, but head coach Michael Malone doesn’t sound like someone who expects to part ways the veteran center in a few days, as Mike Singer of The Denver Post relays.

“You can see all the guys on our bench, even on the court and on the bench, how much they’re rooting for DeMarcus, which is really neat for me, just from a personal level, from a family atmosphere type of a thing,” Malone said on Monday. “Like here’s DeMarcus, four-time All-Star, out of the league. Shouldn’t be the case, and he’s here with us, he’s found a home.

“I love him, and I think you can see all the teammates, when he has a play like that, whether it’s blocking a shot, rolling and dunking, hitting a three, you can feel the energy.”

Cousins has signed three 10-day pacts with Denver so far and the last two have been standard (non-hardship) deals, which means the team will have to decide whether to sign him for the rest of the season when his current contract expires. There has been no confirmation yet that the Nuggets plan to take that route, but it certainly seems like it’s trending that way.

Here’s more from around the Western Conference:

If a February 24 MRI on Paul George‘s injured elbow comes back clean, the expectation is that the Clippers forward will begin a ramp-up period of approximately two weeks and could return to the court – barring setbacks – during the second week of March, Chris Haynes reported on Tuesday’s TNT broadcast (video link via Tomas Azarly of ClutchPoints).
Warriors rookie Jonathan Kuminga has been named a replacement for Pacers guard Chris Duarte in this Friday’s Rising Stars game, the league announced today in a press release. Kuminga will replace Duarte, who is dealing with a left toe injury, on Team Payton for the event.
Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee believes there are a handful of parallels between the Kings‘ pre-deadline acquisition of Domantas Sabonis and their trade for Chris Webber nearly 24 years ago.

NBA Teams With Open Roster Spots

February 14th, 2022 at 1:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Several NBA teams typically end up with newly-opened roster spots following the trade deadline. This happens for a variety of reasons. Some teams make two-for-one or three-for-one trades; some acquire players in cap-related deals and immediately cut them; others buy out or release players they weren’t able to move at the deadline.

Whatever the reason may be, there are plenty of available roster spots around the NBA, and it’s a good bet that most of them will be filled before the end of the regular season. Contending teams will want to fortify their depth for the playoffs, while lottery-bound clubs will take fliers on prospects willing to accept multiyear deals that aren’t fully guaranteed beyond this season.

Here, with the help of our roster counts page, is a look at the teams that have open roster spots as of February 14:

Teams with open 15-man roster spots:

Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics (3)
Charlotte Hornets
Denver Nuggets *
Detroit Pistons
Houston Rockets
Miami Heat (2)
Milwaukee Bucks (3) *
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans
Orlando Magic
Philadelphia 76ers
Toronto Raptors
Utah Jazz
Washington Wizards

* The Nuggets (DeMarcus Cousins) and Bucks (Greg Monroe) each have a player on a 10-day contract. We’re counting those roster spots as “open” because Cousins’ and Monroe’s deals will expire this week.

If we count the Nuggets, exactly half of the NBA’s 30 teams have at least one 15-man roster spot available. Twelve of those clubs have a single open roster spot, while the Celtics, Heat, and Bucks have multiple openings.

Since teams are only permitted to dip below 14 players on standard contracts for up to two weeks at a time, Boston, Miami, and Milwaukee will all have to get back to that league-mandated minimum before the end of the month.

The other teams on this list aren’t under immediate pressure to add a 15th man, and some may hold off for a little while for financial reasons — or just to wait to see who else becomes available on the buyout market in the next couple weeks.

Some of these clubs – including the Heat with Caleb Martin, the Pelicans with Jose Alvarado, and the Raptors with Justin Champagnie – might use their open roster spot to promote a player on a two-way contract who has earned regular minutes.

Teams with open two-way spots:

Boston Celtics
Dallas Mavericks
Oklahoma City Thunder
Phoenix Suns
Utah Jazz

The Celtics (Sam Hauser) and Thunder (Aaron Wiggins) have each promoted a two-way player to the 15-man roster since the trade deadline. The other three teams on this list released a two-way player in January, creating an opening.

In the past, teams haven’t been able to sign players to two-way contracts after January 15, but that restriction doesn’t exist this season, so I expect we’ll see some – if not all – of these teams fill their open two-way slots sooner or later.

Nuggets Notes: Murray, MPJ, Morris, Trade Deadline

February 12th, 2022 at 12:19pm CST by Rory Maher

A source tells Mike Singer of The Denver Post that Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. are expected to be physically cleared to return to action before the regular season ends. However, a person close to Murray tells Singer that the prolonged rehab process as he recovers from a torn ACL has been more mentally challenging than Murray anticipated.

The Nuggets say Murray will return when he’s ready, both physically and mentally. So even if he’s physically cleared, he might not return this season. Ultimately Murray will decide when that exact date is.

Porter’s situation is different, Singer writes, because he’s already had multiple back surgeries and understands how his body responds to injury, surgery and rehab. Porter has progressed rapidly and has been going extensive shooting drills after practices.

“We couldn’t be happier with where he’s at in terms of his recovery from surgery and his progression towards playing,” Mark Bartelstein, Porter’s agent, told The Denver Post. “He badly wants to play, but we need to check all the boxes before that happens. He’s in as good of a place as we could’ve imagined.”

The Nuggets have actually had to caution Porter not to overexert himself in the recovery process, as they want him healthy long-term after inking him to a rookie scale max extension prior to the season. There’s no official timeline for either player to return.

Here’s more from Denver:

Guard Monte Morris was absent during the team’s loss to Boston Friday night because he’s in the NBA’s concussion protocol, as Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports tweets.
The Nuggets made a minor trade last month and were active ahead of the deadline, but several possibilities fell through. President of basketball operations Tim Connelly said he was slightly disappointed about the inactivity, per Singer of The Denver Post. Appearing on Altitude Radio Friday morning, Connelly also said that it would be “irresponsible” not try and build around reigning MVP Nikola Jokic in the midst of his prime.
In a separate article for The Post, Singer explains that the Nuggets didn’t need to make moves because they recognize that the potential returns of Murray and/or Porter could be more impactful than any deal they had lined up. Coach Michael Malone explained that was the case. “We’re not in a situation where we feel we need to make a move,” Malone said. “… We understand that this year, without Jamal and Michael, it’s different than most.”
Matt Schubert of The Denver Post graded Connelly’s deadline performance, giving him a B-plus. Schubert writes that the absences of two of the team’s top three players has put a ceiling on the team, and another trade on the fringes likely wouldn’t have changed the season outcome significantly — only the return of those missing players might. He also notes that Connelly didn’t trade away any future first-round picks, which is important because he’s proven to be adept at finding hidden gems on draft night.

Leftover Deadline Rumors: Raptors, Rockets, Lakers, Nuggets, Knicks

February 11th, 2022 at 9:07am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors considered a series of potential trade scenarios before they agreed to send Goran Dragic and a draft pick to San Antonio for Thaddeus Young, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.

According to Grange, Toronto had hoped the Hawks would make Bogdan Bogdanovic available, viewing the veteran wing as someone who could help the team in both the short- and long-term. However, Atlanta didn’t budge on Bogdanovic, forcing the Raptors to look elsewhere.

The Raptors inquired on Pistons forward Jerami Grant and Kings forward Harrison Barnes, sources tell Grange, but the price tags for those players were high. As previously reported, there were also discussions about a three-team deal that would’ve sent Talen Horton-Tucker and Nerlens Noel to Toronto, but Grange suggests those talks never gained serious traction.

Here are a few more leftover rumors on trades that didn’t get made on deadline day:

The Rockets never made real progress on a John Wall trade with the Lakers, who were unwilling to attach a first-round pick to Russell Westbrook, but a few days before the deadline, Houston got much closer to moving Wall to another team, a source tells Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. That proposed deal ultimately fell through, per Feigen, who doesn’t specify which team the Rockets were talking to.
During a TV appearance, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (video link) said one concept that “could have been discussed” by the Rockets and Lakers before the deadline, “depending on who you believe,” was a swap of Westbrook, Horton-Tucker, and draft capital for Wall and Christian Wood. It doesn’t sound like those talks, if they even occurred, advanced at all.
After agreeing to acquire center Jalen Smith from Phoenix, the Pacers explored flipping him to a new team, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). Fischer says the Nuggets were among the clubs in the mix for Smith, but Indiana didn’t find a deal it liked and ended up hanging onto the third-year big man.
The Knicks didn’t make a deal on deadline day, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Sources tell Steve Popper of Newsday that the club was willing to move just about anyone on its roster, but had trouble finding trade partners for many of its top trade candidates, including Kemba Walker and Noel. According to Popper, his sources suggested there was a “universal lack of interest in the Knicks’ talent and contracts.”