Checking on the Denver Nuggets in Las Vegas Summer League

Checking on the Denver Nuggets in Las Vegas Summer League

All [Music] right, Nuggets fans. Welcome into Pickax and Roll, brought to you by our good friends here at Mile High Sports. I’m your host, Ryan Blackburn, NBA Blackburn on Twitter, part of the Mile High Sports Podcast Network. I am recording this one on Sunday night. Going to schedule it for Monday morning around 10:00 a.m. or so. Uh, normal time for when I would be recording Pickaxe, but didn’t really feel like going live. So, just decided, hey, let’s record this one. Audio listeners won’t change a thing. We’ll do my best to to get that one up as quickly and efficiently as possible. But for my video listeners out there, uh, this is probably going to be the norm. Probably going to be going with a recording over a live over, uh, the vast majority of the summer. It’s going to allow me to record some of these episodes in advance, make sure that I’m staying on top of things, giving you guys good content, of course, uh, but it’s going to allow me to be a little bit more free with my schedule. got some things I would like to take care of this summer and got some places I’d like to be. So, we’ll do my best to be recording these and making sure you get as good of content as you possibly can. And I of course if there is a live uh kind of like notice that happens, if there’s some news that happens, I’ll go live. I’ll make sure that I am available and ready to go for that unless prior engaged on this episode. going to do a little bit of a summer league check-in. The Nuggets have only played two games so far out of their five. Uh only four of those games are scheduled. The last one will be on the 18th, 19th, or 20th. We haven’t determined quite yet which days those are going to be. I would guess it’s going to be on the 18th. My guess is that Denver isn’t really trending the direction of a team that is going to be advancing in the playoffs. They’ve already lost two games. I think they may even be eliminated from contention for uh advancing within summer league playoffs. So, probably not spending too much time in Vegas, but we’ll see what happens and we’ll see what it continues to look like uh as this Vegas trip progresses, but wanted to check in on a couple of prospects. Obviously, uh, only two games have been played, so you don’t want to be writing a whole and like writing off various players that have played. You want to make sure to kind of take the full picture. And even then, as I talked about in previous episodes, previous articles, Jaylen Picket had a really rough summer league last year. It kind of shadowed him for a vast majority of the time that he was with the Nuggets in the 2024-25 season. and a lot of folks were not very quick to trust based off of what happened in the summer, but he earned it. He clearly earned the opportunity with the way that he was actually playing on the floor. And I do think that that stigma kind of held on to him a little bit too long than it should have. So without further ado, let’s talk about some of the things that have happened. Again, not overreacting, just reacting, just trying to discuss what’s actually happening with the team. First and foremost, they’re 0 and2 okay offensively a little like sometimes they do pretty well sometimes they create some good opportunities. Uh I was looking up some stats for this. Turns out Reese Beman the starting point guard for the team each of the last two games averaging eight assists per game which is tied for second in the entire summer league. So he is doing his job in terms of facilitating setting the table for a lot of people whether it’s running in transition running pick and roll with somebody like Tyrell Harrison who’s a the big center that’s been in the middle next to Don Holmes. Uh but Denver has had a couple of contributions from some guys outside of the main roster guys. I would say that overall the main roster guys, whether it’s the uh Don Holmes and Hunter Tyson on the full-time roster or the two-way contract guys and Tamar Bates and Spencer Jones, overall it’s been meh. It hasn’t been one of those things like it’s obviously exciting for Don to get back out there and show that he’s healthy, show that he’s available, continue to work his way back into playing shape so that he can do all of the great things that the Nuggets drafted him to do. Uh, but this is a step in the process and it does look like a step in the process. there was good in the first game and then I would say the second game he looked a little bit overwhelmed physically by the size and athleticism and just the overall kind of physicality of the Minnesota Timberwolves bigs. Uh Denver overall as a team looked very overwhelmed in that particular game. Whether it was Tyson, whether it was uh EJ Liddell turned the ball over five times. Uh Spencer Jones did pretty well. he held up in that environment and that I think says something about the kind of player, the kind of archetype of player that he’s going to be in the NBA. very excited or moderately excited for what he can do in the NBA. But just overall, it definitely feels like Denver shooting the skill set that they were showing kind of in the practices, not necessarily translating at the game level against teams that are a little bit more physical, against teams that are a little bit more athletic than they are. They aren’t generating separation. Holmes is one of the problem, not problems, but like he has some problems like generating separation in some of the plays that he’s been trying to make or not make. He doesn’t necessarily feel comfortable doing some things. But Hunter Tyson is another where trying to go off the dribble, spinning, posting up, trying to create some space. He looks overwhelmed in a lot of the plays that he is trying to making on the ball. off the ball. He’s had a couple of moments where, like, hey, creating some shots with his movement, with his spacing. Denver, when they’ve had an opportunity to drop a play, has done a pretty good job of getting Hunter Tyson a look, and he’s converted those reasonably. But in the flow of the offense, when he’s asked to cont contribute something by himself, when he’s asked to just go create a bucket, go create a play for somebody else, only averaging one assist per game, 12 and a half points, not necessarily shooting very efficiently. I wouldn’t say he’s handled it particularly well. And that’s tough because you would want for him to show a little bit more control in his third summer league for sure. That hasn’t quite happened yet, but it doesn’t mean that it can’t change in the next three games. We’ll see what it ultimately looks like. But with Don, the shot looks really good when he gets an opportunity to set his feet, whether it’s in transition, whether it’s out of the corner, whether it’s on the wing. Looks pretty good there. On the move, not as well. Um, I want to see more pick and pop opportunities with him. I want to see what it looks like when a point guard, a playmaker, whoever gets downhill with the intention to set him up as the point as the like uh pop guy, as the pullup three guy on the perimeter. That’s something that Jokic does a lot. It’s something he’s done a great job of throughout his career in terms of getting better at and spacing out the defense that way. Deron Holmes, if he’s going to play any five, he’s going to need to do that. Small ball five especially. You want those guys to be able to go five out, but also to be able to be comfortable screening, popping, shooting in motion, and that I think will be a process for him, but he’s done a good job. Like he he went off the dribble a couple of times in both games. I will say like hasn’t attempted a free throw yet. isn’t really comfortable drawing a bunch of contact as a scorer yet. Definitely passing out of more o opportunities situations. Uh that’s not his faults. I I do think that that’s just part of the process of learning how to get back into shape, learning how to get back onto the floor, trusting your body, doing the things in the flow that you’re supposed to be doing. Again, not trying to overreact in any of these cases. A little bit slow to react defensively sometimes. And then the conditioning level and the physicality level is something that I’ll be watching as he continues to get into shape following summer league into training camp and then into the NBA season. Uh the the ceiling is still very high for Don Holmes. I still think that he can be a starter at the NBA level. Um but it’s going to take progression because if it if it’s from here, it’s not going to go as well. He’s going to be a backup. He’s going to have to continue to get more athletic, get more physical, get more springy. Uh but that comes with just the territory of coming back from a torn Achilles. So, he’ll be good. Spencer Jones, as I mentioned, some good things from him. Zero points in the first game, 19 in the second game, made three of his six threes. That’s the thing that you really want to see from him. You want to see him really hit those shots, knock them down, be a little bit more consistent as a floor spacer. um he’s never going to be like especially with the archetype of player that he’s supposed to be on the offensive end and just within the flow of a team, he’s going to be a role player. He’s not going to be asked to do too terribly much. What I do like about him is that he gets very physical when he is getting into the teeth of the defense, when he’s cutting, when he’s offensive rebounding, very comfortable bumping into people, taking contact and finishing. Anyway, uh that’s what you like to see, especially for a Jokic team where he’s going to be setting up cutters. Aaron Gordon does a good job of doing the same thing. Uh Jamal Murray sees the floor pretty well, especially for those role player guys when they are willing to cut and they’re willing to space and teams aren’t guarding them because they’re so focused on Joic and Murray and Gordon and guys like that. Um, and then Valenunis, like if Spencer Jones were to get out there on the floor with Valenunis, he’s going to be a guy that I think can playmake at least a little bit too. So, we’ll see what happens with it and how they could take advantage of it. But if he can finish at the rim, if he can grab offensive rebounds and do some of those dirty work things offensively, be a screener, be somebody who hustles, I think the defense is good enough, or at least the baseline’s going to be good enough that he’ll be able to earn or at least play some minutes. Uh, I don’t know how many opportunities he’s going to get. This is a two-way contract we’re talking about. Denver’s roster is a lot better than it was last year. But if there is a a weakness on the roster behind Payton Watson, that kind of archetype of big wing, big forward, physical, somebody who could switch two, three, four, not as prevalent. Uh so Spencer Jones could earn some time that way, just playing that physical style. So hopefully he gets there. want to see him continue to hit shots and he has zero assists so far in summer league. So would like to see him be creative and playmaking for others at least a little bit too. But that’s a that’s a ceiling raising kind of thing, not a floor raising kind of thing. If he is just good enough defensively and hitting some outside shots and then cutting and finishing at the rim, that’s probably good enough. Tamar Bates. Okay. Okay. I’m not gonna sit here and say that I’ve been super impressed with his game. Good off the dribble, good slashing, good finishing around the rim, eight of 16 on twos, one of nine on threes. I’m not going to overreact to outside shooting because that is the one thing that is the most volatile I would say in a summer league environment. And Denver, despite the fact that Reese Speakman is averaging a fair amount of assists, Denver’s just not generating advantages the way that you would want for perimeter shooters. Like those guys, it doesn’t necessarily feel like they’re getting frequent opportunities to like set, hit shots, uh get comfortable, things like that, get into rhythm. That’s not happening within Denver’s offense, which is one of the reasons why they have struggled against some of these teams. But I do think that Tamar at least, like he’s a shooter. He’s going to be able to make those shots. I’m not worried about that. What I was worried about going in was his willingness to just let it fly. And he is letting it fly. I will say that. He’s coming off the bench. He’s not expected to take a whole bunch of shots. I would like to see him start next to Beakman or Curtis Jones or whoever. I I don’t necessarily want to see him start at point guard. That’s not That’s not his game, I don’t think. Uh, but I would like to see him get out there at some point in the starting lineup, get some extended run, see how many threes he could get up within the flow of a game. Uh, because I think he could be one of those guys that you want him to take on average like 10 shots, uh, 10 threes per 100 possessions or something like that. And some be somebody who’s lethal out there. somebody that the opposing team has to really respect and close out on and do those things like and if he is that Denver doesn’t have that many spacers at the shooting guard position like well they do like they actually have added some and Julian Strawther’s projected to be kind of like that but he’s a little bit less efficient and Tim Hardaway Jr. We’ll see how much longer he has, but like I I expect him to be here for a year and the hope would be that then somebody like Julian Strawler or Tamar Bates would be ready to step him into a larger role. Um we’ll see whether that actually happens and transpires or not. But in order to do that, he’s got to be more comfortable just letting shots fly. That’s the the name of the game in the NBA. If you have an open three, you have to take it. It’s a requirement and the trigger should be very quick. So, we’ll see whether he could get to that place. Um, defensively, haven’t been impressed. Um, I would like to see him lock in a little bit more. This could just be anecdotal, but variety of times it has felt like he’s lost track of his man, lost interest in his man or or whatever the team defensive concept has been for him to be responsible for. I could be wrong on this. not going to sit here and say that I am the like uh summer league defensive expert, but it has felt like he has missed a few assignments here or there. And I do think that he has to really start to get into guys and get into their chile a little bit, try to disrupt them as much as possible. And if he can really do that at the NBA level, he will earn a role. That is a like a guarantee. You have to be good defensively. You have to be aggressive defensively, especially for a guy like him who is not like a 6’5, 6’6 shooting guard. He’s 6′ three. So, a lot of the time he might be tasked with on ball defense at the point of attack. So, he’s got to be willing and able to do that. He’s got to be very physical, very aggressive uh from a a defensive standpoint. And if he can make that happen, then he will carve out an NBA role. This is not a like the way I think he may see his and this is this is complete projection. The way I think he may see his game is he’s a guy who is able to catch, survey the floor, break down the defense, make a shot. I don’t think that’s the role that he’s going to fill in the NBA. I think it’s more likely to be kind of a 3 and D guard, somebody who can defend on the ball. Take a lot of threes and if you’re able to do that at a high level, every team needs that. Every team, no matter the like he’s 6’3, they’ll pay guys who are 6’2, 61, 6 foot to do that. But the fact that he’s 63, he has a a strong baseline of being able to kind of guard, switch at least a little bit and just make plays. He’s got a pretty decent wingspan as well. So, I don’t know. Like, just my two cents here. Other guys, uh, Tyrell Harrison has been like, he’s big. He’s physical. I think he handled the physicality of the Minnesota front line better than most on Denver’s roster. He did look tired. He did look gassed. He’s probably not a great athlete overall. Um, but like I I wasn’t necessarily expecting much from him initially and he has shown more. He’s shown some pretty good touch around the rim as well. Uh, also some good like facing some pressure on the perimeter. He’s been willing to put the ball on the deck and drive and draw fouls. And so thought that that was pretty interesting. Also, Denver’s defense clearly better when he is on the floor. Uh, Denver looks very small when he is not out there. So, there’s always a role for guys that are big. Wouldn’t surprise me if for that reason, Denver decided to give him the the last two-way contract. Uh, but who knows, maybe other teams are kind of thinking the same thing. And, uh, Curtis Jones, pretty good score. Would like to see him in the starting lineup at some point. EJ Liddell, really good first game, not a good second game. We’ll see whether he can kind of even that up a little bit. And then uh there was one other name that I brought up in my article from that I’m going to post on Monday morning. Donovan Williams. Very physical, very aggressive, very athletic plays made defensively against Minnesota in just 13 minutes. He logged two steals and three blocks. curious to see how aggressive he continues to be and whether that is a that is something that can be continually expected or not going forward. Okay, let’s take a break. When we come back, we are going to discuss uh the trades that Denver made this off season officially complete. I’m going to give you a look at the salary cap table as well as some other free agents that Denver may or may not be going for. We’ll be right back here on Pickax and Roll. All right, we are back. Pickax Ryan Blackburn here. Thank you so much for tuning into the show. Hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button. Would really, really appreciate it. Let’s keep talking. Um, obviously Denver made all of their moves. They haven’t made a single actual newsworthy move since July 1st. Yeah, I want to say July 1st because on both of those, so June 30th, they made the Cam Johnson for Michael Porter trade out of nowhere. Everybody was like, “What in the world is happening?” I remember reacting to it. I was sitting here uh just checking out some of the the newsworthy things and 90 minutes into the free agency period opening that happens and we’re like whoa whoa where did this come from. Great move for Denver. It allowed them to do some other things. Then they signed Bruce Brown to a vet minimum. Then the next day we were like okay we’ll see what happens. You need to make some moves with the uh the financial flexibility that the Michael Porter for Cam Johnson trade gave you. And they did. They traded Daario Sar for Yonas Valenunis and they signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to a minimum contract. Actually, like Denver has some flexibility to go over the salary gap, over the luxury tax if they want to. However, based off of where things are, I’m not sure they do. I’m not sure they will, which kind of goes into our will they add a 15th man or not. But either way, that was July 1st. I’m recording this on July 13th. It’s going to be July 14th when you see this. And Denver hasn’t really made any moves other than that since then. So, kind of curious what the final form of the team is going to be. I kind of think it’s going to be basically this. And maybe they add something else. But let’s look at this real quick. Here is the salary cap. Um, actually before I get into this and like sorry to spoil things, the reason why we’re we’re talking about this again is that on Sunday today when I’m recording this, the Jonas Valentunis for Darius Arch trade was officially made official. Uh, they made the other moves official over the course of the last few days. Tim Hardway became official, Bruce Brown became official, the Cam Johnson for Michael Porter trade became official. That was basically over this last week or so. And Denver now has a roster that is going to reflect it. Uh obviously the Jonas Valenunis part of this is still slightly up in the air. Although there was some reporting over the weekend from Mark Stein who basically said he doesn’t necessarily think that like he thinks that Valenunis is going to play for Denver this year and he’s waiting for Valenunis to comment on it officially for the Nuggets to comment on it officially and I am too. I expect that we will get that in the next couple of days. And this Valenunist move which looks very good for Denver, looks very smart for Denver, uh it’s going to be something that they can uh monitor going forward actually. So that 10 million that is there for him in 2026 27 that is non-g guaranteed. It is a uh is it non-g guaranteed or a team option? I think it’s a team option. Those are ambiguous. Uh there’s that’s stuff about like guarantee dates and things like that, but effectively the Nuggets salary cap sheet is as it is right now. I’m looking at 14 roster spots. If you’re listening on the audio side, if you’re watching on the video side, follow along with me. 14 roster spots as we’ve been talking about a lot. what I have here for projected salary versus the salary cap for the first like kind of luxury tax line or the luxury tax line versus the first apron versus the super tax apron. There are things that are kind of preventing Denver from doing much more than where they are now. Um for the tax and for the aprons, the incentives are very important. You have to count both likely and unlikely incentives against the tax aprons and against the luxury tax line. Uh so what that means is that uh though Cam Johnson is only going to earn we think 21 million, you actually have to count an e an extra 4.2 2 million there against the luxury tax first apron and second apron which even though Denver like the luxury tax first apron line is at 195 their projected salaries at 188 you would think that they would have about 7 million in space they don’t actually because there’s 4.2 two there. It’s actually closer to 3.3 million in first apron space. This is as I have kind of understood it. Um so like this is a is a very interesting thing that Denver kind of has to manage despite the fact that like they’ve done a pretty good job of getting themselves pretty close to out of luxury tax range. And I kind of think they’re going to keep going with that. Uh that is a big deal because if you add another minimum contract, you see the the Bruce Brown number, the Tim Hardaway number, both of those are 2.29 million, basically 2.3. If you add another 2.3 million, you do not trigger the first apron. However, you’re going deeper into the luxury tax, which I currently have Denver at over 400,000 over. Somebody else might have a different number. Jakecoin may have a slightly different number. The reason why those matter is because Denver when they are like trying to figure out whether they’re going to be a repeater tax team or not, maybe they go into it by very little this year, but there is an actual like advantageous thing for them that if they are if they’re willing to kind of like duck down under the tax in this particular year, they can then go over the packs and then into the first apron into the second apron again. Uh not second apron again. They maybe it’s uh maybe that’s something that they still have to worry about, but they can go over the first apron if they want to to retain guys like Christian Brown and Peyton Watson who are currently in negotiations for contract extensions as rookie extensions. And so Denver doesn’t have to be afraid of those numbers if they are willing to like go back over, but it it might involve them kind of ducking the tax in the meantime, which makes it less likely that they go for a big free agent. They have access to it. They have uh basically they could sign a player for up to by my count 3.36 million uh of that non-t taxpayer midlevel if they wanted to or they could go over the first apron if they wanted to and pay 5.7 million for a taxpayer mid-level. I don’t think they are hardcapped. Uh they might be. All those rules are still very ambiguous. uh they’ve completed those trades as two different transactions. So I think that they are operating as a below first apron team. Uh if this isn’t making a lot of sense to you then I completely understand. It still barely makes any sense to me. But basically, Denver doesn’t have like this massive free agency option. And yet, they may not need one if they wanted to add a 15th man. Like, let’s say they’re willing to go over the luxury tax, at least in the like current year for or like going into the year, they can always try to get under it. Let’s say they try to trade Zeke Naji for somebody that’s making like five million or let’s say they wanted to dump somebody at the deadline or something. There are ways that they could do that. Although I don’t necessarily think that they would try to do that. Uh they could always try to get somebody to take on Hunter Tyson’s contract for example using a future second round pick if that was necessary. Um, if they wanted to do that and they wanted to add a 15th man onto the roster, I’ve put on the board, I put in the on the screen the current list of free agents available that the that were sorted by the previous high salary that they had in the NBA last year. names on the board. Malcolm Brogden, Chris Bucher, Chris Paul likely to go to Phoenix uh once Bradley Beal commits his buyout. Al Horford likely to go to Golden State. I would guess Gary Peyton comes back on a minimum with Golden State, but who knows? Um Trey Lyles, not sure where he’s going to go. Josh Giddy likely to be resigned to Chicago. They’re just trying to pay as little as possible and Giddy’s trying to get as much as possible. Jonathan Kaminga, same thing. Although that situation looks pretty uh looks pretty bleak over there. Those guys look like they are not enjoying each other’s company. Uh Denver can’t get in on those guys. Like don’t even try it with Giddy or with Kaminga. That’s it’s just not going to happen. Um Precious Aua is available. I would expect him to be a minimum going back to New York. Malik Beasley’s off the table. Don’t even touch that. He is currently wanted by the government. Amir Coffee is obviously somebody that I have liked in the past, but clearly he has not gotten the attention and clearly people don’t really value him that much. I’m kind of surprised by it. 28-year-old wing, versatile enough to be able to handle different positions, different responsibilities. Uh don’t matter. 1700 minutes last year don’t matter. and Russell Westbrook obviously with Denver last year for various reasons. It doesn’t look like they’re going to bring him back, but maybe he ends up back on the team as the 15th man if that’s something that he wants to be. Uh though I wouldn’t think that it comes with a massive expectation of playtime anymore. Uh and then Cory Joseph is the the final name. He would be kind of your traditional 15th man, somebody that you’re not really expecting to play, but would be a good veteran presence to have around the locker room. If Denver got any of these guys, you should be happy. Like straight up as a as a fan, if you’re getting Brogden, if you’re getting Buché, if you’re getting Chris Paul, Al Horford, whoever, like if you get any of those guys, you should be happy. You shouldn’t expect it given how stacked Denver’s rotation is. A lot of these guys would be wanting to go somewhere with the expectation of playtime, with the expectation of a future contract value that they could get because if you are like one of the reasons why I think Denver was able to get Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr. is because it was sold to those agents and sold to those players that hey, you go get an opportunity to go play with Joic, your next contract is going to be pretty big. And so there’s only so many guys you could do that with. Only so many guys that can have that reasonable expectation like Trey Lyles for example. What can you promise to him? What is he actually looking to get? Because if you’ve got a five players like in your starting lineup, you’ve got Bruce Brown, Tim Hardway Jr., Pton Watson, Don Holmes, Yonas Valenunis, Julian Strawler, uh Zeke Naji’s there. Obviously, if you’re Trey Lyles, you think you could beat out Zeke Naji. You think you could beat out Deon Holmes, but that’s a former first round pick for Denver that they’re obviously trying to get value out of. Trey Lyles would be like a good player for Denver to add, but would he necessarily feel like he would get the requisite playtime? Chris Buché, same thing. Um, Precious Achua, same thing. And then if you’re Malik Beasley, Amir Coffee, where are you like where are you going to play if you’re those guys? Obviously, don’t go get Malik Beasley. Malik Beasley is not coming back to Denver. So, Cory Joseph and and guys like that probably the expected options. Russell Westbrook, if he was okay not playing every night, I think would be a pretty reasonable expected option. Um, but for those reasons, I don’t necessarily think that Denver needs to fill that 15th man. Like there are like types of players that they could go get and be happy with and like that kind of archetype of player would be good, but I’m not necessarily going to sit here and predict that Denver even fills a 15th roster spot heading into the year. A lot of these guys are not necessarily going to want to come to Denver. A lot of these guys are not necessarily going to be like, “Yeah, you know what? Want to ride the bench?” like that’s not where these guys are are really at. So like Patty Mills, James Johnson, Seth Curry, Taj Gibson, those are the kinds of guys. Hell, DeAndre Jordan, maybe he’s an option. Maybe that is something to at least reconsider the possibility of if you’re willing to do that. But then it kind of comes down to if you are the front office, if you are the ownership, are you willing to pay kind of get into the luxury tax, trigger the reg the luxury tax going forward and maybe be in the repeater tax for a 15th man that is not going to play? The answer may be no. The other thing is that if you go into a roster or into a year with 14 guys, it becomes easier later in the season to add that 15th player if somebody becomes available on the buyout market. So I I I would not be surprised at all at all if Denver goes with 14 players heading into the season. If that’s what ultimately happens, then so be it. I I don’t think it’s like negligence by the roster. It’s it’s this isn’t them just being cheap. I think if they had an opportunity for somebody to come in and say that they wanted to be in Denver, then Denver would of course consider it. They would try to weigh whether that player was actually going to play enough in order to be reasonable. But like is Denver in a really good position to add Cameron Payne? like Dylon Wright, hell, even Monte Morris. I I would love to have any of those guys. Like, it would be good to have a veteran backup point guard who can handle a little bit more playmaking responsibility than Bruce Brown might. Um, but is it necessary? No. No, I’m not going to. Nobody should be making a bit to do. the dunked on guys and and some guys some people around the league that are checking in and trying to see if Denver’s maximizing every financial avenue for them. They’ll probably have a bit to do about something like this because like that’s just what they’re supposed to do. Like that’s what they’re trying to see whether every team is maximizing every opportunity especially a team with Jokic and trying to win a championship. I just don’t necessarily see it that way. I think that Denver has a reason that they could go into the year with 14. I don’t think it’s cheapness. I think that there’s actually a justification for it. The other thing is that it’s kind of hard to get off of Hunter Tyson, Ziknagi contracts, um Jaylen pick it if it doesn’t work out. It’s hard to get off of those contracts for Denver when they only have one second round pick to trade and zero first round picks to trade. So, you don’t necessarily want to have to give those up, those final little assets in order to like sell off roster spots in the future. So, who knows? Who knows what’s ultimately going to happen, but we should get some more kind of confirmation about the Jonas Valentuna situation in the coming days. Again, like I said, I expect him to play. I expect him to be in Denver. I’d be shocked honestly if he didn’t at this point because it does seem like Denver’s kind of put their foot down and said, “Yeah, this is something that we want.” And now that they’ve communicated with Valenunis and his people, I think that everybody’s back on the same page. So, we’ll see what ultimately happens, but I think we are probably going to be in a pretty quiet stretch here for Denver over the course of the next month, two months or so. And that might be a good thing. They they’ve done their hard work. They added some good veterans. They made the trade that they needed to make and they added a backup center as long as everything’s kosher there. They added a backup center that they needed to help free up Nicole Joic from a physical burden that he didn’t need. So, we’ll see what it ultimately looks like, but I I’m going to over the course of these next few weeks start breaking down the rotation, breaking down different roles, responsibilities, expectations heading into the next season. Uh, but for now, I I don’t think I’m going to be doing much transaction talk for Denver over the course of these next few weeks. Maybe Russell Westbrook finds a team, and we’ll talk about that obviously, but for now, I think that’s going to do it. I think that’s going to do it here for this episode of Pickaxe and Roll brought to you by my good friends at Mile High Sports. Thank you so much for tuning into the show. Of course, hit that like button, hit that subscribe button on the way out. Would really, really appreciate it. Uh we’ll talk to you guys later this week.

On the latest Pickaxe and Roll, Ryan Blackburn breaks down the first two games of Denver Nuggets Summer League and how the roster players have looked so far from DaRon Holmes and Hunter Tyson to Spencer Jones and Tamar Bates. Then, he looks closer at the roster and discusses why the Nuggets might carry 14 players on their roster into the 2025-26 season.

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