Can the Denver Nuggets bounce back from a challenging season and reclaim their competitive edge? Join us on "Fandom From Afar" as we kick off our return with a fervent celebration of the Boston Celtics' championship triumph, acknowledging their dominant and well-earned victory. Even though our cherished Denver Nuggets faced a tough season conclusion, we delve into their playoff performance, citing exhaustion and underlining the critical necessity of keeping Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to retain the team's core strength. The importance of this offseason for the Nuggets cannot be overstated, and we express hope and confidence for brighter days ahead.
In our postseason analysis, we tackle the struggles that plagued the Nuggets, particularly spotlighting Jamal Murray's challenges with defensive pressure and the pressing requirement for more playmakers. We discuss potential draft picks and budget-friendly veteran free agents who could fortify the roster, emphasizing the need for defensive acumen and versatile play. As we wrap up the season with a heartfelt thank you to our listeners, we also unveil exciting summer plans, including engaging guests, innovative theme shows, and interactive games. Tune in for an offseason brimming with insightful analysis and exhilarating content!
Can the Denver Nuggets bounce back from a challenging season and reclaim their competitive edge? Join us on "Fandom From Afar" as we kick off our return with a fervent celebration of the Boston Celtics' championship triumph, acknowledging their dominant and well-earned victory. Even though our cherished Denver Nuggets faced a tough season conclusion, we delve into their playoff performance, citing exhaustion and underlining the critical necessity of keeping Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to retain the team's core strength. The importance of this offseason for the Nuggets cannot be overstated, and we express hope and confidence for brighter days ahead.
In our postseason analysis, we tackle the struggles that plagued the Nuggets, particularly spotlighting Jamal Murray's challenges with defensive pressure and the pressing requirement for more playmakers. We discuss potential draft picks and budget-friendly veteran free agents who could fortify the roster, emphasizing the need for defensive acumen and versatile play. As we wrap up the season with a heartfelt thank you to our listeners, we also unveil exciting summer plans, including engaging guests, innovative theme shows, and interactive games. Tune in for an offseason brimming with insightful analysis and exhilarating content!
All right, everyone, welcome back to Fandom From Afar. It has been a little while since we've recorded. The first part of our little break was because I was so sad that the Nuggets lost so sad. But the second part was I just got back from a family vacation and that was really fun. And now I am rested and, more importantly, recovered after some time to reflect on the season and the season officially now being over, with the Celtics being the new champions. Congratulations, boston. Past guest James Uh, past guest James and future guest Jarrett. I uh I'm happy for you. I I uh wish it was me, but again, I'm happy for you guys. You guys are real fans and I hope that the Nuggets can take you guys down next year.
Speaker 1:
So, like I said, I was thinking a lot about the season and now that the sadness has worn off, I will say Boston was the best team this year. They obviously had by far the best record. They dominated the East, because a lot of the teams in the East are so terrible at basketball and they did get a little lucky in the playoffs. All the star players that they were facing got hurt, but once they faced Dallas, dallas was healthy. They have two star players and Boston destroyed them. So Boston, I think, no doubt best team. They deserve the championship. I'm happy for a lot of those players. They have a lot of guys that if you like basketball, you can't help. But, like Derek White, is just amazing. Drew Holiday you even started to like Porzingis as the playoffs went on. Like he, I think man, he, he was trying to get out there at the end just to be a positive part of the team, cause you know he's been fighting for through injuries the whole season. And so I think Jalen, jason Tatum, they all deserve it. They're they're good players, it's, it's just man. Celtics have won so many championships. They need to spread the wealth a little bit. But I'm happy, like I said, for James and for Jarrett, the two biggest Celtics fans in my life. So good job, guys.
Speaker 1:
Now I will say a lot of people have been saying that the Nuggets maybe let the Celtics off the hook by losing to Minnesota. If you forgot, we had a 20-point lead in Game 7 at home and blew it. But they're saying that because we match up really well with Dallas and then in our two matchups with Boston we looked good this season as well. But I think I've come to the decision that the Nuggets were just dead tired. I don't think it mattered whether we blew the lead to Minnesota in game seven or if we were going to get destroyed by Dallas or Boston in the next round or two, because the Nuggets just had no energy. They were beaten down by the season and it was not their year. So I think we can easily say Nuggets were the best team last year, celtics best team this year. I think we all deserve a Nuggets versus Celtics championship battle this upcoming year.
Speaker 1:
But now we move into the offseason. Last year when the Nuggets won, I was listening to every podcast and watching every video I could possibly get my hands on, whereas this season I am ready to move into the offseason right now really quick on some of the goals that I think the Nuggets should have players that I think can help accomplish those goals and then kind of a dream scenario at the end. So it shouldn't take more than a few minutes because, truthfully, the Nuggets don't have a lot of flexibility and not many options, so it'll be a quick one. So, truthfully, it's a pretty big off season for the nuggets. Um, they have built their team on having just having guys get to know each other, kind of grow up together and really learn how to play as a team. Um between the nuggets in Boston they really have that starting five that just plays so well together and the Nuggets are hoping to keep that going.
Speaker 1:
But Contavious Caldwell Pope is a free agent this year and if the Nuggets want to keep him, it is going to cost them quite a bit of money, not just for his contract, but because they are so expensive as a team overall, then it is going to cost them not only extra dollars because of the tax, but also it'll cost them flexibility in making certain roster moves, which there's some guys that are just. There's some guys that are just wizards at all of the salary cap and all the rules with the salary cap, all that goes into it. So if you're interested in more details, I would say look up videos from them, because I am not your guy. But they need to keep KCP. There's really not a great way to replace him if he leaves Now.
Speaker 1:
This is not similar to the Bruce Brown extension last year, where we had him on such a good contract that legally we just were not allowed to pay him even close to what he ended up getting, and so it was understandable when the Nuggets lost Bruce Brown and he ended up signing with the Pacers for over $20 million and I think the Nuggets were only able to offer him like 8 million or so. So it was totally understandable for him and for the Nuggets why they weren't able to sign him Now for KCP this year. Like I said, because of certain rules, we own rights because of how long he's played for us and his contract, where, no matter what people offer him, we can match it if we want. Now, like I said, it will get extremely expensive for us and he's worth probably more than we would like to pay him, but I guess we're kind of hoping for a little bit of a hometown discount. Maybe he loves playing with the rest of the starting five. Maybe he really wants to win a championship this year, because the teams that are kind of looking to sign him, that have money to sign him, would not necessarily be championship quality teams. They're good teams but probably not at the level of the Nuggets. So hopefully all those other factors besides the most money will factor into KCP's decision and I hope we can get him to stay because he's a leader on the team. He's one of our best shooters, one of our best defenders. Just that chemistry with the starting five would be really hard to replace.
Speaker 1:
So that is goal number one is keep KCP. Goal number two we need to add some backup quality players. The reason I think the Nuggets lost this year is because they had to play their starters so much, because every time the bench came in it was just a disaster and it was almost guaranteed to lose 10 points. Whether we were winning by 10 points or already down by 10 points, we were going to lose 10 points. Whether we were winning by 10 points or already down by 10 points, we were going to lose 10 points, no matter if it was for two minutes, five minutes, 20 seconds. Somehow the bench always managed to lose all sorts of points. So we need to add a backup big or two to give Jokic and Aaron Gordon a little bit of a rest, and we need to add some more ball handling.
Speaker 1:
This postseason really showed that not only does Jamal struggle when there's a defender that can really pressure him, but we have no other options besides him, and so that puts all the pressure on him and he obviously did not do great with that. Lots of bad turnovers. He got exhausted, but that's also just a team flaw that we had no one else to go to and so we need to get him some help. And whether it's maybe bigger wings that can handle the ball a little bit kind of like Aaron Gordon's decent at handling the ball or just legit backup point guards that that can take the pressure off Jamal, I think would be huge. So backups that can actually play and not be terrible. That is goal number two, and the third goal is just to get rest and get healthy.
Speaker 1:
Now this should seem obvious, but the Olympics are this year and the Nuggets have a few players playing in the Olympics or scheduled to play in the Olympics. Jokic is obviously going to play for Serbia, jamal Murray will play for Canada and then Vlatko Cancar will play for Slovenia with Luka. Now Vlatko was hurt all last year so this will be his first action back. So part of me is very excited to help him get back in shape and just kind of shake the rust off. But part of me is actually really scared that he's going to get hurt again and then we won't have our Vlatko for the whole year again. But the Olympics should be fun kind of get our basketball fix in this summer. There's quite a few stacked teams. Obviously, usa is bringing all the old guys that are wanting one more run, and then Joel Embiid joined up with them just because he wants to win something. France is loaded Obviously I'm a little bit biased, but Serbia is loaded and it should just be fun. I'm really excited about the Olympics, is loaded and it should just be fun, like I'm. I'm really excited about the Olympics.
Speaker 1:
So out of the three goals, keeping KCP, adding a backup and a big or back a big and some ball handlers, uh, and rest, the draft and free agency are coming up really soon. So obviously that goes into goal number two of adding the backups. Now this can come either through draft or free agency. I'm not really particular into which way we fill those holes. Hopefully it's both. Coach Malone is probably more likely to play veteran guys. So if we can sign them to little minimum deals and they can actually play similar to what Justin Holliday provided for them last year, I think that would be huge if we could get some veterans in that just want to be on a good team and potentially win a championship.
Speaker 1:
So the draft is coming up this week on Wednesday and I have a few guys that I want to just give us possibilities. Obviously, I am just going off of the draft experts that I follow on social media and on podcasts. They spend all the time crunching the film and have their opinions, and I have a few guys that I really enjoy and I just try and take little bits and pieces from a bunch of different people and just kind of find my guys that I'm hoping for. It's worked out well in the past. Jamal Murray was one of my guys way back when, and I've had some other guys that I really wanted the nuggets to draft and they turned out to be no good. So it's just a good example of I don't know what I'm talking about, but I like to guess and it's fun. So here's a couple possibilities for the draft-eligible guys that we could be getting this week. The Nuggets have two picks at the end of the first round, end of the second round.
Speaker 1:
Now it's always possible that they make some trades to either move up or move down, but if they stay where they are, um, some big man candidates are Deron Holmes out of Dayton. He's kind of like a uh, a six, nine do everything pretty well guy. Um, I enjoyed watching him in the tournament. I think he'd be an awesome addition. Kyle Filipowski from Duke he's more of a traditional big man, but I think he can actually shoot as well. I kind of see him almost turning out. He's not as big, but I can see him playing the same style as like a Brooke Lopez does for Milwaukee.
Speaker 1:
There's a guy that I just discovered yesterday. His name is Adam Bona. He plays for, or he played for, ucla, and apparently he just never runs out of energy. Super good at defense, and I think the Nuggets could use somebody like that. Just pair him up with Peyton Watson and Christian Brown and nobody will be scoring on the bench. So those are a few big guys that I like that we could possibly draft. As far as ball handling goes, I fell in love with Tyler Kolick from Marquette in the March Madness tournament. He just always seems to be kind of like a step ahead of everybody, has great vision, not super athletic, but just always moving at his own pace, and just always was able to get to the basket and score. So I really like him.
Speaker 1:
Tristan Newton I think he played for UConn. He's won the championship the last couple of years. He's another one of those guys that's not great at anything but is just a great basketball player, so I think he would be awesome. I think he might be one of my top choices. Jamal Sheed he's just an amazing defender. If the Nuggets want to go all in on defense and get Bona and Sheed as our two draft picks this year, I would not mind that just because they are elite at what they do. And then there's Cam Spencer, another UConn guy. I'm kind of all in to what UConn has been doing. They just seem to get the right guys that know how to play as a team and just play winning basketball. So if you can, why not pick up as many of those guys as possible? And then free agency will start right after the draft.
Speaker 1:
Some big guys that I think the Nuggets could possibly afford Like I said, they're probably going to have to be minimum guys, so no all-stars here, but I think they could fit well would be guys like Andre Drummond, goga Batase, daniel Theis, or even bring back Mason Plumlee. So nobody that's going to wow us, and not Maybe Goga has a little bit of upside still, but no one's going to be just excited that we got them, but they could fill a huge need If Jokic can just get like 10 to 15 minutes off every night and not have to carry the team every minute of every single game, that would just be huge. And then for ball handling, I like Chris Dunn, vasi Misic he's going to be on Serbia with Jokic and then DeLon Wright I think would be good options for the Nuggets because ideally we get a mix of veterans and young guys to add to that ball handling, to add to some size, and then that way Coach Malone has a few options and it's not just all young guys are all old guys that their knees are hurting, so it'd be nice to have a nice little mix. So I mentioned at the beginning, I do have a dream scenario in mind and we'll see how close I can get in a couple of weeks. We'll check back in. Obviously, if I get it right, you will hear all about it. But, as always, if I'm wrong I may not even bring it up. So obviously, first one would be keep KCP at all costs. I don't care if it gets expensive, I don't care if we lose flexibility. I think we should be trying to do whatever we can to win right now, to take advantage of having one of the best players that has ever played the game and we need to help him win.
Speaker 1:
I would say, in the draft my dream scenario would be if we drafted Deron Holmes and either Tyler Kolick or Tristan Newton. I think I would be just ecstatic with a combination of those three guys. I think would make the Nuggets better, not only now but in the future and then for free agency. I like Goga. He played for the Magic last year, goga Batate, and he's a younger guy but I think we could get him for the minimum, just because he's kind of bounced around a little bit and I think he could learn a little bit from Jokic and being on a Nuggets team, and so I think he'd be the ideal backup center, not only to play ahead of Deron Holmes but also play with him. And then I would love it if we could sign either Chris Dunn or DeLon Wright, just that veteran leadership, someone that's not going to be scared when, like Minnesota or OKC, has amazing perimeter defenders. They just traded for Alex Caruso and they are going to be tough to play in the playoffs once all those guys are playing their hearts out for the playoffs. We need more ball handlers and I think those veterans could help us out. We'll see.
Speaker 1:
Hopefully the Nuggets do exactly like I said, because I think that's just pretty much a guaranteed championship. So thanks for listening everybody, and I really appreciate everyone that listened for this entire Nugget season. Like I said, we still have some fun stuff planned for the summer, even though the Nuggets won't be playing, some fun guests lined up. I have some theme shows that I'm excited to try out and, of course, we'll be playing lots of games with all the guests. So thanks so much. Bye.