Jalen Pickett Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Nuggets Notes: Pickett, Jokic, Kerr, Westbrook

April 5th, 2025 at 2:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jalen Pickett has received extensive playing time for the Nuggets in the first three games of the month. Pickett is averaging 11.3 points, 6.0 assists and 5.3 assists in 30.3 minutes per game. He hasn’t made a turnover in two of those contests. “He’s proven himself to be trustworthy,” coach Michael Malone told Bennett Durando of the Denver Post.

Pickett, a second-round pick in 2023, signed a four-year contract in July of that year.

We have more on the Nuggets:

While Nikola Jokic is considered an offensive superstar, he’s quietly become an elite defender, ESPN’s Chris Herring and Tim MacMahon write. They note that Jokic has finished first in defensive box plus-minus, which measures a player’s box-score defensive impact and value to his team per 100 possessions, for the past three seasons. He’s within striking distance of doing it again. “He knew that if they wanted to win at a high level and become a champion, he couldn’t be a liability. Now he’s become a strength on that side of the floor and learned how to anchor a defense,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “He literally willed himself to become better on defense.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has high praise for Jokic, Eurohoops.net relays. “It’s unfair to compare eras, but he’s the best center I’ve ever seen. For one year, I’ve played against Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], I’ve watched him obviously. Kareem couldn’t do all this stuff,” Kerr said. “And again, eras dictate a lot of that. We’re in the modern era, and we’re watching a guy who’s doing things that nobody has ever done before. It goes so far beyond the skill level, it’s the competitiveness, the intelligence: he’s absolutely one of the smartest players ever, and you see it in so many different ways.”
With Jamal Murray sidelined once again due to a hamstring injury, Russell Westbrook had a rough outing in a loss to the Warriors on Friday night, Durando points out. He shot 2-for-9 from the field and committed four turnovers in 20 minutes.
Westbrook made a couple of late mistakes that proved costly in a double-overtime loss to Minnesota on Tuesday night. The Athletic’s Tony Jones describes why the team needs the best version of the veteran guard to make a deep playoff run this season.

Nuggets’ Strawther Out At Least Four Weeks With Sprained Knee

March 4th, 2025 at 2:26pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nuggets have ruled out a key reserve for the rest of March, announcing today (via Twitter) that second-year wing Julian Strawther has been diagnosed with a left knee sprain and will be reevaluated in four weeks.

The injury occurred in the third quarter of Sunday’s game in Boston. Strawther caught a pass from Christian Braun at the top of the three-point arc and drove toward the basket, but after he attempted a floater in the lane, he came up limping and fell to the floor in pain (video link).

After averaging just 10.9 minutes per game in 50 appearances off the bench for Denver as a rookie last season, Strawther had emerged as a crucial part of the team’s rotation in 2024/25. He appeared in each of the Nuggets’ first 61 games this season, averaging 9.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 22.1 minutes per night, with a .434/.357/.829 shooting line.

As Bennett Durando of The Denver Post notes (via Twitter), another 2023 draftee – shooting guard Jalen Pickett – may be in line for an increased role while Strawther is unavailable. Pickett has been in and out of the rotation this season and didn’t play at all in the first half on Sunday, but checked in when Strawther went down and played eight minutes in the second half.

Nuggets Notes: Murray, Jokic, Westbrook, Pickett, Strawther

February 13th, 2025 at 12:33pm CST by Rory Maher

Nuggets guard Jamal Murray made up for being ejected from Monday’s game against Portland by scoring a career-high 55 points in Wednesday’s rematch with the Blazers. Murray exchanged trash talk with Portland on Monday, earning technical fouls in the third and fourth quarters of the game.

“They shouldn’t have done that,” big man Zeke Nnaji said of the Blazers’ trash talk, per ESPN.com. “When he’s mad, there’s no one in the world that can stop him.”

In part due to Murray’s strong play, the Nuggets have now won eight straight games and trail Memphis by just a half-game for the No. 2 seed in the West. Murray shot 20-of-36 from the field, including 7-of-15 from three-point range, in 42 minutes on Wednesday. Denver outscored Portland by 26 points when he was on the court in the 11-point victory.

“It’s just all competitive spirit,” Murray said. “I came ready to play. Especially just being used to the playoffs and playing the same team over and over, and they know your plays and things get chippy and you have to see them again. So, I think just that kind of factor made me ready to go. I was truly prepared today.”

As ESPN’s story notes, Murray’s scoring outburst — the third-highest mark in franchise history — overshadowed Nikola Jokic‘s 25th triple-double of the season. Only Oscar Robertson (28 in 1961/62) and Russell Westbrook (27 in ’16/17) have recorded more triple-doubles before the All-Star break than Jokic has in ’24/25, per ESPN Research.

“Please, let’s never take Nikola’s greatness for granted,” head coach Michael Malone said. “We are witnessing history every single night. I don’t take it for granted. He’s incredible, and I really feel fortunate and blessed to have coached him for 10 years now.”

Here’s more on the Nuggets:

Malone told reporters on Wednesday, including Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscriber link), that Westbrook should return to action after the All-Star break. The former league MVP, who is on a two-year, veteran’s minimum deal with Denver, has missed the past seven games with a left hamstring strain. “Everything’s pointing forward to him being able to use this break, use this stretch of games when he’s been out rehabbing, to come out of the break and be active and be available,” Malone said.
After a storied five-year college career, second-year guard Jalen Pickett found himself outside of the Nuggets’ rotation as a rookie in ’23/24 and to open ’24/25. However, he has been been a steady hand of late for the second unit with Westbrook out, according to Durando (subscription required). “I’ve had a rough last year. And you’ve gotta just love that, being able to go through some challenges, find things that you’re good at,” Pickett said. “After such a successful college career, coming here and just basically starting over, it was tough at first. And then I just kind of fell in love with the grind, and just getting back in the gym and seeing where I could take my game.”
Will second-year wing Julian Strawther be part of Denver’s playoff rotation? Durando explores that topic in another subscriber-only story for The Denver Post. “He’s still a young player, and so you see the inconsistencies,” Malone said. “Two games ago, his first start, he’s down on himself, doesn’t play as well as we know he’s capable of playing. Doesn’t make shots. Then he rebounds in his second start. … I think for all young players, you go back to all guys, early stages are up and down. You have to live with those. Obviously, if and when we get to the playoffs, we’ll figure all that out. But he’s an important piece. He’s a guy that we, whether he’s starting or coming off the bench, we need him to be aggressive.”

Northwest Notes: Jokic, Nuggets, Edwards, Jazz, Thunder

December 9th, 2024 at 1:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Nikola Jokic‘s 56 points on Saturday weren’t enough to get the Nuggets a win in Washington, but his 48-point, 14-rebound, eight-assist performance in Atlanta just 24 hours later did the trick, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Denver bounced back from a disappointing loss to the lowly Wizards by blowing out the Hawks 141-111, which head coach Michael Malone called “the response that was needed.”

According to Malone, Jokic – who joked after Saturday’s game that “a paycheck that is a little bit less than usual” might help motivate Nuggets players – was “vocal” with the team on Sunday morning, Durando details in a separate story.

Jokic’s comments seemed to make an impact on his team. As good as the three-time MVP was vs. the Hawks, the Nuggets got production from players up and down their lineup, including second-year guard Jalen Pickett, who was a +18 in 17 minutes in perhaps his best game as a pro. Jokic suggested that sort of effort is what the team needs from everyone.

“When I was coming off the bench, when I was like playing small minutes, my goal was: ‘When I sit on the bench, I’m going to be so tired that I cannot breathe,'” Jokic said. “So just give 100% those three, four, five, six, seven, whatever minutes you have.”

Here’s more from around the Northwest:

Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards was fined $25K by the NBA on Monday for using profane language during his post-game media session on Friday (Twitter video link), the league announced (via Twitter). Edwards, perhaps aware that announcement was coming, declined to talk to reporters after Sunday’s loss, citing his history of being fined for cursing, tweets Chris Hine of The Star Tribune.
The Jazz‘s bench has been ineffective since John Collins moved into the starting lineup nearly a month ago, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune, who states that the team has neither a source of consistent offense or defense in its second unit right now and suggests it might make sense to move Collins back to the bench until Jordan Clarkson is healthy. Utah’s bench has a -7.5 net rating since Collins’ first start on November 12, the worst mark in the NBA during that time.
The Thunder, whose 103.3 defensive rating and 12.1 steals per game comfortably rank first in the league, have been playing historically effective defense so far this season, proving Sam Presti right, as Rylan Stiles of SI.com observes. “I think defensively we have the opportunity to have a lot of compounding talent that can make it very hard for us to play against,” the Thunder’s head of basketball operations said before the season began.

Northwest Notes: Jazz, Holmgren, A. Mitchell, Alexander

November 1st, 2024 at 12:20pm CST by Rory Maher

Following the Jazz‘s loss to San Antonio on Thursday in Utah, head coach Will Hardy had some pointed words for his club, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. The Jazz committed a ghastly 26 turnovers, with the Spurs stealing the ball nine times in the third period — the most thefts in a single quarter since 1996.

“This is not guaranteed. Being in the NBA is not guaranteed,” Hardy said. “There’s a lot of players who have established themselves, but they’ve had to fight to do so. You have to scratch and claw and battle to be an NBA player for a long time. I think the average NBA career is like under four years or something, and that’s because the league will just churn players in and out.

“And right now, I just don’t feel that desperation. I don’t feel that hunger on every play.”

Larsen points to a couple of bad plays by second-year guard Keyonte George as being emblematic of the team’s poor effort, and writes that none of Utah’s young players — aside from maybe Walker Kessler — should feel secure about their place in the NBA. The Jazz (0-5) are the only team in the league that has yet to win a game.

Here’s more from the Northwest:

Chet Holmgren and the Thunder bested Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs on Wednesday in a marquee matchup between two of the league’s top young big men, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN. Holmgren finished with 19 points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks in 28 minutes, while Wembanyama recorded just six points, eight rebounds and three blocks in 27 minutes. Both players downplayed any talk of a budding rivalry, with Holmgren saying Oklahoma City’s defense was key to the 105-93 victory. “We won tonight on the defensive end,” Holmgren said. “It wasn’t perfect on offense. I feel like we were very solid almost throughout the whole game on the defensive end.”
Thunder guard Ajay Mitchell has been receiving rotation minutes to open his rookie season, writes Rylan Stiles of Sports Illustrated. The 22-year-old, who was selected No. 38 overall in June’s draft, turned in his best performance on Wednesday vs. San Antonio, finishing with 12 points (on 5-of-6 shooting), four rebounds and two steals in 22 minutes. “We play a lot of 5-on-5 at training camp, so there is a lot underneath the surface that you guys might not see, but we do,” Head coach Mark Daigneault said of Mitchell. “We take those minutes really seriously…he showed a capacity early, on both ends of the floor. As good as he was offensively tonight, he was really good defensively. He continues to make strides and get better defensively.”
It appears as though rookie Trey Alexander, who is on a two-way deal, is ahead of Jalen Pickett in the Nuggets‘ backcourt rotation, tweets Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports. Pickett, a 2023 second-round pick who is on a standard contract, was recently assigned to the Grand Rapids Gold, Denver’s G League affiliate, while Alexander remains with the Nuggets.

Nuggets Notes: Offseason, KCP, Braun, Cancar, MPJ

May 23rd, 2024 at 11:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Addressing reporters at his end-of-season press conference on Thursday, Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth didn’t say anything that would suggest major roster changes are in the cards for the franchise this offseason, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. While Booth suggested some tweaks will be necessary, he stressed that continuing to develop the team’s young players will be crucial to improving the roster as a whole.

“I think (the 2023 draft picks) need more seasoning,” Booth said. “They need to get in the gym. They need to play Summer League. They need to get stronger. Obviously, maybe in our top seven, we can use a little bit more talent. Maybe there’s a way to upgrade one or two positions. … Get a guy that’s a more accomplished NBA player for whatever (roster) slot they’re taking. But I don’t see anything that’s, like, crazy out of sorts for our roster.”

After losing key rotation pieces like Bruce Brown and Jeff Green last offseason, the Nuggets relied primarily on recent draftees to replace them, adding three rookies (Julian Strawther, Jalen Pickett, and Hunter Tyson) to the roster and assigning 2022 first-rounders Christian Braun and Peyton Watson larger roles.

Of those players, Braun was the only one head coach Michael Malone trusted in the postseason, resulting in some questions about whether Booth and Malone are in the same page when it comes to filling out the roster and distributing minutes. That’s a subject that has been discussed within the organization, as Durando relays.

“We’ve talked about this a lot upstairs,” Booth said. “The general manager, front office job oftentimes is to make sure the long-term view is something that we’re satisfied with. And Coach Malone’s down there in the trenches trying to win every night. And a lot of times, those things are aligned, but sometimes they ebb and flow away from each other.”

Here’s more on the Nuggets, via Durando:

Asked about the possibility of surpassing the punitive second tax apron in order to sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, both team president Josh Kroenke and Booth expressed a level of comfort with operating above the aprons if it means maximizing the potential of a championship-caliber roster. “We spend a lot of time looking at the second apron and all this other stuff,” Booth said. “I think for me personally, it’s win a championship, one. Two, we have to look at the overall financial picture. And three, second apron. And I know the second apron is daunting, and there’s all kinds of restrictions, but I don’t think that’s first on our priority list. KCP’s been a great addition the last couple years. We obviously would love to have him back. We’re gonna take a hard look at what that looks like.”
If the Nuggets do lose Caldwell-Pope, it would likely thrust Braun into a starting job. Booth and Malone said they’re confident the young wing could succeed in that role if he continues to improve as a shooter. “I think Christian Braun, it’s all gonna come down to one thing. To be a shooting guard in the NBA, you’ve gotta be able to make shots,” Malone said. “That’s the bottom line. So if you want to simplify CB’s future as a starting two guard in the NBA, it’ll be determined upon his ability to be a 38% or above 3-point shooter.” Braun made 38.4% of his three-pointers in 2023/24, but didn’t shoot them at a high volume, converting just 63 in 82 games.
Booth said he expects Vlatko Cancar, who missed the entire season due to a torn ACL, to be able to suit up for Slovenia in the Olympic qualifiers, noting that the tournament will be a “great chance” to evaluate the big man. The qualifying tournament won’t begin until July 2, however, and the Nuggets will have to decide by June 29 whether or not to exercise Cancar’s $2.35MM team option.
The Nuggets signaled multiple times during Thursday’s presser that they likely won’t explore trading Michael Porter Jr. this summer, writes Durando. Kroenke expressed faith in the team’s current starting lineup (which includes Porter) and Malone refuted the idea (expressed by Porter himself) that MPJ was to blame for the second-round loss to Minnesota.

Jamal Murray Sidelined By Hamstring Strain

November 6th, 2023 at 10:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nuggets will go without their backcourt star for an indefinite period.

Coach Michael Malone revealed on Monday that Jamal Murray will be sidelined for multiple games due to a right hamstring strain, according to Bennett Durando of the Denver Post.

“We’ll kind of continue to talk to our doctors, but his injury is not a one- or two-game injury,” Malone said prior to Denver’s game against New Orleans. “That’s what I do know. This will be something that will be longer than we would like.

“… You have to have the big picture in mind and make sure we’re putting him in position to get healthy before he comes back. Because this is an injury that, if you keep having recurring hamstring injuries or soft tissue injuries, they can linger and become even worse. And that’s the one thing we do not want to happen.”

Murray suffered the strain during the second quarter of Saturday’s game against Chicago.

Without him, the Nuggets will rely on veteran Reggie Jackson, who had been serving as the team’s sixth man. Two-way player Collin Gillespie and rookie second-round draft pick Jalen Pickett could see more action at the point, while shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope may have more ball-handling responsibilities.

Rookie guard Julian Strawther will also see his minutes uptick. He had 21 points in 19 minutes in Denver’s victory over the Pelicans.

Of course, Denver also has the top passing big man in the game in Nikola Jokic.

Northwest Notes: Jackson, Nuggets, Towns, Edwards

November 6th, 2023 at 3:57pm CST by Rory Maher

Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray sustained a right hamstring strain on Saturday and has been ruled out for Monday’s contest against New Orleans. Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports expects Murray to miss a couple weeks, noting that the Nuggets are often cautious when it comes to managing injuries.

Murray being sidelined means Reggie Jackson, who had been the primary backup, will likely take over as starter. As Wind writes, Collin Gillespie and Jalen Pickett could be in line for minutes at point guard behind Jackson, with Gillespie getting the nod on Saturday.

Here’s more from the Northwest:

After winning their first championship in 2022/23, the 6-1 Nuggets once again lead the Western Conference and head coach Michael Malone says they aren’t resting on their laurels, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic. “I think we’re playing a very effective brand of basketball,” Malone said. “Our defense has been pretty good. Our offense, besides turning the ball over too much, has been very good. I’m always looking for improvement, so I think we can be playing so much better on both ends of the floor. But there has been no championship hangover from our guys coming into this season. There has been no thought that we can just turn it on because we’re the defending champs, and the guys deserve a lot of credit for that. They have understood the responsibility that comes along with winning a championship. And for most nights of the year, they have come out with that proper mindset and approach.”
The Timberwolves have the league’s best defense early on in 2023/24, but their offense looked sluggish until Saturday’s dismantling of the Jazz, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Karl-Anthony Towns, who had been in a shooting slump, finished with a season-high 25 points (on 7-of-14 from the field and 9-of-10 from the line), while Anthony Edwards had his most efficient scoring night as well (31 points on 13-of-19 shooting). Having both former No. 1 overall picks playing well at the same time may be the biggest key to unlocking Minnesota’s offensive upside, Krawczynski notes. “They’re both hard-wired scorers,” head coach Chris Finch said. “When they see it go in a couple of times, they want to see it go in 10 times in a row. That can be a good thing, but it also can be something you gotta watch. Tonight it felt good.”
Edwards admits his “selfish” play has been a detriment at times for the Timberwolves‘ offense, and he’s working on impacting the game beyond just scoring, per Chris Hine of The Star Tribune. “Starting with myself, just can’t come out being selfish, worrying about however many points I wanna score,” Edwards said. “I think that’s the main thing with me. I be worried so much about scoring and how many points I got and how many points I’m tryin’ to get instead of just worrying about the little things — rebounding, boxing out, getting back on [defense]. … I think if I come out with the mentality of not worrying about points, we’ll be all right.”

Scotto’s Latest: Suns, Pacers, Knicks, Wright, Hornets, More

July 15th, 2023 at 2:32pm CST by Rory Maher

The Suns, Pacers and Knicks recently had exploratory trade talks on a deal that would have sent Cameron Payne to New York, T.J. McConnell to Phoenix, and Evan Fournier and draft picks to Indiana, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. Other iterations of the deal included Jordan Nwora, according to Scotto, though it’s unclear where the Pacers forward would have ended up in that framework.

However, the talks on the three-team trade have stalled, Scotto reports. Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports was first to report the Suns and Pacers discussed a deal involving Payne and McConnell, and suggested the Knicks may have been involved as well.

Here’s more from Scotto’s latest article for HoopsHype:

League sources tell Scotto that the Hornets are on the hunt for a backup point guard after Dennis Smith Jr. signed with the Nets in free agency. As Scotto previously reported, Charlotte had interest in Aaron Holiday, but he wound up signing with the Rockets. According to Scotto, one player on Charlotte’s radar is Wizards guard Delon Wright, who will make $8.2MM next season in the final year of his contract. The Wizards traded for Tyus Jones and Jordan Poole, and Wright was signed by the previous front office regime. The 31-year-old has already seen his name pop up in a few other trade rumors this offseason.
Scotto recently spoke to a handful of second-round picks at Summer League about their goals entering their rookie seasons. Those players are Nuggets guard Jalen Pickett, Celtics forward Jordan Walsh, and Mouhamed Gueye and Seth Lundy of the Hawks. Walsh, the No. 38 pick of the 2023 draft, has high expectations for himself, he told Scotto. “If I get a chance to play with these guys and help the team, I want to be on the All-Defensive First or Second Team or Defensive Player of the Year,” Walsh said. “My goals are defensively oriented and winning a championship, which is No. 1. If I’m able to accomplish any of those things, I’d feel my rookie year went pretty well.”
In case you missed it, we passed along some Raptors rumors and free agent rumors from Scotto as well.

Julian Strawther Signs Rookie Contract With Nuggets

July 6th, 2023 at 2:34pm CST by Rory Maher

The Nuggets have signed No. 29 overall pick Julian Strawther to his rookie scale contract, according to the official transaction log at NBA.com.

Strawther, 21, played three college seasons at Gonzaga before putting his name in the 2023 draft as an early entrant. In 37 games (31.2 MPG) with the Bulldogs in 2022/23, the small forward averaged 15.2 points and 6.2 rebounds on .469/.408/.776 shooting.

The Celtics originally held the No. 29 pick, but traded it to the Pacers last year in the Malcolm Brogdon deal. The Pacers sent the rights to the Nos. 29 and 32 picks to Denver as part of a four-team trade last month.

Speaking of the No. 32 pick, Jalen Pickett‘s four-year contract with the Nuggets is now official, per NBA.com, as is Hunter Tyson‘s (No. 37). Denver also acquired the rights to Tyson in the four-team deal.

Assuming he receives the maximum allowable 120% of the rookie scale amount, which virtually every first-rounder does, Strawther will earn approximately $2.4MM as a rookie and nearly $12.5MM if he plays out his full four-year rookie contract. The first two years are guaranteed, while the third and fourth are team options.