Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room:
NBA Insider
The words “internal development” have been used a lot to start the summer, and that means it’s a big offseason for the Denver Nuggets’ Julian Strawther.
“Going from Year 2 to Year 3, I feel like it’s kind of like taking the training wheels off. I feel like it’s the biggest summer,” Strawther said last week.
“Are you going to be around in this league or are you going to fizzle out? Being able to take that step as a professional, work on my body this summer, work on a little bit of everything and just put myself in the best position to have success next year.”
If the Nuggets aren’t able to pull off a significant trade or sign an impactful player or two to a team-friendly deal, Denver’s easiest path to getting better is development from a group of young reserves. Strawther’s development comes with increased importance given the Nuggets’ needs.
“You can improve with what you have. That’s going to be important for these guys, looking at their summers,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said last week.
When asked what the Nuggets’ roster lacked last season, Adelman answered “consistent shooting.” Denver attempted the fewest 3s per game last season.
“There’s a premium on shot making at the times you need it,” Denver’s new coach said.
More Strawther minutes would be an easy way for the Nuggets to get more 3s up. What Strawther offers was most evident in Game 6 against the Thunder. When the Nuggets needed an offensive spark, then-interim coach David Adelman called upon his third-year shooting guard, who answered with 15 points on 3-of-4 shooting from 3-point range in 20 minutes.
“Your skill set has to get better in the summer, but it has to be aligned to what were trying to do as a team. There is a happy medium you have to meet,” Adelman said.
“I expect guys to come back much better, stronger, more confident and understand the opportunity they have.”
After playing in 50 games last season, Strawther appeared in 65 games this season, starting four, and doubling his minutes per game to 21.3. After shooting 30% from 3 as a rookie, he shot 35% last season. With hopes of making more improvements ahead of next season, Strawther stuck around Denver to attend Adelman’s first official press conference. It sounds like he’s going to be on the Ball Arena practice court a lot this summer.
“We take it personal, especially us younger guys. We’re hungry to get better. We’re hungry to put our vets and starters in the best position possible when it’s time for them to close games,” Strawther said.
“It’s all fuel to the fire. We understand that we’re going to develop and get better. We’re all young. We’ve got a lot of years ahead of us. “
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What I’m Thinking
Nuggets fans get to play the “what if” game for another couple of weeks, if not longer.
After Oklahoma City needed just five games to send the Timberwolves home in the conference finals, no team can claim to have given the historically good Thunder as much of a test as the Nuggets. Determining what that means is a little more complicated.
The Thunder could claim they were an Aaron Gordon buzzer-beating 3 in Game 1 and missed jumper from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in Game 4 away from sweeping the second-round series, while Denver fans will say they could’ve won the series in five or six games.
“We’re more than capable of competing with those teams,” Adelman said of the Western Conference finalists. “We’ve showed it. It’s just about getting in the right mindset when those games come at the end of the season.”
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That debate might just go on all summer, because the Thunder are beating the Pacers in five.
“We think that we have enough in the locker room to win the championship,” Strawther said.
“A little more luck, a little more health, things might change.”
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What They’re Saying
“Right now, we’re in what I would say is a very binary position,” team president Josh Kroenke said at Adelman’s introductory press conference last week. “Either you have success, which is win the championship or you’re failing and falling short.”
The Nuggets’ new coach also offered his take on what has to be better over the course of next season for the Nuggets not to fall short.
“The personality of the team has to be consistent throughout the season, and that has to happen. I thought last year we were up and down,” Adelman said.
“This is a process-based business. You have to work every day to get to your ultimate goal, and not just expect it to happen.”
Afterward, Strawther was among the many to offer a vote of confidence in his new coach.
“He’s a great basketball mind. He’s, obviously, come from a lot of places where he’s been able to learn the game. We all trust him,” Strawther said.
“He was able to make adjustments on the fly in the playoffs, so we trust in him with all our heart. He trusts us, so it should be good.”
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What I’m Following
– The Suns are one step closer to filling their vacant head coaching position. Phoenix is reportedly down to Cavaliers assistants Johnnie Bryant and Jordan Ott.
– Utah hired Danny Ainge’s son Austin away from Boston to be the Jazz’s president of basketball operations. Justin Zanik remains in his role as general manager.
– Indiana will be without reserve forward Jarace Walker for at least the first two games of the Finals. Walker injured his ankle in Indiana’s Game 6 win over the Knicks on Saturday.
– The Thunder are the second youngest team to reach the Finals in the last 70 years. Oklahoma City’s average age is 25.6 years old. The only younger team was the 1977 Trail Blazers, led by Bill Walton.
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The Lines
Oklahoma City is a -700 favorite to win the Finals. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is -625 favorite to win Finals MVP. Pacers stars Tyrese Haliburton (+700) and Pascal Siakam (+1,600) have the second- and third-best odds to win MVP.