Latest / Moser, Lombardi and Kane / 6-23-26 Hour 3 - Adam Mares previews the NBA Draft/Nuggets are still contenders/Miami in the mix

Transcript

6-23-26 Hour 3 - Adam Mares previews the NBA Draft/Nuggets are still contenders/Miami in the mix · Moser, Lombardi and Kane

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: This is Mosher, Lombardy and Kane on demand. Listen live
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: every weekday morning from seven to ten on Altitude Sports
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Radio ninety two five and on the Altitude Sports Radio app.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: All right, let's set out to the Ramos Law Hotline.
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: Car accident you need Ramos Law Medical doctor and attorney
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: ramas Law dot com.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: As we are joined. Happy to be joined by Adam.
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: Aras, a DNVR host of the All City Podcast with
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: Tim Legler.
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: Adam, what's Upboddy?
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  Speaker 4: Hey guys doing It's a good day, a good day
• 0:35
  Speaker 4: for the NBA draft.
• 0:36
  Speaker 5: I have like how professional you are with your studio,
• 0:39
  Speaker 5: your link up, this looks good, microphone, everything is. I mean,
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  Speaker 5: if Moser showed half of your professionalism when he went
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  Speaker 5: on on assignment, it'd be a different story. So Adam,
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  Speaker 5: first of all, congratulations to you. I remember when we
• 0:54
  Speaker 5: did this morning show many many years ago and you
• 0:56
  Speaker 5: would come on with us once a week, and Adam,
• 1:00
  Speaker 5: you weren't as well known as you are today and
• 1:02
  Speaker 5: your career has just exploded and blossomed. And extremely proud
• 1:06
  Speaker 5: of the work you've done.
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: I appreciate that. Man. It's been a fun journey and
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: covering this Nuggets team has been fun. Does it feel
• 1:14
  Speaker 4: to you this is the first year it doesn't feel fun?
• 1:17
  Speaker 4: Or this first off season where I don't you know,
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: I'm more nervous. I would say that I am excited.
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  Speaker 5: It feels like work. Now. Before you're adding pieces. Before
• 1:27
  Speaker 5: it seemed like the last four or five years, you're
• 1:29
  Speaker 5: adding pieces, you're adding ingredients, right, and you're stirring up
• 1:33
  Speaker 5: a championship team. And now you're wondering if wait, should
• 1:37
  Speaker 5: we just turn the stove off and try again? Now
• 1:39
  Speaker 5: you're starting to wonder what to do, and you're exactly right.
• 1:42
  Speaker 5: Nothing would surprise me tonight. Nothing. I gave a bread
• 1:47
  Speaker 5: a list of options. What do you think the Nuggets?
• 1:50
  Speaker 5: He gave me a list of fifteen options and he
• 1:53
  Speaker 5: just wouldn't go through it. What do you think the
• 1:55
  Speaker 5: Nuggets do with that pick tonight?
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  Speaker 4: Well, first of all, I'm with you. This is the
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: That's part of what makes this summer uncomfortable is there
• 2:02
  Speaker 4: are a lot of directions they can go, but none
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  Speaker 4: of them feel great, none of them feel like the
• 2:06
  Speaker 4: right move. They all just feel like a step you'd
• 2:09
  Speaker 4: have to take. I think tonight the draft really represents
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: Denver has to get off of money in order to
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: re sign Peyton Watson, and I believe that is a
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: top priority for them, or one of the top priorities
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  Speaker 4: for them, because of all the options they have, he
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: represents the one with the longest future. He represents Okay,
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: if you hit this right, if he becomes the player
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: you hope he can be, you're going to have him
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: for the rest of Jokic's prime and he's going to
• 2:35
  Speaker 4: grow over those years. All the other options, you know,
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: don't have that same future. So tonight represents they have
• 2:43
  Speaker 4: to cut some money unless they want to be a
• 2:45
  Speaker 4: second Apron team and pay this three hundred and fifty
• 2:47
  Speaker 4: million dollar tax bill. They have to start shedding money,
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  Speaker 4: and this twenty sixth pick is probably their best lever
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  Speaker 4: to do that. So tonight, that's what I'm really looking for.
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: Maybe they use it to take a player, maybe they
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: trade up in the draft in the draft, but my
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: hunch is they need to be in a much better
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  Speaker 4: position by the end of today to re sign Peyton
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  Speaker 4: Watson than they are right now. And that's why tonight
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  Speaker 4: feels more like a move that feels sacrificial, you know,
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: a move that doesn't feel good but it sets the
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: table for them to retain Peyton.
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  Speaker 5: Follow up question, though, if you get rid of a
• 3:19
  Speaker 5: first round pick or whatever, and you use that money
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  Speaker 5: for Peyton Watson, how do you fill up the rest
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  Speaker 5: of your roster. You're not gonna have any money left.
• 3:27
  Speaker 5: You still have a couple spots on the roster that
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  Speaker 5: you have to fulfill.
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  Speaker 4: I think that's the situation Denver's in, and as you know,
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  Speaker 4: having to fill out the roster with veteran minimums and
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: what you'd call second draft guys. You know, guys who
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: are still young but maybe didn't hit, you know, Doron Holmes.
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  Speaker 4: Other teams might view Doron Holmes as a second draft guy,
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  Speaker 4: a guy who hasn't played a whole lot, but hey,
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  Speaker 4: we liked him in the draft. Let's see if our
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  Speaker 4: system works. So that's how I think you're gonna have
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  Speaker 4: to fill out the roster. And I know that doesn't
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  Speaker 4: sound great, and indeed it's not great if you don't
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  Speaker 4: have a lot of money to fill with you know,
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  Speaker 4: four or five key players. But I will say if
• 4:00
  Speaker 4: you look around the league, a lot of teams that
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: are winning or finding success with guys on cheap contracts
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  Speaker 4: and guys who surprised Oklahoma City aj Mitchell. You know,
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  Speaker 4: this is a guy they got. They got for three
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  Speaker 4: million a year, young player, Nobody really thought much of him.
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  Speaker 4: All of a sudden, he can start for you in
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  Speaker 4: a playoff series and win you games. You look around
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  Speaker 4: the league and there's a lot of teams that have
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  Speaker 4: been able to find those guys. I think Spencer Jones
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  Speaker 4: is one of those guys, by the way, you know,
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  Speaker 4: not exactly an expensive guy, but a guy that I
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  Speaker 4: think can be part of a championship rotation. So Denver,
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  Speaker 4: I think, is gonna have to solidify their starting lineup,
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  Speaker 4: their core guys, and then they're gonna have to find three,
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  Speaker 4: four or five guys that they can play off their bench,
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  Speaker 4: all that are on minimum or rookie scale contracts. And
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  Speaker 4: it seems difficult, but it's not hopeless because that is
• 4:43
  Speaker 4: kind of the way the NBA is going.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it goes that way.
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  Speaker 3: But I think it's something I've called the circle of
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: death Adam, and it's gone through both Malone and now Adalman,
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  Speaker 3: where you have guys like Julian Strawther or Doron Holmes
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: or Jalen Pickett, or you take whoever these guys are,
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: and it's like, why don't they play because they don't
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: trust them? Why don't you trust them because they don't play?
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  Speaker 3: And at some point you have to rip the band
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  Speaker 3: aid off and just see if they can do it.
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  Speaker 2: I'm kind of tired.
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  Speaker 3: Of like talking about these guys and saying I don't
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: know if they can play or not because they don't
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  Speaker 3: see it enough.
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  Speaker 4: I think that this is the biggest change between the
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: winning teams and the losing teams over the last two
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  Speaker 4: or three years. And you know, the league evolves, the
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  Speaker 4: salary cap structure changes, you know, every five, six, seven years,
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  Speaker 4: and teams have to adjust to what the CBA allows
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  Speaker 4: for or what it incentivizes. And right now, the winning
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: teams are teams that in the regular season play twelve
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  Speaker 4: guys thirteen guys. They develop everybody on their roster because
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: they wont have to survive eighty two games, which is
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: becoming increasingly difficult in the NBA and this pace in
• 5:48
  Speaker 4: space era, you're getting all these soft tissue injuries, so
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: you have to expand your rotation, but you also just
• 5:54
  Speaker 4: have to develop because you don't know if you have
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: an aj Mitchell on your roster, a guy that can
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: emerge when give an opportunity. So when Josh Kronky at
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: the end of the year went to the podium and
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: addressed the Denver media, he talked about complacency in the
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: organization that he didn't realize was there until it.
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  Speaker 5: Was too late.
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  Speaker 4: And I've been trying to think about what that complacency means.
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  Speaker 4: I think it probably refers to a lot of different things,
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  Speaker 4: perhaps player dynamics and a bunch of different things, but
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  Speaker 4: I think one of them is the idea that as
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  Speaker 4: an organization, we have to view this as a system
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  Speaker 4: that develops the type of players. If you need four
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  Speaker 4: or five guys on really cheap contracts to be playable,
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  Speaker 4: then you have to invest in six or seven guys
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  Speaker 4: and hope that four or five of them hit. And
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  Speaker 4: I think that's a shift the Denver organization has to
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  Speaker 4: take this year. Whether you believe in your guys or not,
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  Speaker 4: you have to find out over the course of eighty
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  Speaker 4: two games, who can play and who ended.
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  Speaker 5: That's hard to do when you've given away all these
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  Speaker 5: draft picks, when your assets are all gone. I mean,
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  Speaker 5: you have the number in front of you, how many
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  Speaker 5: second rounders between now and thirty two. There Brett, it's.
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  Speaker 2: This year and they don't have another one until he
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  Speaker 2: believe thirty three.
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  Speaker 5: I mean, how do you build that? How do you
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  Speaker 5: do that?
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  Speaker 4: It is tough. But again the draft is getting in
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  Speaker 4: interesting too with Nil because one of the things that's
• 7:05
  Speaker 4: happened in this draft, and one of the reasons I
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  Speaker 4: hope they trade the pick tonight. I don't really love
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  Speaker 4: any of the guys at twenty six, But what's happening
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  Speaker 4: with nil is if you're a late first rounder, or
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  Speaker 4: especially if you're a second round pick, the dream of
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: going to the NBA can wait because you might be
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: able to go back to college make four or five
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  Speaker 4: million dollars. And so I think the spot that Denver's
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  Speaker 4: picking in, you know, you can find value now outside
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  Speaker 4: of the draft. You can find value in the second draft,
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  Speaker 4: as I'm calling it. And again, while it's better to
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  Speaker 4: be picking at thirteen and twelve and ten of these
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  Speaker 4: in that area, I do think you can find guys
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  Speaker 4: who just fit your system, who are maybe a little
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  Speaker 4: bit more seasoned. Maybe they're not nineteen years old, but
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  Speaker 4: maybe they're twenty five years old, twenty four years old.
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  Speaker 4: Haven't quite broke out yet and you pick them up
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  Speaker 4: and you say, Okay, this guy can give us two
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  Speaker 4: or three years in our system. So look, I'm not
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  Speaker 4: trying to sugarcoat it because I don't think it's an
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  Speaker 4: optimistic position they're in, but they can find value. And
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  Speaker 4: I always come back to Nikola Jokic is the guy
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: we think he is. He gets you halfway there. Your
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: team is always halfway there when you have Jokic on it,
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  Speaker 4: and so you really just have to hit on a
• 8:09
  Speaker 4: handful of guys and build a system and culture that
• 8:11
  Speaker 4: can sustain the eighty two game season.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: Adamar is with us at DNVR. I'm totally with you.
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  Speaker 3: By the way, I think the number one priority of
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: this offseason is making sure that Watson's here, because he
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: just feels to me like somebody that's everything that you're
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: looking for. A young asset who is tall, lengthy, athletic,
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: got some offensive game. He's developing. But there's been a
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: criticism that the Nuggets have jumped the gun too early
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: on guys Christian Brown's contract whatever. You'd kind of be
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: doing that again because you're basing all of the Watson potential.
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: At least I am off of essentially what a month
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: and a half of really good play that he had
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  Speaker 3: this year.
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  Speaker 2: It is a little bit of a risk.
• 8:49
  Speaker 4: I mean, there's no question that that's a risk. I
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: think the Nuggets maybe their biggest misstep really of the
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: Jokich era might have been last summer when they offered
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: that extension to Christian Brown, not because he is not
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: a really good player, but because the entire point of
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: drafting both Christian Brown and Peyton Watson was that you
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: had an insurance policy against yourself. We've got two players,
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: let's play this out and see how it goes. Obviously
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: didn't work out that way and now they're in the squeeze.
• 9:11
  Speaker 4: But to me, yes, it's a risk for Peyton Watson.
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: I think it's the best risk you can take, too,
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  Speaker 4: because it might go belly up. He might never develop
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: into the person or player that you're hoping he can be.
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: If you're signing him to a deal that I think
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: they're going to sign him to, you know, which would
• 9:26
  Speaker 4: probably be around twenty five million a year for over
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  Speaker 4: three or four years. You're counting on him to be
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: a major impact player, top three caliber talent on your roster,
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: you know, going forward and there's just a good chance
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: that doesn't work out, even if he is a very
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: good player. But that risk is less in my eyes,
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: It's less than the idea of getting on a different treadmill.
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: You talked about the treadmill of not playing guys. The
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: other treadmill is you don't have any money to spend
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: and you just keep trying to chase free agents on
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: cheap deals a year after year. And this is part
• 9:57
  Speaker 4: of what happened to Milwaukee, where they didn't have anything
• 9:59
  Speaker 4: that last more than a season. It's all right, this season,
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: let's throw these guys together. I didn't work this season.
• 10:04
  Speaker 4: Let's throw these guys together. And that's a different treadmill
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: that I think the Nuggets would find themselves on if
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: they can't get some young talent on long term deals.
• 10:10
  Speaker 5: So who goes to sign Peyton Watson?
• 10:14
  Speaker 4: I think that's what's so fascinating about tonight is I
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: think you can make a case for four different guys,
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: all four starters not named Jokic. The likeliest feels like
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: Cam Johnson, and I think that's because the easiest, it's
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: the easiest he is on an expiring deal. You probably
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: don't lose value in that trade somebody. If you're just
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: trying to shed salary, you can probably get him to
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: a team and not take back a whole lot of
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: salary because someone would look at him and say, Okay,
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: he'll play for US next year and he'll be a
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: starter for us, and he's a good player. So that
• 10:42
  Speaker 4: seems like the easiest one. But you also have to
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: look around and wonder if you don't feel great about
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: being able to build a top tier contender this year.
• 10:52
  Speaker 4: Like I said, when you have Jokich, you always have
• 10:54
  Speaker 4: a ticket. But if you don't really feel great about it,
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: Cam Johnson does expire next year, holding on to him
• 11:01
  Speaker 4: would give you a flexibility in next year's summer, and
• 11:04
  Speaker 4: maybe you get off one of your longer term contracts
• 11:06
  Speaker 4: in Christian Aaron Gordon, or even Jamal Murray. And I
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: think that those things, while they feel unlikely, because big
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: moves like that are always unlikely, there is a part
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: of me that thinks, going into the draft in the
• 11:18
  Speaker 4: previous four or five years, the odds are never zero
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: that one of those guys gets traded, but they're close
• 11:23
  Speaker 4: to zero. They're not zero right now. There is a
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: real chance that one of those guys that the Nuggets
• 11:28
  Speaker 4: organization looks at Aaron Gordon's three years left on his deal,
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: Jamal Murray's four years, Christian Brown's five years, they look
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: at that and say, do we really want to carry
• 11:36
  Speaker 4: that or if we got rid of one of those,
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: we have a chance to reset the table here in
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: twenty twenty seven next summer. Be mildly competitive this year,
• 11:44
  Speaker 4: but be set up for the future. And again, I
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: think it's always less likely than likely that those things happen,
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: but they're not zero percent like they have been in
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: the past.
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: You know what's crazy is that Cam Johnson is one
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: of those.
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: I think it would be a collective shoulder shrug if
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: he was traded from Nuggets fan base.
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: Same thing with Christian Brown. Gordon would have an.
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: Emotional appeal, but I think people would understand what the
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: injury history that maybe you can't trust that anymore.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: Jamal's the interesting one. Jamal's coming off the best.
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: Regular season year of his career. He finally made an
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: All Star All NBA team, But Jamal in the postseason,
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: which has been the invers He's always been a postseason
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: monster and a regular season underperformer, and now feels like
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: it's flipped the last couple of years, and it's hard
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: for your mind to.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: Compute, well, what do I do with this? He's obviously good,
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: but what now?
• 12:35
  Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think the NBA is also evolving. And
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: this is the other thing about it. It's not just
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: the CBA evolves. The style of play evolves in that
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: eighty two games versus the sixteen of the playoffs are
• 12:45
  Speaker 4: growing wider. It's almost like two different leagues. You know,
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: you play in one to survive the regular eighty two
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: game season. There's a lot of fouls. It's in very
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: offensive league. We saw this year in the postseason how
• 12:55
  Speaker 4: physical things were, and I think Jamal Murray the playoff riser,
• 12:58
  Speaker 4: I think that's unfortunately go on. You know, if you
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: look at the last three postseasons, he struggled in important
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: ways in all three of them, and this last one
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: was so overwhelming.
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: It wasn't just.
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: Him, but you can't unsee the futility in his game
• 13:12
  Speaker 4: against Minnesota, even a shorthanded Minnesota team. So I think
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: you look at that one and like I said, it
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: just feels a lot more possible than right now, and
• 13:21
  Speaker 4: that would represent an identity shift. It might be too far.
• 13:24
  Speaker 4: It's one of those moves. If you were to move
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: on from Jamal Murray, it's one of those moves that
• 13:29
  Speaker 4: will either work out and you're gonna, you know, really
• 13:31
  Speaker 4: bounce back, or it's going to be a disaster and
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: it's going to be the top line people talk about
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: when they talk about the fall of the Denver Nuggets.
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: So you have to get it right. But when I
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: hear the word complacency, I just you really think about
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: if that's the key sticking point for Josh Cronky complacency.
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: You have to have a big shakeup to get rid
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: of complacency, and Jamal Murray obviously would represent a huge shakeup.
• 13:51
  Speaker 5: Adam Marr's a couple more here. I'm always asked this
• 13:55
  Speaker 5: question and I don't have an answer for it. I'll
• 13:58
  Speaker 5: come do Ron Holmes is in lineup? Why is any
• 14:01
  Speaker 5: not in the rotation? Why didn't he contribute in the playoffs?
• 14:03
  Speaker 5: Why didn't he play? Will he moving forward? I have
• 14:06
  Speaker 5: no idea. Do you have an answer?
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: I don't have an answer other than I think it
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: is one of these organizational traits that the Nuggets have
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: to look in the mirror and adjust and become something different,
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: because I think there are a lot of teams in
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: the NBA that would have played him. You know, this season,
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: I think the team got nervous in the middle portion
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: of the season when so many guys got hurt, that
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: they got nervous about just holding onto a playoff spot,
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: not being on the road, and different things like that.
• 14:31
  Speaker 4: But again, at the end of the day, the Knicks
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: kind of proved and maybe we'll alter the way. Several
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: teams think they won fifty three games this year, which
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: is not very many games. They were not a juggernaut
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: for most of the year, but it all came together
• 14:44
  Speaker 4: for them at the right time. And I think you're
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: looking at a league that is increasingly becoming about just
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: coming together at the right time. You look at how
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: many teams have lost game sevens at home, how many
• 14:55
  Speaker 4: teams have just lost at home in the playoffs. Home
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: court advantage seems less important than it ha has been historically.
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: Rest and health seems significantly more important. And so players
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: like Deron Holmes, in my opinion, they look rough, they
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: look rusty, They might even cost you regular season games.
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: But you have to create an identity and culture of
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: we play everybody and it might cost us, but we're
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: all in this together. And Deron Holmes is going to
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: play some games in November, December, January. That hurt us,
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: but we're all behind him because we have to see
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: if he has what it takes when we give him
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: a thousand minutes this season.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: Adam, you talk about the entire league, especially with Legler
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: just one off ramp to the honest story. We know
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: the impact of Milwaukee, We know the impact of Miami.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: How do you think.
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: Jalen Brown feels about his name being dangled again in
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: a trade only to come back and look those people
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: in the face.
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: Well, I think that it is a very interesting point.
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: But I'll tell you another person that I think is
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: going through that is Jamal Murray. As we talked about,
• 15:51
  Speaker 4: you know, Josh Kronky stood at the podium and said,
• 15:54
  Speaker 4: everyone is on the table except for Jokich. Everyone Jamal
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: Murray can't unhear that. It's not even whispers that was
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: set into a microphone in front of cameras. You know,
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: in the biggest press conference of the year. That is
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: one that I mean, you're around Jamal Murray too. I
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: imagine that that is something that he won't unhear, and
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: so even if you bring him back, this has always
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: been Jamal Murray, there's a loyalty thing. He tears his
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: acl Don't worry, We're not trading you. We're sticking with
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: you through all of this. You know, Michael Malone talked
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: about that being an emotional conversation about the team showing
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: loyalty to him and what that meant. This is the
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: first time that you're going into an offseason and it's
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: at least suggested by your owner that maybe you're the problem.
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: You know, maybe we'll at least listen to other people.
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: And so I think your question about Jaylen Brown also
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: applies to Jamal Murray about there is a difference. There's
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: a shift when all of a sudden you feel for
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: the first time that maybe this org is really about winning,
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: whether it's with you or without, we prefer it with you,
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: but if we have to, we'll move on. And I
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: just I think that changes something about how you approach
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: your team and every so Jaylen Brown in the same boat,
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: I think as Jamal Murray.
• 17:02
  Speaker 5: And let me ask you one last question, who do
• 17:05
  Speaker 5: you think is more tradeable? Who gets you more bang
• 17:08
  Speaker 5: for the buck trading Jamal Murray or trading Aaron Gordon.
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: You know, Mark Stein reported the other day that Aaron
• 17:15
  Speaker 4: Gordon was the player that was garnering the most interests,
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: And I found that surprising because I would have guessed
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: it's Jamal Murray coming off of his All NBA season.
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: Maybe the playoffs were that rough. So my hunch is
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: still that it's Jamal Murray. We also heard reports the
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: other day he saw the money that Tray Young got
• 17:30
  Speaker 4: two dollars and that there were multiple teams interested in
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: his services. If Tray Young is garnering that interest, wouldn't
• 17:38
  Speaker 4: Jamal Murray. I mean, he's maybe not quite. He's a
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: better player, maybe not quite as you know, high volume
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: passer or you know, highlight reel as Trey Young, but
• 17:46
  Speaker 4: he's he's not the liability on defense that that Tray
• 17:49
  Speaker 4: Young is. So I look at that and I would
• 17:52
  Speaker 4: still think Jamal Murray makes more sense to me that
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: Jamal Murray would be the guy. But Aaron Gordon, the
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: one thing I will say about him is I think
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: he is finn nomenal on the Denver Nuggets and completes
• 18:01
  Speaker 4: their roster. But I also think he's one of these
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: guys that completes almost every roster. I think he has
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: that kind of versatility and that mindset that he can
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: adjust his game to say, Okay, what does this team need.
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: He reminds me of a Niguidala, of an og An Andobi,
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: these connective type players that are so essential to championship teams,
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: and I think every single team would want him. The
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: injury risk is real, though, and teams would just have
• 18:23
  Speaker 4: to weigh that and say can we can we fix
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: whatever is going on with him?
• 18:26
  Speaker 3: Adam Arras DNVR check him out DNVR Nuggets. Also the
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: All City Podcast with Tim Legler. Adam, You're the best, buddy.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: Thanks with the time this morning.
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: Good seeing you guys. You have a good one.
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: Adam Arras d NVR joining us on the Ramos Law Hotline.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: That's so true, by the way.
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: I mean, we think about Jalen Brown, how he feels
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: about his name being dangled out there. The owner did
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: say the press conference everyone is available except for that
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: one guy.
• 18:51
  Speaker 5: But you know what, my I guess my retort to
• 18:53
  Speaker 5: that would be, yeah, why not? You lost in the
• 18:57
  Speaker 5: first round.
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: You know Jamal as well as anybody, though Jamal doesn't
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: I mean Jamal hated being called a playoff Jamal, which
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: was a compliment to him, and he's like, what do
• 19:08
  Speaker 3: you mean?
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: Playoff Jamal? The same guy all the time. So I
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: don't know. It's it is an odd place to be.
• 19:14
  Speaker 3: I would I think I would be blown away if
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: he was traded tonight, though.
• 19:19
  Speaker 5: Tonight, I wouldn't be blown away. I'd be surprised. I'm
• 19:21
  Speaker 5: I'm a level below blown away. Like what what that were?
• 19:24
  Speaker 5: Were levels? Where are your levels here? Would level number
• 19:28
  Speaker 5: one be somewhat expected? Yeah, a little bit surprised. I
• 19:34
  Speaker 5: just donned blown away.
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: What would they do? Like, would it be for another
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: big name? Would it be for somebody just trying to
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: If you trade assets in return, you.
• 19:44
  Speaker 5: Trade Jamal Murray, you're trade You're trading away the philosophy
• 19:47
  Speaker 5: of your team. It's been two man games for seven years,
• 19:51
  Speaker 5: and you're saying to yourself, we can find another guard
• 19:55
  Speaker 5: that could play with the cook. We're fine.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: That part of its accurate. You can find somebody to play.
• 20:02
  Speaker 5: And the third thing you're saying is we need better
• 20:05
  Speaker 5: we need a better defensive guard.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, kind of all of it, but that's what that
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: would say. It's Adamar's d n v R. We'll have
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: the podcast up shortly.
• 20:13
  Speaker 5: If you missed it, you miss a I mean that's
• 20:16
  Speaker 5: he's an assassin as a shooter.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: I mean a core piece of your DNA is a franchise.
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's what it is, all right, Back after
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: this jamal warder shot, can I say this, there's a
• 20:29
  Speaker 3: fine line here as we head into the NBA Draft tonight.
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: We don't know what the Nuggets are going to do.
• 20:33
  Speaker 3: It could be any combination of vic. Maybe they take
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: a guy tonight in the first round and second round tomorrow,
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: right or is it?
• 20:40
  Speaker 5: Yes?
• 20:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah, maybe they take their guy at number twenty six
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: in the first round and that's the end of it.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: And it's the least sort of shock value.
• 20:49
  Speaker 5: By the way. Why I don't understand why the NBA
• 20:52
  Speaker 5: decided two days of this is yeah, we don't need that.
• 20:55
  Speaker 5: It went the route of the NFL May second round.
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: Nobody know that Jokis was a second rounder. Nobody cares.
• 21:02
  Speaker 5: I don't understand why they went two days with this,
• 21:04
  Speaker 5: But I am gonna I'm gonna make the trip down
• 21:07
  Speaker 5: to Ballerina tonight just to check in.
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, this is what I'm saying, though Vick, it
• 21:13
  Speaker 3: could be the boring, boring thing of just taking your
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: pick at number twenty six, whoever.
• 21:18
  Speaker 5: That might be. And then when you pick somebody, no
• 21:21
  Speaker 5: matter where you pick him, and again, some people think
• 21:24
  Speaker 5: this is the deepest draft in a long time. Other
• 21:26
  Speaker 5: people are not impressed with the guys in the twenties.
• 21:29
  Speaker 5: No matter who they pick. Guess what happens. Hope becomes
• 21:32
  Speaker 5: attached and now you're thinking, Wow, where does he fit in?
• 21:36
  Speaker 5: When can he help? What can he do? I mean,
• 21:39
  Speaker 5: just go back to when they picked the Ron Holmes
• 21:41
  Speaker 5: sure their last first round pick. Yeah, what were you thinking, Oh,
• 21:44
  Speaker 5: this guy's gonna help right away. Oh, this guy's gonna
• 21:46
  Speaker 5: be in the rotation right away. Oh this guy can
• 21:49
  Speaker 5: do so many things. It's a need, it fits a
• 21:51
  Speaker 5: need immediately. And then he gets hurt.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: Well, he looked great for about eight minutes in summer league, and.
• 21:57
  Speaker 5: Then he comes back the following year and really does play.
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: So the boring thing from just a viewing perspective would
• 22:05
  Speaker 3: be that they take the first round pick and that's
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: the least or I guess maybe trading your first round
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: pick with an asset to dump.
• 22:13
  Speaker 5: I'd think salary. That would be the most predictable.
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: What could happen tonight?
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: Maybe they do just go full Yolo and trade Jamal
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: like you just you never know. The one thing that
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: I think sticks out and I've seen less of this
• 22:34
  Speaker 3: than I thought. But somebody earlier in the show, Vic
• 22:37
  Speaker 3: texted in and said the Nuggets were a fifty win
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: team despite a million injuries.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: Last year, Nuggets won.
• 22:44
  Speaker 5: More regular season games than the eventual NBA champion. Think
• 22:47
  Speaker 5: about that, they won fifty four, the Knicks one fifty three.
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: And he asked this question.
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: I think it's a good one. I have an answer,
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: but I think it's a good question. Why are people
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: talking as if the Nuggets aren't contenders anymore?
• 23:00
  Speaker 5: I don't know. I think the way they lost to
• 23:02
  Speaker 5: Minnesota left such a salty taste in the mouth that
• 23:06
  Speaker 5: it's hard to overcome that.
• 23:07
  Speaker 3: I think it showed such massive flaws that you had
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: in your game that you need to have some sort
• 23:16
  Speaker 3: of bigger change.
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: I think it beats you up Mentley too. Yeah, for sure,
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: the lack of the way the way it went down.
• 23:22
  Speaker 5: I mean, I'm going to harken back to it. You
• 23:25
  Speaker 5: get called out and nobody responds, it's the lack.
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: Of toughness sort of perspective that's hard to shake, because
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: if you don't have a tough team, then you doesn't
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: matter how talented you are, you feel like you're gonna
• 23:35
  Speaker 3: get beat up every year.
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: You know.
• 23:36
  Speaker 3: It's probably something that maybe Edmonton feels in the NHL.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: Like they have talent there.
• 23:41
  Speaker 3: They have dry subtle, they mcpickles, they have a whole
• 23:44
  Speaker 3: bunch of different guys. But why do we why are
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: we losing then so often? But to answer the question
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: of why, I feel like they're still not on par
• 23:58
  Speaker 3: with the teams that are going to have to compete
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: with San Antonio iss and Oklahoma Cities. I think it's
• 24:03
  Speaker 3: what Adam talked about. It's I noticed it. I mentioned
• 24:08
  Speaker 3: at the beginning of the NBA Finals both of those teams,
• 24:11
  Speaker 3: the Spurs and the Knicks and the Thunder of the
• 24:15
  Speaker 3: series before in the Western Conference Finals, they win at
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: least ten off the bench or ten with the bench.
• 24:21
  Speaker 3: They want at least ten guys. You have not done
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: that really ever, even when you won.
• 24:25
  Speaker 5: The title, you haven't ask you a couple of questions,
• 24:27
  Speaker 5: Brett Kane, have the Nuggets gotten a little predictable in
• 24:31
  Speaker 5: your eyes.
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah. What I struggle with with the predictability, though, is
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: you knew three years ago end of the game, it
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: was Jokic and Jamal Timmas.
• 24:42
  Speaker 5: The way they play, it's a predictable game, right, Yeah, predictability.
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: Would it excite you somewhat as a Nuggets fan or
• 24:49
  Speaker 5: scare you if they traded one of their core players
• 24:54
  Speaker 5: and became a little more unpredictable.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: I think I'd welcome that. I would.
• 25:00
  Speaker 5: I'm wondering from Nuggets fans, are you welcoming? Are you
• 25:02
  Speaker 5: hoping for unpredictability? Some people don't like that.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: No, I think so, And a lot.
• 25:08
  Speaker 5: Of executives, frankly fear that because you want to control
• 25:12
  Speaker 5: how you play well.
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: The executives feared for good reason. You weren't guaranteed to
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: get better.
• 25:18
  Speaker 5: Afterwards, get vastly worse, a lot worse could blow up
• 25:23
  Speaker 5: in your face.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: So there's always a risk to it.
• 25:26
  Speaker 3: But it's funny you talk about predictability, and to me,
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: the Nuggets were super predictable three years ago when they
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: won a title and it didn't matter. It was like
• 25:34
  Speaker 3: the touch push, Like if Philly lines up for the
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: touch push, you know, what's coming, doesn't matter, it's gonna work.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: Like it's that same type of thing.
• 25:42
  Speaker 5: They're so healthy.
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: But imagine if Philly lines up for the Tousch push
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: twenty times this year and it works five times, and
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: you're like, well, now what this is what we do?
• 25:51
  Speaker 3: Now you're telling me that we can't do it. It
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: would throw a gigantic wrench in the way that you'd
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: go about operating, like you'd have to find some other
• 26:00
  Speaker 3: way to do it.
• 26:01
  Speaker 5: What if they have explored trading one of their core
• 26:06
  Speaker 5: pieces and they just haven't gotten the necessary take back,
• 26:12
  Speaker 5: They just don't have the pieces that they could spin
• 26:15
  Speaker 5: off or pieces they could sell to their team.
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: What if it just doesn't work? What if what if
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: we overrate them? I think that's certainly possible. You know
• 26:27
  Speaker 3: we have and a lot of fan bases do.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: This.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: Same applies here.
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: You put emotional value as much as analytical value in
• 26:38
  Speaker 3: your players, Like ag isn't just a good player, he's
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: the soul.
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: He's the soul of your roster, and so when you're
• 26:47
  Speaker 2: talking about trading him, you're like, no, this guy is
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: up here. For example, VIC, do you think that people
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: in Tampa would value Landeskog in the same way that
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: we would LANDA.
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: Scott is a good player, but you put in extra
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: value on his ability to be the leader of your team.
• 27:04
  Speaker 3: That is an intangible quality when you put it into
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: trade machines.
• 27:08
  Speaker 5: Reggie writes in I think when you get called out
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: personally as the Nuggets did, and then literally change nothing
• 27:13
  Speaker 5: on percent, I want some unpredictable Yeah. And that's a
• 27:16
  Speaker 5: fair argument, Reggie. I mean, because the same guys who
• 27:18
  Speaker 5: were called out are coming back, right m hm, So
• 27:23
  Speaker 5: what changes?
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: Well, if they all come back, then nothing. I mean,
• 27:29
  Speaker 3: here's what you could argue. The best argument you can
• 27:32
  Speaker 3: make is this, and it would be true if ag
• 27:36
  Speaker 3: and Peyton Watson are healthy in that playoff series. Doesn't
• 27:39
  Speaker 3: look different? Yeah, I'm sure it does look different.
• 27:41
  Speaker 5: Does it assure victory in that playoffs?
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: Ser I don't know, but you're certainly better.
• 27:45
  Speaker 5: I don't mind using that excuse. I don't. I would totally.
• 27:51
  Speaker 5: I would jump on board that excuse that if somebody
• 27:54
  Speaker 5: says to me, if those guys are healthy, you in
• 27:56
  Speaker 5: this series. I have no problem with that. That's that's
• 27:58
  Speaker 5: a very easy thing. The belief the problem I have
• 28:03
  Speaker 5: and what I can't get over. Is they were more
• 28:06
  Speaker 5: injured than you were.
• 28:07
  Speaker 3: Yeah, the losses early in the series not as bad
• 28:12
  Speaker 3: as notice Soon Moon, no Anthony Edwards, no Dante DiVincenzo,
• 28:18
  Speaker 3: who else was out?
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: Was there one other guy that's way more impactful than
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: what you were losing?
• 28:23
  Speaker 5: They were missing their entire court.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and you're still lost.
• 28:29
  Speaker 5: So I can read into that. I can achieve that,
• 28:33
  Speaker 5: I can feel that, I can understand it if the
• 28:35
  Speaker 5: other side weren't true. Yeah, and that was disappointing. And
• 28:41
  Speaker 5: that's the taste I'm trying to get out of my mouth.
• 28:44
  Speaker 5: And I think a lot of Nuggets fans are thinking
• 28:46
  Speaker 5: the same thing. Can you eliminate that with a little mouthwash?
• 28:50
  Speaker 5: Or is that a bacteria that infests.
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: I would be.
• 28:56
  Speaker 3: For the first time really since this core got together.
• 29:01
  Speaker 3: You know, you talk about trading Michael Porter Junior. He
• 29:03
  Speaker 3: was essentially let to be honest about this, VIC.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: I loved the MPJ.
• 29:08
  Speaker 3: He was your fourth guy, fourth, he was a core piece,
• 29:14
  Speaker 3: but he was the last piece of the corps. I
• 29:18
  Speaker 3: am willing at this point for I think the first
• 29:20
  Speaker 3: time to say it's kind of starting new around Joe.
• 29:25
  Speaker 5: Do that. So you're already there.
• 29:28
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think if I heard. It depends on what
• 29:32
  Speaker 3: the return is and all that stuff. But if you
• 29:34
  Speaker 3: if you trade the biggest thing you could do, which
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: is trading Jamal, if it's the right package, I think
• 29:40
  Speaker 3: I'd be pretty pumped the mark.
• 29:41
  Speaker 5: So like the Broncos, for example.
• 29:44
  Speaker 2: It's nothing against Jamal the need for a change.
• 29:46
  Speaker 5: The biggest criticism of the Broncos was they're just resigning
• 29:49
  Speaker 5: all their guys. They added one receiver, but they just
• 29:53
  Speaker 5: resigned everybody. But you can see that argument because they
• 29:58
  Speaker 5: lost their quarterback and the most important game of the
• 30:00
  Speaker 5: shoot So yeah, but what if the Nuggets used the
• 30:04
  Speaker 5: same argument. Yeah, we lost two core pieces in a playoff.
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: Sers it. I don't know how to say it, because this.
• 30:16
  Speaker 3: Isn't this isn't data driven. It didn't feel right all year,
• 30:22
  Speaker 3: didn't feel right.
• 30:23
  Speaker 5: And it had, yes, something in and out of the lineup.
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: Okay, that's that's fine, But.
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: I'm telling you there was something about just the roles
• 30:35
  Speaker 3: that people were playing that just didn't feel like it
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: fit properly.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: I don't know how to say.
• 30:40
  Speaker 5: It, but you know what's crazy about this league, in
• 30:42
  Speaker 5: this game and sports in general. I guarantee you. There
• 30:45
  Speaker 5: were moments during the regular season, many moments when the
• 30:48
  Speaker 5: New York Knicks said, it doesn't feel right. I'm sure, yeah,
• 30:53
  Speaker 5: it doesn't feel right. It doesn't look right. This team
• 30:56
  Speaker 5: doesn't look right. And then all of a sudden, the
• 30:58
  Speaker 5: fingers boom. Hey, you don't think go back and look
• 31:01
  Speaker 5: at their first round series against Atlanta. You think the
• 31:04
  Speaker 5: Knicks were a little.
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: Scared when they were down to one.
• 31:06
  Speaker 5: You think they were a little scared.
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: Sure, they were.
• 31:09
  Speaker 4: I don't know.
• 31:10
  Speaker 3: There's there was just something about the way that the
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: I don't know if it was roster makeup, I don't know,
• 31:16
  Speaker 3: if it's the way that guys were huge.
• 31:18
  Speaker 5: For me, it was my biggest takeaway from the twenty
• 31:22
  Speaker 5: twenty five twenty six Nuggets season. When you're called out
• 31:27
  Speaker 5: publicly and you don't do anything about it.
• 31:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah, toughness.
• 31:30
  Speaker 5: That just bothers me. Yeah, it bothers me.
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: And that's not something that you can work on in
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: the off season. And that's an inherent thing that you
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: either have or you don't.
• 31:40
  Speaker 5: And I know if I said this to a lot
• 31:42
  Speaker 5: of the players and the coaches, they'd laugh and they say,
• 31:45
  Speaker 5: you know, it's not about toughness, it's about winning. It's
• 31:48
  Speaker 5: about making the right plays. And I get all that.
• 31:50
  Speaker 5: I do. I do, I do. I get all that,
• 31:51
  Speaker 5: and I understand that, and I respect that I do.
• 31:56
  Speaker 5: The part of me just.
• 32:01
  Speaker 3: Well, I'll tell you maybe the one thing that still
• 32:07
  Speaker 3: sticks with me from that playoff series against Minnesota.
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: Was it the last game? Was it the sixth game?
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: Jokic got into it. He was surrounded by like eight
• 32:17
  Speaker 3: different Minnesota players. Yeah, and I saw maybe one flash
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: of Tim Hardaway junior in there.
• 32:23
  Speaker 4: Yeah, but hard we.
• 32:24
  Speaker 5: Got in there.
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: No, No Hardaway was. But I remember from that camera
• 32:29
  Speaker 3: angle it was Jokic, Hardway and everybody on the Minnesota
• 32:35
  Speaker 3: roster that was surrounding him.
• 32:36
  Speaker 5: Who did he get into it with. I can't particular play.
• 32:41
  Speaker 2: Oh was it nas Reed?
• 32:43
  Speaker 5: No, nas Reed came from the angle.
• 32:46
  Speaker 3: And yeah, yeah he was. He was in the mix afterwards.
• 32:48
  Speaker 3: I can't remember. But that bothered me because that goes
• 32:52
  Speaker 3: back to the same thing. It's like, I don't want
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: and I've said this forever, whether it's the dork.
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: Play from earlier in the year or whatever we're talking.
• 33:00
  Speaker 5: It was the kid who came off the bench and
• 33:04
  Speaker 5: lit them up. For a little bit.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Again.
• 33:08
  Speaker 5: There's another example of using you guys. Remember that guy
• 33:12
  Speaker 5: didn't even play and then all of a sudden he's
• 33:13
  Speaker 5: lighting up with Shannon. Yeah, Tarren Shannon Jr.
• 33:18
  Speaker 3: Your best player can't be that guy. That's got to
• 33:21
  Speaker 3: be somebody else, and I think that is Aaron Gordon,
• 33:24
  Speaker 3: to be honest with you, It just wasn't in the lineup,
• 33:26
  Speaker 3: but somebody else has to pick up for it.
• 33:28
  Speaker 5: Other words, otherwise, Mike writes in the guy the Nuggets
• 33:32
  Speaker 5: desperately needed was injured a g His replace. His replacement
• 33:35
  Speaker 5: was also injured. Dayton Watson. Totally agree, Totally agree. The
• 33:39
  Speaker 5: two most perhaps in that series, your two biggest weapons,
• 33:42
  Speaker 5: your best athletes, were injured.
• 33:44
  Speaker 4: Get it.
• 33:45
  Speaker 5: I acknowledge that they were missing the entire.
• 33:51
  Speaker 3: And also there's an assumption there that he was hurt
• 33:54
  Speaker 3: and he's going to come back.
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: We've played that with Aaron Gordon. I can't trust that anymore.
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: I can't. I would love to.
• 34:01
  Speaker 3: There's nothing I would love more than if you gave
• 34:03
  Speaker 3: me a crystal ball that said Aaron Gordon's gonna be
• 34:06
  Speaker 3: healthy the entire playoff run. That I'd be like, you
• 34:07
  Speaker 3: know what, then keep Aeron Gordon on the roster.
• 34:09
  Speaker 5: There was a part of me I remember the first
• 34:12
  Speaker 5: moments when Game six was about to tip off and
• 34:17
  Speaker 5: word came down that, okay, they were already out Anthony Edwards,
• 34:23
  Speaker 5: Donte de Vincenzo, and then word came down that Io
• 34:26
  Speaker 5: had the calf injury and he wasn't playing. And I'm
• 34:29
  Speaker 5: sitting there going, wow, this isn't fair.
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: Okay, we'll take it to seven.
• 34:33
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I guess, well, I guess that the Nuggets and
• 34:36
  Speaker 5: I already assumed.
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: Me too, me too. So three oh three, five oh four,
• 34:41
  Speaker 3: oh nine, two five, get a fact checker next. All right,
• 34:43
  Speaker 3: I gotta play some audio for you. See if you
• 34:45
  Speaker 3: can spot the mistake. I mean, we're gonna have fact
• 34:48
  Speaker 3: checker in a second. But this is on ESPN. I
• 34:50
  Speaker 3: guess this morning, the reacting to the honest trade. They
• 34:53
  Speaker 3: have their one of their lead NBA analysts, Kendrick Perkins,
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: breaking down this trade.
• 35:00
  Speaker 2: Go ahead, Nolly.
• 35:01
  Speaker 6: And so when I think about Gianni's let me say this,
• 35:04
  Speaker 6: Yannis would never win another championship with him being the
• 35:09
  Speaker 6: number one option. I repeat, yannispo, you heard what I said.
• 35:16
  Speaker 4: Jannis Os of the Cubo.
• 35:18
  Speaker 2: Oh god, no, no, no, no, no no.
• 35:20
  Speaker 6: Yannis os of the Cubo would never win another championship
• 35:25
  Speaker 6: with him being the number one scoring option.
• 35:30
  Speaker 3: Okay, the translation I saw was different. He said he
• 35:32
  Speaker 3: will never win a championship, he said another.
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: But is that is that how you feel?
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: Well?
• 35:40
  Speaker 5: I mean, good luck finding somebody that's gonna get the
• 35:45
  Speaker 5: ball in his hands as many times as Giannis will
• 35:49
  Speaker 5: during the game. Because they tried with like was Damian
• 35:52
  Speaker 5: Lillard considered the number two option in Milwaukee at that point?
• 35:55
  Speaker 5: That didn't work, So who the hell would you play
• 35:58
  Speaker 5: with him that would be considered the number one option.
• 36:02
  Speaker 3: But do you feel like Gianni's okay? Health aside because
• 36:05
  Speaker 3: he has had injury problems. Yannis won a title with
• 36:12
  Speaker 3: Chris Middleton and Bobby Portis.
• 36:15
  Speaker 5: I don't think he's I don't think Kendrick Perkins is
• 36:17
  Speaker 5: that far off. I don't. I don't see Miami as
• 36:21
  Speaker 5: a threat. That's not a threat with Giannis and bam Adebayo,
• 36:25
  Speaker 5: that's not a championship team.
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: No.
• 36:28
  Speaker 3: They they need other stuff to fill out the roster.
• 36:30
  Speaker 3: I mean they had Tyler Herro going the other way
• 36:33
  Speaker 3: in that trade. I mean if you look at their
• 36:35
  Speaker 3: roster now, it is kind of like where's everybody else
• 36:38
  Speaker 3: coming from?
• 36:40
  Speaker 2: Because it sounds like Norman pal is going to be
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: on the way out too. That's an All Star.
• 36:44
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's a good player, but I don't know
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: if they could afford him. So, yeah, you're you're looking
• 36:49
  Speaker 3: for depth in other places. I guess they have Andrew Wiggins.
• 36:53
  Speaker 5: I don't think that's a that team can't shoot.
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: Avion Mitchell, that team can't shoot.
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: I think they're going all in on defense, though, they're
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: gonna They're gonna so many times.
• 37:02
  Speaker 5: Are they gonna reinvent themselves? So first they were all
• 37:04
  Speaker 5: you know, that Miami culture, and then last year they
• 37:06
  Speaker 5: went speed and trying to outscore teams. That's all they
• 37:10
  Speaker 5: tried to do last year. Yeah, now now they're changing
• 37:13
  Speaker 5: them again.
• 37:15
  Speaker 3: I'll say one thing, has Miami ever been really really
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: good since Lebron left?
• 37:24
  Speaker 5: Well, they got the two finals.
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: That's my point.
• 37:27
  Speaker 3: I don't think you ever would consider them a very
• 37:30
  Speaker 3: very good, most talented rosh in the league.
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: But Spolster finds a way to get it out.
• 37:34
  Speaker 5: Eric Spoltzer is a good coach. Yeah, he'll find a
• 37:36
  Speaker 5: way and again he has reinvented their style on a
• 37:40
  Speaker 5: couple occasions.
• 37:40
  Speaker 3: And that is the the epitome of I think what
• 37:45
  Speaker 3: a great coach can do. Take whatever talent that you
• 37:48
  Speaker 3: have and just meld it together into in its best place.
• 37:51
  Speaker 5: Doesn't mean it's gonna work. I'm not sitting here after
• 37:53
  Speaker 5: the Yanni strad I don't know if you are. I'm
• 37:54
  Speaker 5: not sitting here going oh.
• 37:56
  Speaker 2: If you were a Knicks fan, would you not be like.
• 37:58
  Speaker 5: No, no, no, I'm not not one bit. I think
• 38:03
  Speaker 5: you know what Miami is. Miami is Milwaukee. Now Miami's
• 38:08
  Speaker 5: Milwaukee what they were the last couple of years.
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: I give you, honest, a little more credit than I
• 38:13
  Speaker 2: think you do.
• 38:14
  Speaker 5: I agree you do.
• 38:16
  Speaker 2: I mean he's he's one of the best defensive players
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: in the league.
• 38:19
  Speaker 5: He's an athletic freak. Yeah, but the older you get
• 38:23
  Speaker 5: scores thirty eight games, the older you get, the more
• 38:25
  Speaker 5: that wears on you. He's been often injured over the
• 38:28
  Speaker 5: last couple of years. That's the concern that I would have.
• 38:31
  Speaker 5: I don't think he's a legit contender anymore. I just don't.
• 38:36
  Speaker 4: You can have.
• 38:36
  Speaker 3: Him currently constructed right now, better shot at winning a
• 38:40
  Speaker 3: title next year, the Heat or the Nuggets.
• 38:43
  Speaker 5: The Nuggets.
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: Okay, I think you're probably right.
• 38:47
  Speaker 5: Nuggets also have to play in the West, though, that's
• 38:50
  Speaker 5: what I'm saying.
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I think that part of
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: it is a huge factor. Huge.
• 38:57
  Speaker 3: Now, I don't know where Milwaukee kind of goes from here.
• 39:00
  Speaker 3: They get Tyler Herroes a start, but yeah, they're starting
• 39:04
  Speaker 3: from the the bottom of the barrel sort of thing.
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: Again. Draft to night will have.
• 39:10
  Speaker 3: A lot more answers on what the Nuggets direction, I think,
• 39:16
  Speaker 3: more importantly than anything else is going to be for
• 39:18
  Speaker 3: this offseason.
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: That's what you're gonna find out to a lot.
• 39:20
  Speaker 5: Of these Nuggets drafts and in their war room, their
• 39:24
  Speaker 5: ball arena, and I guarantee you there's a lot of
• 39:30
  Speaker 5: conversation going on right now prior to the draft. Oh yeah,
• 39:34
  Speaker 5: there's announcements being made tonight that I've never been around
• 39:38
  Speaker 5: another Nuggets draft that has had so many different options
• 39:42
  Speaker 5: they can take. Put it that way, like we've we've
• 39:45
  Speaker 5: gone into draft nights saying, Okay, they're going to take
• 39:47
  Speaker 5: a pick, they're going to use their player. There's only
• 39:49
  Speaker 5: one slot left on the roster. Anyway, They're going to
• 39:51
  Speaker 5: pick a guy, right, Yeah, this one is wide open.
• 39:55
  Speaker 3: Would you be disappointed tomorrow if they do what we
• 39:57
  Speaker 3: think is going to happen, which is.
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: Attach your player like Zeke to the pick.
• 40:04
  Speaker 3: Move back whatever, No, because then the two take an
• 40:07
  Speaker 3: actual just take somebody.
• 40:08
  Speaker 5: No, I would not be disappointed. I mean, whatever plan
• 40:11
  Speaker 5: they have, I mean, if they attach a player and
• 40:13
  Speaker 5: move back, it just shows you that they're gonna sign
• 40:15
  Speaker 5: Peyton Watson. Tonight's gonna reveal a lot about how soon
• 40:18
  Speaker 5: Peyton Watson is going to get done.
• 40:20
  Speaker 3: I just I can't shake this feeling of as best
• 40:23
  Speaker 3: they can, if they keep the roster together, like we
• 40:25
  Speaker 3: you're not getting hard way back. Okay, fine, But if
• 40:27
  Speaker 3: they keep the majority of this thing intact, maybe they
• 40:31
  Speaker 3: get rid of Cam, keep Peyton Watson and the that's
• 40:33
  Speaker 3: your team. I don't I don't think I could convince
• 40:37
  Speaker 3: myself that they're winning a title next year with that.
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: And that's my problem.
• 40:41
  Speaker 5: Well, there was a lot of people that felt that
• 40:44
  Speaker 5: way going into the twenty three season.
• 40:48
  Speaker 3: Well, you remember that was Jamal coming back from an injury.
• 40:51
  Speaker 3: There was there was optimism.
• 40:52
  Speaker 5: There are still questions though it was that a championship team.
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you this.
• 40:56
  Speaker 3: Once the playoffs started, I felt well as confident I
• 41:00
  Speaker 3: had fin.
• 41:01
  Speaker 5: That's what I'm getting at. One thing we've learned over
• 41:03
  Speaker 5: the course of the last few years. It's best to
• 41:06
  Speaker 5: be playing your best in March, April and May.
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: They did win twelfth straight to close the regular.
• 41:12
  Speaker 5: Season, and then went wait, was it twelfth straight?
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: Twelve consecutive?
• 41:18
  Speaker 3: Yes, I'm ninety nine percent sure it was twelve straight.
• 41:22
  Speaker 5: That tells you how bad my memory is. Are you sure.
• 41:26
  Speaker 2: Twelve straight close out the year?
• 41:29
  Speaker 5: How could you be so sure? The Denver Nuggets won twelve.
• 41:32
  Speaker 2: Straight games to close the regular season.
• 41:34
  Speaker 5: Why don't I remember that?
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: Well? Remember that?
• 41:37
  Speaker 5: You know why? Because I was scarred after the first round.
• 41:40
  Speaker 5: Well maybe that's what.
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: Oh my god, what a scar vic they played? I
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: remember I was.
• 41:45
  Speaker 3: I was doing something at the Sixers game on March seventeenth,
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: that was hosting something in that.
• 41:50
  Speaker 5: Oh yeah, you're right. I bet they beat the Spurs
• 41:52
  Speaker 5: with nobody. They played Joker in the first half, remember.
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: That, yep, to make sure that he had his games played.
• 41:57
  Speaker 5: Thing.
• 41:58
  Speaker 3: Uh you, but you said, jump on the pregame show
• 42:01
  Speaker 3: after you're done, So I did? You asked me, is
• 42:03
  Speaker 3: there any shot they get the three seed? And we
• 42:04
  Speaker 3: were like, no, there's no way they get the three seed.
• 42:07
  Speaker 3: They would have to almost win out to do it.
• 42:09
  Speaker 3: And then they won won out. They lost their next
• 42:12
  Speaker 3: game to Memphis, and they won twelve straight to close
• 42:16
  Speaker 3: out the year. They were forty two and twenty eight.
• 42:18
  Speaker 3: They finished fifty four and twenty.
• 42:19
  Speaker 5: Shot his team going into the playoffs, and then that's
• 42:23
  Speaker 5: what was so jarring. Yeah, exactly, so jarring right there.
• 42:27
  Speaker 3: So we'll see what happens tonight again if you guys
• 42:32
  Speaker 3: missed it. In a weird game for the Rocks last night,
• 42:34
  Speaker 3: they had two base running blunders in the eighth inning
• 42:37
  Speaker 3: to look like they were going to lose, only to
• 42:38
  Speaker 3: have eight straight hits to close out the game and
• 42:41
  Speaker 3: they end up beating Boston for the thirty first win
• 42:43
  Speaker 3: of the year. The stat that blew Vick's mind earlier
• 42:46
  Speaker 3: in the show, it took them eighty eight losses last
• 42:50
  Speaker 3: year to get the thirty first win.
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: It's taken forty eight losses this year.
• 42:54
  Speaker 5: Crazy, So it took until August last season, August twelfth,
• 42:58
  Speaker 5: So that tells you their progress is being made and
• 43:00
  Speaker 5: not just a little progress in my eyes, that's big progress.
• 43:03
  Speaker 3: A buddy yelled at me the other day because somehow
• 43:05
  Speaker 3: we got on the Rockies and he goes, you said
• 43:07
  Speaker 3: they'd be better this year, and I'm like, they're much
• 43:10
  Speaker 3: better this year.
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: They're still worse than the league, but they're way better
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: than last year, no question.
• 43:17
  Speaker 3: But they got another game tonight against Boston. If they
• 43:20
  Speaker 3: win tonight, they'll win the series. They're second in a row,
• 43:22
  Speaker 3: so we'll see what happens with them as well. But Nelly,
• 43:24
  Speaker 3: how about a fact checker?
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: Nelly monitors the mistakes in today's fact Checker. Fact Checker
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: presented by Bacchus and Shanker, Serious Lawyers for the Serious
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: Lee Injured.
• 43:38
  Speaker 7: I don't know how we got into piping hot UFL
• 43:40
  Speaker 7: talk earlier, but you guys have sent me down a
• 43:42
  Speaker 7: rabbit hole about the past UFL season. So you asked
• 43:46
  Speaker 7: me when it happened. Well, the first game of the
• 43:48
  Speaker 7: season was back on March twenty seventh. That was the
• 43:51
  Speaker 7: Birmingham Stallions at the Louisville Kings. Birmingham won fifteen to thirteen.
• 43:56
  Speaker 7: Who could forget ten weeks of the regular season that
• 43:58
  Speaker 7: ran until May first. Then there were two playoff rounds
• 44:03
  Speaker 7: on June seventh and June thirteenth. In that championship game,
• 44:07
  Speaker 7: the Louisville Kings defeated the DC Defenders twenty seven to
• 44:11
  Speaker 7: twenty to claim the United Bowl. Just under one million
• 44:17
  Speaker 7: viewers for that.
• 44:17
  Speaker 2: Championship game a million people.
• 44:20
  Speaker 7: And I have a chart up here with the attendance
• 44:23
  Speaker 7: for all eight UFL teams. You know who absolutely crushed
• 44:27
  Speaker 7: it all season long? The Saint Louis BattleHawks.
• 44:30
  Speaker 2: I figured they.
• 44:30
  Speaker 7: Averaged twenty two thousand people per home game.
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: By the way, fake, do you want to hear some
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: of the coaches in the UFL? No, too bad. The
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: coach of the Birmingham Stallions is Aj mccheron.
• 44:42
  Speaker 5: Oh.
• 44:43
  Speaker 3: The coach of the Columbus Aviators is Ted gin Junior,
• 44:46
  Speaker 3: Dallas Renegade's Rick Neuheisel Houston Gamblers.
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: How about this name?
• 44:52
  Speaker 3: Kevin Sumlin, former Texas A and M guy Saint Louis BattleHawks.
• 44:56
  Speaker 5: Ricky prol breaking news The Portland Trail Blazers have named
• 45:01
  Speaker 5: a new head coach and says, yeah, go ahead, familiar
• 45:05
  Speaker 5: name a former. I'm gonna give you a clue. See
• 45:09
  Speaker 5: if you can tell me who it is. He's a
• 45:12
  Speaker 5: former Nuggets assistant. Okay, he works as an assistant coach
• 45:18
  Speaker 5: or worked in the division for another team.
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: It's in Minnesota.
• 45:23
  Speaker 5: His son played for the Italian Olympic or World Baseball team,
• 45:28
  Speaker 5: the team that lost in the semi finals. His son
• 45:32
  Speaker 5: played for that team.
• 45:33
  Speaker 2: Vinny pass Quentino.
• 45:34
  Speaker 5: No, no, no. Mike Norri is the new head coach
• 45:40
  Speaker 5: of the Portland Trailblazers.
• 45:41
  Speaker 3: Another coach coaching news. Edmonton has their new head coach,
• 45:47
  Speaker 3: Mike Babcock. He is back after that investigation for whatever
• 45:50
  Speaker 3: that thing was. Looks like he's been cleared and he
• 45:52
  Speaker 3: is now the new coach of the Edmonton Oilers. So
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: a lot more breakdown. So this throughout the day today
• 45:58
  Speaker 3: right here on ninety two to five. Draft tonight for
• 46:01
  Speaker 3: the Nuggets, big big indicator of what the rest of
• 46:04
  Speaker 3: this off season is going to look like. And it
• 46:06
  Speaker 3: starts tonight. So we'll see what time.
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: Does that start?
• 46:10
  Speaker 3: By the way, is it six six six o'clock NBA
• 46:15
  Speaker 3: Draft start time? It is, yes, six o'clock tonight, So
• 46:23
  Speaker 3: we'll see.
• 46:24
  Speaker 5: I hope a lot more tomorrow because I'm taking my
• 46:26
  Speaker 5: vestpa down there and I don't want the lightning to
• 46:29
  Speaker 5: hit again the other night.
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: Let's he'll be freaky. That is scary, bro very scary,
• 46:34
  Speaker 2: very all right, So.
• 46:35
  Speaker 3: We'll have all the answers tonight, have a wonderful Tuesday.
• 46:38
  Speaker 3: We'll talk to you tomorrow.
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: Love you, see