Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room:

NBA Insider

It’s going to be another short offseason for the Nuggets’ franchise player.

After a promotional tour of China with “361 Degrees,” his shoe company, Nikola Jokic will represent Serbia in EuroBasket 2025, an international competition featuring teams from Europe. It marks the third time in the last four seasons Jokic has represented his country in the NBA offseason.

The good news for the Nuggets is the extra workload doesn’t seem to have much of an effect on the three-time Most Valuable Player’s availability or production.

Jokic represented Serbia in the 2022 EuroBasket and played in 69 games the following NBA season. He would’ve played a few more games in the 2022-23 regular season, but the Nuggets had wrapped up the Western Conference’s top seed late in the final week of the season. He missed out on the MVP but had enough in the tank to lead the Nuggets to the championship.

Denver’s Finals MVP drew ire from some of his fellow Serbians after skipping the 2023 FIBA World Cup following the Nuggets’ championship run. He made up for it last summer, leading the Serbian team to a near upset of the United States in the Olympics. Serbia celebrated its bronze medal before Jokic returned to Denver and became the third player in NBA history to average a triple-double while playing in 70 regular-season games.

The trade for Jonas Valanciunas bolstered the Nuggets’ back-up center situation, and he will also be playing in the tournament that starts Aug. 27. Valanciunas headlines Lithuania’s roster after skipping last summer’s games. He last represented Lithuania in the 2023 World Cup and earned second-team honors. Valanciunas played in all 82 games the following season and played in 81 games last season.

Luka Doncic (Slovenia), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) and Lauri Markkanen (Finland) are among the other NBA stars expected to compete at EuroBasket this summer, while former Nuggets forward Vlatko Cancar is also a member of the Slovenian squad.

Serbia, Germany and France are among the favorites to win the championship on Sept. 14. A couple of weeks later, Jokic, Valanciunas and the rest of the NBA players will return stateside to prepare for next season.

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What I’m Thinking

It’s fun to see Jokic celebrating after his beloved horses win races in Serbia.

The conversations that follow are tired. 

After a big racing win last weekend had Jokic popping bottles of champagne and pouring over his team members’ heads, people compared that to his reaction after leading the Nuggets to the 2023 championship. The popular takeaway was Jokic cares more about horse racing than he does basketball. Spend enough time watching the way Jokic operates on the court, and it’s clear he’s capable of being passionate about more than one thing.

Weren’t we just talking about his increased level of buy-in during the playoffs? Did we forget the massive hugs he shared with his even bigger brother, or Jokic tackling Jamal Murray into a pool the night the Nuggets won it all? It sure looked like he cared at last summer’s Olympics.

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For whatever reason, people don’t knock Stephen Curry’s love of golf, Chris Paul’s bowling, Russell Westbrook’s appreciation for fashion, Damian Lillard’s rapping or Anthony Edwards’ acting career with the same energy.

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What They’re Saying

“The summer of 2025 is the perfect time to make big plans for the fall of 2026!” European agent Misko Raznatovic said on a photo with LeBron James and Maverick Carter.

Raznatovic’s long list of NBA clients includes Jokic. That led to some wild speculation online. The most likely hypothesis revolves around the formation of a new European league.

—Michael Porter Jr. posted another “Curious Mike” video about his first days with the Nets and snuck in a shot at his former team’s practice gym. The Nuggets’ practice gym in Ball Arena features just one regulation-size NBA court.

“I’m just glad y’all got two courts,” Porter said after walking into his new practice gym in Brooklyn. “Over there, we had the one court.”

—Tyrese Haliburton, Damian Lillard and Jayson Tatum suffered torn Achilles injuries during the playoffs, the same injury that sidelined Nuggets rookie DaRon Holmes II last season. The conversation turned to the source of those injuries.

“There’s a notion when guys get injured or when this has happened so many times that everybody thinks that they have the answer to why this is happening,” Haliburton said Tuesday on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” in his first public appearance since the injury. “Everybody thinks we play too many games, we play too many minutes — all those things could be true, but I don’t think that is what’s causing these injuries. … I think injuries are just bad luck sometimes and that’s just what happened. I think that’s just what happens in sports sometimes.”

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What I’m Following

—Vlatko Cancar has a new squad. He was announced by Italian club Olimpia Milano as a new signing for next season. Cancar spent six seasons in Denver, but injuries plagued his time in the NBA.

—Austin Rivers, another former Nugget, has a new career venture. He was announced as part of NBC’s broadcasting lineup as the network prepares to broadcast NBA games for the first time since 2002.

—The Bulls apparently like what they’ve seen from Billy Donovan, who received a multiyear extension per an ESPN report. Donovan’s been Chicago’s coach since 2020, and the Bulls have played in a total of five playoff games in Donovan’s tenure. Looking at the Bulls roster, the playoff drought likely will reach a fourth year.

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—Nuggets fans had a prime opportunity to get their jokes off on Sunday when TMZ reported Marcus Morris Sr. was arrested on a fraud charge related to unpaid casino debts in Broward County, Fla. Morris is the twin brother of Markieff, who got into an altercation with Nikola Jokic back in the 2021-22 season. It didn’t take long for the cracks to start flying on social media.