Denver Nuggets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Terrence Jones To Join Nuggets’ G League Affiliate

March 3rd, 2022 at 12:48pm CST by JD Shaw

Six-year NBA veteran Terrence Jones has signed a contract in the G League, agent Jerry Dianis told Hoops Rumors. Jones will be acquired by the Grand Rapids Gold, the Nuggets‘ NBAGL affiliate.

Jones, 30, was the No. 18 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. He has made stops with Houston, New Orleans and Milwaukee during his NBA career, averaging 10.4 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 23.8 minutes per contest.

“Terrence has absolutely dominated everywhere he’s been since last playing in the NBA,” Dianis said. “He averaged 32 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks per game in the Philippines. He’s a versatile player who’s also an exceptional rebounder and passer.

“Everyone in the NBA knows how talented he is. This is an opportunity for him to prove it again on American soil. In their first G League season, Grand Rapids has proven to be fertile ground for experienced, ex-NBA players (such as Lance Stephenson and Isaiah Thomas) who are looking to resurrect their careers.”

Jones is one of several veterans to sign in the G League with hopes of making an NBA comeback this season. His last NBA stint came during the 2018/19 campaign with Houston, when he appeared in two games. Along with the Philippines, he’s also made stops in China and Puerto Rico over the course of his career.

Prior to being drafted, the 6’9″ Jones had a successful collegiate stint at Kentucky that included an NCAA championship in 2012. His last G League stint came in 2018/19, when he averaged 23.5 points and 9.4 rebounds in 26 games.

Jamal Murray Won’t Speculate On When He Might Return

March 2nd, 2022 at 8:42pm CST by Arthur Hill

There has been widespread speculation that Nuggets guard Jamal Murray will be able to return in time for the playoffs, but Murray tells Adam Caparell of Complex Sports that he’s not sure of his own status.

Murray is recovering from surgery after tearing his ACL last April. The rehab process has been more difficult than he anticipated and he’s not trying to meet a set timeline. His only goal is to “feel normal” whenever he does start playing again.

“I’m too far to tell,” Murray responded when asked if he has an approximate date in mind. “I’m obviously progressing every week. But I have my bad weeks where I can’t do the simple stuff and then I’ll have weeks where I feel like I can jump out of the gym. It’s just getting the stress pain down. Adding tolerance right now and trying to ramp it up. I don’t know. I’m in a good spot, I just don’t know the exact time right now.”

Murray was in the middle of his best season when the injury struck, averaging a career-high 21.2 points per game, along with 4.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists. He was also shooting career-best marks from the field (47.7%) and three-point range (40.8%) and was coming off a spectacular performance in the 2020 postseason.

If Murray is able to return at anywhere near top form, he could be an X-factor in the Western Conference playoffs, especially if Denver also has Michael Porter Jr., who is working to overcome a back injury. With Nikola Jokic bidding for a second straight MVP award, the Nuggets have managed to stay in the middle of the race at 36-25 without two of their stars.

But Murray is trying not to let that prospect influence his decision as he focuses on what he needs to do to resume playing.

“I’m trending steadily, yeah. It’s different when you’re in it. You can’t really tell,” he said. “You don’t really know how much time has passed. But I know I have a couple of months before the playoffs. I’m just trying to gear up as much as I can, and if not, I’ll just sit out. Taking it slowly, not really thinking about the months ahead, just taking it day by day. Months ahead from now I can say I put in the work.”

After he suffered the injury, Murray reached out to several players who had been through the ACL experience, and he said some called him as well to let him know what to expect. He added that he was encouraged to see Dejounte Murray and Zach LaVine, who have both recovered from ACL injuries, earn spots in the All-Star Game this year.

Murray describes the rehab process as “tedious” and said there are mental challenges along with the physical ones.

“It’s not just me sitting out for a year—it’s the work, the continuous work you’re putting in to get back, or to get back to that level,” he said. “And you’re always thinking you’re going into the abyss, you’re going into the unknown and you’re just trying to figure it out as you go. And that’s the toughest part. Not knowing when I’m going to come back. Not knowing how I’m going to feel. Not having the reps. Not having the confidence yet to do what I do. It’s just building all that back up right now and that’s been the toughest part up until this point. Now I’m just blessed to be back on the court doing what I can and it’s about feeling better every day.”

Agent Anticipates Jokic Will Sign Super-Max Deal In Offseason

March 2nd, 2022 at 2:19pm CST by Luke Adams

Misko Raznatovic, the agent for Nikola Jokic, expects the star center to sign a super-max contract extension with the Nuggets during the 2022 offseason, he said during an appearance on Donatas Urbonas’ podcast at BasketNews.com.

“According to our expectations, it should be signed this summer,” Raznatovic said. “The extension of the maximum amount, what he obviously deserved.”

Raznatovic’s comments are essentially just further confirmation of an outcome that has long been anticipated.

Jokic qualified for a super-max contract – also known as a designated veteran extension – when he won the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award in 2021. However, he only had six years of NBA service at that time, and a player signing a super-max deal, which starts at 35% of the salary cap instead of 30%, must have at least seven years under his belt. So even though he had met the performance criteria, Jokic had to wait one more year to extend his contract.

The 27-year-old has done nothing this season to dissuade the Nuggets from putting that super-max offer on the table, having averaged 25.5 points, 13.8 rebounds, 8.0 assists, and 1.4 steals on .567/.364/.806 shooting in 55 games (33.0 MPG).

Jokic, who will be eligible to officially sign his extension once the new league year begins in July, can tack five new years onto the final season of his current contract, which will pay him $33.6MM in 2022/23. We can’t yet pin down the exact value of the reigning MVP’s super-max extension, since it will be based on the salary cap in 2023/24.

Last month, the NBA projected a $121MM salary cap for the ’22/23 season, so it’s a safe bet that number will continue to rise the following year — we just don’t know by how much. For instance, if the ’23/24 salary cap is $124MM, Jokic’s five-year extension would be worth $251.7MM. A $128MM cap would result in a $259.8MM deal.

No matter what the precise amount of the extension is, it’ll be a record-setting payday for Jokic, one that his agent expects him to take in stride.

“Luka Doncic organized a nice party for his last contract that put some kind of challenge primarily for me because I am very well known for organizing parties and participating in social life,” Raznatovic told Urbonas with a smile. “But knowing Nikola, probably nothing will happen, and everything will be the same. Just one piece of paper to be signed.”

Northwest Notes: Nurkic, Wright, MPJ, Arthur

March 1st, 2022 at 6:33pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic, an unrestricted free agent this summer, will be sitting for at least four weeks with a plantar fasciitis injury. John Hollinger of The Athletic reads the tea leaves and examines Nurkic’s potential future in Portland, as well as explaining why the club will likely operate over the cap during the 2022 offseason.

Nurkic is in the final season of a four-year, $48MM deal with the Trail Blazers and has averaged 17.4 PPG, 12.6 RPG and 3.4 APG since the start of 2022. Though the 27-year-old is no longer the shot blocker he was before suffering a compound fracture of his left leg near the end of the 2018/19 NBA season, Hollinger notes that the rest of his game seems more or less to have returned. The 6’11” big man is averaging 15.0 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 2.8 APG and 1.1 SPG this year.

As Hollinger writes, the Trail Blazers could sign Nurkic to a contract extension that starts at $14.4MM, a 120% annual increase of his current salary. However, Hollinger believes that Nurkic should be able to net significantly more than that in free agency this summer. If they re-sign Nurkic and retain Josh Hart, the Blazers would likely be an over-the-cap team, allowing them to retain their $20MM+ trade exception.

There’s more out of the Northwest Division:

Injured Timberwolves point guard McKinley Wright IV, currently on a two-way deal with the club, will start taking contact in team practices as he continues to recover from a left UCL issue, per Minnesota’s official PR team (via Twitter). The Timberwolves are set to reassess Wright on Sunday. The 23-year-old rookie out of Colorado has appeared in just three games with Minnesota this year.
Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. will soon scrimmage with the Grand Rapids Gold, Denver’s NBA G League affiliate, per Mike Singer of the Denver Post. Porter, still working to rehabilitate following a December 1 back surgery, has already resumed one-on-one contact workouts. “You got a 6-foot-10 guy that shoots it like that, and then you start to remind yourself, ‘Man, like, last year, before we had injuries to [guard Jamal Murray], we all felt we had a chance to win it,’” head coach Michael Malone said. “Whenever we get those guys back, this year or next year, we feel the same way. We have a chance to win it when we get fully healthy… As of right now, still in the early steps of trying to re-integrate those guys back slowly, and as they get cleared to do more and more things, then, obviously, we can ramp it up with them.”
The Nuggets have hired former NBA forward Darrell Arthur to serve as a basketball operations associate for the team, Denver announced (Twitter link). Arthur, 33, played for nine NBA seasons, appearing in 503 games. He was with the Nuggets from the 2013/14 season through the 2017/18 season.

Nuggets Notes: Porter, Murray, Jokic, Bench

February 28th, 2022 at 4:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Following up on ESPN’s report that Michael Porter Jr. (back) is hoping to play at some point in March, Sam Amick of The Athletic provides some additional details, citing a source with knowledge of the situation who says the Nuggets forward is on track to return in mid-to-late March.

Sources tell The Athletic that there’s a “strong sense” within Denver’s locker room that both Porter and Jamal Murray (ACL tear) will be back in time for the playoffs, if not sooner. However, Murray’s timeline is trickier to pin down than Porter’s, according to Amick. Given the severity of Murray’s injury and the sensitivity with which the Nuggets have handled his recovery, the team figures to “handle the final stages of his process with the utmost care,” Amick writes.

Here’s more on the Nuggets:

While Nuggets star Nikola Jokic would love to have his injured teammates back in the lineup, he’s not exactly seeking constant updates on their respective situations, as Amick relays. “To be honest, I don’t think about it,” Jokic said. “I’d rather them be healthy than to come back early, so I don’t even think about it. So I just wish them to get healthy, 100 percent.”
Mike Singer and Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post discuss the potential impact of Porter’s return, disagreeing about whether he’ll re-enter the Nuggets’ starting lineup. Kiszla doesn’t think that will happen until next season, while Singer believes it makes sense to start MPJ once he’s ready in order to move Jeff Green to the bench and decrease Jokic’s offensive workload.
The Nuggets’ second unit was a liability earlier in the season, but it has morphed into a legitimate weapon since the team traded for Bryn Forbes and signed DeMarcus Cousins, Singer writes in a separate article for The Denver Post. The club got a season-high 76 points from its bench in Sunday’s win over Portland, including a combined 39 points and 18 rebounds from Cousins and JaMychal Green.

Michael Porter Jr. Eyeing March Return

February 27th, 2022 at 5:45pm CST by JD Shaw

Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. has progressed in his rehab from lumbar spine surgery and could be cleared for on-court contact within the next week, agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Porter is hoping to return to Denver’s lineup at some point in March. Wojnarowski says that once the fourth-year forward is cleared for contact, it’ll just be a matter of him going through a final ramp-up period.

However, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone cautioned fans to take the report with a grain of salt, as Mike Singer of the Denver Post (Twitter link) relays.

“I would say don’t listen to those reports. … They didn’t come from me, they didn’t come from [president of basketball operations] Tim Connelly,” Malone said. “They didn’t come from anybody within the Denver Nuggets. I would say, be careful what you listen to and what you read.”

The 23-year-old Porter underwent surgery three months ago and has played just nine games this season. He did appear in 61 games last season, averaging 19.0 points on 54% shooting from the floor and 45% shooting from three-point range.

Denver owns the sixth-best record in the Western Conference (35-25) despite Porter’s absence. The team also hopes to have Jamal Murray return from a torn ACL before the playoffs, Wojnarowski reports.

Porter signed a five-year, $172.5MM contract extension with the Nuggets last offseason. He was drafted No. 14 overall by the franchise in 2018.

Pacific Notes: Thompson, Kings, LeBron, Rich Paul

February 27th, 2022 at 3:58pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Warriors wing Klay Thompson sourced input from a variety of his NBA colleagues across the league, past and present, while rehabilitating from back-to-back season-ending injuries, writes Mark Medina of NBA.com. Thompson tore his ACL during the 2019 NBA Finals, and subsequently tore his Achilles while ramping up for the 2020/21 season.

“So many people count you out when you go through an injury like this,” Hall-of-Famer Dominique Wilkins, who consulted with Thompson, told Medina. “You know your heart. You just got to stay focused, diligent and tough. You can get back from this.”

Wilkins suffered an Achilles tear while playing for the Hawks, but ultimately returned to his All-Star form afterwords.

Thompson also maintained a dialogue over text with former Warriors teammate Kevin Durant, now with the Nets. Durant tore his Achilles while with Golden State during the 2019 postseason.

“It’s inspiring to watch him and see him look the exact same way prior to the injury,” Thompson said in praising his teammate. “It’s a testament not only to his willpower but his skill level. He might lose a little quickness or a little bounce. But you’ll never lose the ability to put the ball in the hole.”

The 31-year-old five-time All-Star also spoke with Grant Hill and Rudy Gay about their own recoveries from major injuries. Thompson is averaging 17.1 PPG with a reduced minutes load this season as he continues to work his way back, hoping to reclaim his All-Star form come playoff time.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division:

Given that the perpetually rebuilding Kings cannot necessarily rely on big-ticket free agency additions as a small market franchise, Chris Binderman of the Sacramento Bee wonders if Sacramento could benefit from taking a page out of the Nuggets‘ playbook when it comes to adding and developing talent.
The 27-32 Lakers find themselves facing an uncertain future after going all-in on Russell Westbrook in a trade this summer. Although LeBron James appeared to voice his relative apathy about a long-term future in Los Angeles during the 2022 All-Star Weekend festivities, he has since expressed his commitment to the team. When Bill Oram of The Athletic openly hypothesized that James might not want to remain with the Lakers beyond the end of his current deal, James retorted in comments to the press. “Anytime Bill says anything about the Lakers it’s going to be negative,” James said. “So, I hope no one in the Lakers faithful listens to Bill Oram. I hope not. He hasn’t said one great thing about the Lakers in so long.” In a new piece for The Athletic, Oram opines that James himself was responsible for the latest rumblings.
Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, GM Rob Pelinka, and James’ longtime agent Rich Paul met this week to discuss everyone’s feelings surrounding their team-building strategy. Sam Amick of The Athletic provides more details on the group’s conversation.

Malone Happy To Have Cousins For Rest Of Season

February 26th, 2022 at 2:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets head coach Michael Malone, who advocated for the signing of DeMarcus Cousins earlier this season, is thrilled to have the veteran big man under contract for the rest of the season, says Mike Singer of The Denver Post. “His personality is really important,” Malone said of Cousins. “He is a voice. He’s a personality, and he’s not afraid to speak his mind. That can be refreshing at times because we have a locker room of great guys, but who are not always willing to police each other.”

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.”