{"id":291643,"date":"2025-09-19T07:50:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T07:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/291643\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T07:50:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T07:50:17","slug":"jalen-pickett-on-connection-to-malone-booth-rift-kinda-crazy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/291643\/","title":{"rendered":"Jalen Pickett on connection to Malone-Booth rift: ‘Kinda crazy’"},"content":{"rendered":"

The maelstrom swept through Ball Arena a week and a half ago, the fallout of the reported Michael Malone-Calvin Booth rift<\/a> erupting in one shocking day, sweeping up all the Nuggets\u2019 mainstays in its wake. Nikola Jokic\u2019s long-term future was called into question by pundits. Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray\u2019s contracts dangle in the balance.<\/p>\n

And at the eye of the storm, the heart of this conflict that led to Denver firing its head coach and general manager in the span of a few minutes, was a reserve guard who\u2019s played 76 games in his NBA career.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be mentioned in these things, it\u2019s kinda crazy,\u201d second-year point guard Jalen Pickett told The Denver Post on Friday after he was asked if it was strange to see his name explode amid sweeping change. \u201cBut growing up, you always want to be on this stage. So you gotta just accept everything that comes with it, at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old Rochester, N.Y., native was but a three-star recruit <\/a>out of high school and began his college career at mid-major Siena. The Nuggets selected him in the second round of the 2023 draft. In many ways, through no fault of his own, Pickett hit every pressure point of the Malone-Booth cold war. As The Post\u2019s Bennett Durando<\/a> reported, Malone played former two-way guard Collin Gillespie over draftee Pickett last year; Booth wanted the opposite. The Athletic reported<\/a> that Malone closed games with erratic veteran Russell Westbrook down the stretch of the regular season; Booth wanted Pickett.<\/p>\n

On Friday, though, with the dust settled under interim head coach David Adelman, Pickett stood after the Nuggets\u2019 practice and shrugged off the bluster around his role. Calm, like his game, as chaos erupted around him \u2014 and over him.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t really focus on that type of stuff,\u201d Pickett said. \u201cCan\u2019t control anything that happens in this business, as you can see from this year. But, just when my number\u2019s called, I\u2019m going to be ready each and every time I step on the floor. And that\u2019s whatever the team needs me to do at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

By all measures, the Nuggets will likely need a fair amount. Pickett has grown into a steady change-of-pace option from Westbrook behind starting point guard Jamal Murray. With Murray sidelined in Adelman\u2019s first game as interim coach April 9, Pickett both started and closed against the Kings. The second-year guard responded with 18 points on 5-of-7 shooting from deep.<\/p>\n

Pickett\u2019s still not a final product, as Murray put it Wednesday. He\u2019s still learning to play with Jokic, the traffic conductor of Air Denver. But his feel playing off the Nuggets\u2019 MVP is \u201cdefinitely more instinctual now,\u201d Pickett said Friday.<\/p>\n

On multiple possessions in that Kings matchup, Pickett recalled, he was stationed to space in the corner with Jokic operating from the post. Instead, Jokic urged him to flash to the middle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was wide open,\u201d Pickett recounted. \u201cLike, wide-open shots, like at the middle of the paint. I mean, he\u2019s just so great. He sees things two, three possessions, or two, three plays right before it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s played a total of 11 playoff minutes in his short NBA career. But postseason basketball is \u201cmore my game,\u201d Pickett told The Post. He earned the nickname\u00a0<\/a>Grandpa\u00a0for his methodical pace growing up. He plays a unique brand of \u201cbooty ball,\u201d a synonym of\u00a0bully ball, a 6-foot-4 guard using his mass against smaller guards. He posted a 4.46 assist-to-turnover ratio in 2024-25, seventh in the NBA among players who appeared in more than 40 games<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And he\u2019ll have his chance to plant his flag this postseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cJalen got to play in some big games,\u201d Adelman said of Pickett on Thursday. \u201cI mean this, the Sacramento game felt like a playoff game, and he seemed very comfortable in it. And his shot\u2019s been falling this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you have to rely on those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally Published: April 18, 2025 at 4:31 PM MDT<\/p>\n