Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray (27) catches his breath during the fourth quarter of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 98-90 win at Ball Arena in Denver on Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
A week after the NBA opened free agency negotiations, the Nuggets have made one notable addition, two notable deletions and dozens of Russ-themed headlines.
Even during a relatively quiet offseason, there’s a lot to get through.
Why hasn’t Jamal Murray’s contract extension happened yet?
With one year remaining on his current contract, Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray is eligible for a four-year, $208.5 million extension this summer, and Shams Charania of The Athletic reported in June that the two sides are expected to agree to a max deal this summer. So why hasn’t that extension been signed yet?
Extension negotiations are temporarily on hold for now, but Murray and the Nuggets will likely reach an agreement once the Olympics are over, according to a league source.
Murray has been in national team training camp this week to prepare for the Paris Olympics, a career milestone he has coveted for years. He and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are the leaders of the Canadian team that will face the United States in an exhibition match Wednesday in Las Vegas. Murray’s Olympic debut will be July 27 in Lille, France, where Canada will face Greece in a group-stage opener. Giannis Antetokounmpo and his teammates officially booked their spot Sunday with a win over Croatia.
Injury risk naturally comes with competing at a high level in the offseason, and Murray has already been hampered by various leg injuries throughout a season in the NBA playoffs. Staying healthy during international competition will obviously be imperative for him, with a max extension likely awaiting him in Denver.
The 2024 playoffs were by far the worst of Murray’s career, the first time he averaged fewer points in the playoffs than he did in the regular season. He shot 40 percent from the field and made just 31.5 percent of his three-pointers as Denver was eliminated in the second round. Early in the offseason, Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth challenged Murray to “do some research on what that looks like, surviving a season after playing through June.”
But Murray is a championship-caliber star when he’s at his best, and the Nuggets still hope to get an extension. In the 2020 and 2023 playoffs combined, he averaged 26.3 points and 6.9 assists per game on 48.8% shooting (42.3% from three-point range). His ability to elevate his game was a key aspect of Denver’s two deepest playoff runs in the Nikola Jokic era. When he wasn’t healthy in 2021 and 2022, the Nuggets didn’t advance past the second round either year.
Nikola Jokic’s involvement in Russell Westbrook thinking
The Nuggets are still expected to sign veteran center DeAndre Jordan, league sources say. Once that happens, they will have one roster spot left and will still lack a guard who can handle the ball behind Murray. Russell Westbrook remains a target for that role, sources say, and Denver is widely considered the most likely destination for the future Hall of Famer, who picked up a $4 million player option with the Clippers at the end of June.
Nikola Jokic has indeed endorsed the idea of acquiring Westbrook, according to a league source, but he has not reached out to management to demand or pressure Denver to make it happen. The Nuggets value their superstar’s opinion and take it into account when evaluating potential roster moves, as most teams do. In this case? Jokic has spent time with Westbrook at multiple All-Star Games and has always admired his game, as well as his competitiveness and intensity, a source said, making Westbrook an attractive teammate.
The 2016-17 league MVP averaged 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists last season, mostly as a backup in Los Angeles. He also had one of his best defensive seasons en route to a seventh-place finish in NBA Sixth Man of the Year voting. He struggled, however, in the Clippers’ first-round playoff series against Dallas, which they lost in six games.
Reggie Jackson part of six-team trade
The Nuggets technically made history this weekend.
Dallas announced its sign-and-trade deal for Klay Thompson, and it turns out Denver’s salary-cutting maneuver that traded Reggie Jackson to Charlotte over a week ago ended up being part of the same six-team trade.
The first trade between six teams in league history.
This is all pretty complicated, even by NBA standards. But it doesn’t change the substance or purpose of the trade for the Nuggets. They’re still sending the same assets (three future second-round picks) and they’re still getting the same thing back (cash).
They will not receive a second-round pick from anyone in the trade, a team spokesperson said, contrary to a Hornets press release that indicated otherwise.
The only thing that changed was that six teams were involved – Denver, Charlotte, Dallas, Golden State, Philadelphia and Minnesota – instead of two.
KCP’s first comments in Orlando
The Orlando Magic made their acquisition of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope official over the weekend. Caldwell-Pope, who signed a three-year, $66 million contract to end his two-year stint with the Nuggets, spoke to reporters in Orlando on Saturday.
“I’m always chasing a title. But that was one of my ideas, to see their progress,” KCP said. “Them making the playoffs, taking Cleveland to Game 7, that was enough for me. They got a little taste of that pressure, of what it takes to get past the first round.”
As for his departure from Denver, Caldwell-Pope paused when asked how difficult his decision was.
“It took me a while to think about it, I would say, to make my decision to leave or not. But it didn’t make sense to wait and see if (Denver) was going to come back with an offer,” he said. “But my first priority is my family and making sure we’re good at all times. And just being able to be a part of this organization, they wanted me as much as I wanted to be a part of this team, too. That made it easier to sign here, too.”
Caldwell-Pope posted a farewell message to Denver on social media Monday, saying: “I cherished every moment of wearing the Nuggets jersey… from the fans and your support, to my teammates, your belief in me and our brotherhood, and the unforgettable championship win in this incredible city. My family and I felt the love, and we thank you for it.”
List Status
Fans have been understandably confused and impatient as nearly a week has passed without Denver making a single free-agent move. The slow pace of this offseason shouldn’t be interpreted as a lack of effort or vision. Booth went to Greece for a reason. Two, actually. Croatian big man Dario Saric was deliberate in his decision-making process, but he was always a prime target, one the Nuggets deemed worthy of their mid-level exception. They couldn’t have signed him without losing Caldwell-Pope.
And if Denver does end up getting Westbrook, he’ll represent a potential two-way upgrade over Jackson at a more affordable price.
How much will those trades amount to (if they happen)? Are the acquisitions worth the sacrifices? There are some good questions to ask. On paper, Denver’s starting five is about to deteriorate without Caldwell-Pope. But the Nuggets are betting that their core four-man lineup will be good enough to contend for the title, regardless of who starts fifth. This offseason, the bet is on Christian Braun, but it’s also safe to assume that whoever the fifth man is will still benefit from playing alongside the other four.
If that’s Jokic’s true superpower, then perhaps it was wiser for Denver to focus on improving a shaky bench by adding players whose skill sets allow for malleable lineups.
Saric provides that, in theory. He has a chance to be Jokic’s best backup center in years, but he can also play a four with Jokic, or even space the floor next to two other bigs. Draft pick DaRon Holmes II is just as versatile, if his shooting translates to the next level. Westbrook is a bit more complex. If he becomes a Nugget, his shooting limitations would be difficult to manage, but he could also mesh well enough with Jokic that Denver would feel more comfortable staggering several other starters with the second unit. Maybe Murray and Westbrook could play together in certain configurations. Or maybe Michael Malone would feel content using Westbrook heavily with the second unit as an authoritarian floor general.
Regardless, Denver was pretty rigid in its reliance on a single five-man unit last season after losing Bruce Brown. And for good reason: Everyone in and around the Nuggets loved being able to feature the best starting five in the NBA.
But it didn’t just limit the opportunities for young players to share minutes with more balanced lineups throughout the regular season; ultimately, even the NBA’s best five starters fell short against Minnesota.
Which brings us to the central question of this offseason in Denver: Is breaking up this five-man unit worth the trade-off for what the Nuggets envision as better depth and variety?
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