Denver reporter: Nuggets may need to break up the team

[HotRocks34]

Go to about 20:45 into this video.

https://www.youtube.com/live/B0svGjODt0A?si=TKetqMNtdlyi1oo2

Adam Mares covers the Nuggets for DNVR. He played college ball. Of course everyone knows Legler.

Basically he's saying Minny (with the former Nugs GM) may have solved Denver and if that's the case it may be time to move on from this group.

I totally agree with that take. Having another Bruce Brown or Jeff Green can help but the reality is that, IMO, this group has real limits in terms of its core roster and Minny isn't going anywhere, among other rising teams.

2 of the max contracts on the roster are one-way players with real limitations. Porter can't dribble and is not a particularly good passer. He is improving but there can be effort issues and he's physically fragile.

Murray is good at PNR with Jokic but generally he's not a great distributor. He's a shooting guard who plays point. He doesn't take care of his body and that contributes to his injury issues.

Gordon has plenty of positives but he can't shoot. That inability to shoot has allowed defenses to completely alter how they guard Jokic and the new schemes are capable of really slowing him down in a way that wasn't possible previously.

KCP is solid but he's not really a ballhandler or distributor and Denver may need more size to guard Edwards moving forward.

There's some promise on the bench but ball handlers and distributors are in short supply.

I think Mares senses the same thing I do, that this unit may be maxed out, particularly against a Minny team that was built to defeat it.

Big decisions coming in Denver.

[CobraCommander]

Cause they down 0-2 …. It’s over - they didn’t win a ring last year and don’t have a 3 time mvp…. So yeah break and try to get Beal for Jokic.

Denver gonna have to sweeten the deal with picks…

[jkvonny]

This sounds like a panic move by some bloggers.

Blow it up? Are they crazy??

[monopoman]

They would be insane to blow it up after one rough series, especially since that would mean trading away Jokic typically or trying to convince him to suffer through a full rebuild.

They have arguably a top 3 guy in the NBA teams almost never pull the trigger on a complete rebuild in that case. Especially since 9 times out of 10 the superstar player will demand a trade even if you do the rebuild quickly.

[HotRocks34]

Cause they down 0-2 …. It’s over - they didn’t win a ring last year and don’t have a 3 time mvp…. So yeah break and try to get Beal for Jokic.

Denver gonna have to sweeten the deal with picks…

The person talking about this has covered the team for years and is a baller himself.

He sees it. I see it too.

The roster is limited. It's been that way, but now there's a better method to guard Jokic (that involves Gordon's limitations) and Minny has arrived.

If Denver wants more rings, it may be time to move on.

Beal? Meh. Getting a steady guard who can handle, distribute and defend may be a better move.

I'd also look at getting a stretch PF, and more ball handling/play making in terms of roster depth.

[DonaldSanders]

Insane garbage. Denver made the mistake a lot of teams do after a title -- they didn't try hard to get better the next season and go 'all in' now. GMs assume they have a title team, they don't need to change much (or in more insane cases like Cuban, they give up on the team). They assume they can tweak the team or let go of ancillary players and it'll be fine.

2022, GSW won and it was clear the Warriors needed to be better next year to win -- aging players. Warriors did nothing.
2020, Lakers jettisoned important pieces after and are still looking for the right combo and it's now too late with LeBron's age.

But the Nuggets still have a good core -- they just need to make some win-now moves now that they've had the league's target on their backs.

[Tor_Raps]

LOL

[HotRocks34]

This sounds like a panic move by some bloggers.

Blow it up? Are they crazy??

This guy has covered the team for years. He's solid.

If you can't beat Minny, there are no more rings.

And Minny was built to beat the current Nuggets.

I think the guy is right.

[levon]

It's time for everyone to touch grass

[um.]

Denver fans are the worst. I've lived here for 3 decades and the second something isn't right everyone bitches. Its sad honestly. How about you just let the series play out. F--- this guy.

[HotRocks34]

It's time for everyone to touch grass

It's only basketball, someone once said.

So sad.

[HotRocks34]

Denver fans are the worst. I've lived here for 3 decades and the second something isn't right everyone bitches. Its sad honestly. How about you just let the series play out. F--- this guy.

No that's a misread IMO.

What he's saying makes sense.

If a team built to beat you has solved what you do, you may need to alter the equation.

The guy knows the team and he knows ball.

I think he's right. We have to see if Denver is prepared to make real changes.

[KamikazeK]

Sounds like they need a new coach instead of breaking up the team. If they need anything

[SpreeS]

Era of bigs (Jokic/Giannis/Embiid) could be very short Looking at MIN/OKC/IND/BOS/NY/DAL guards/wings bounce back. And MIN/OKC could be TOP2 teams for next decade.

[lambchop]

I think they just need to re-tool. It's not easy to bring in playoff level ball handling. Someone like 2022 CP3 would be perfect, but I don't think that kind of guy is available.

As for Murray, imo he's a top tier competitor, but strangely lacks ambition at the same time. Dude is always slightly out of shape and carefree during the regular season. He reminds me of 2012 Paul Pierce in that regard, however, he's way to young to have that kind of approach towards the game.

[Handlez]

They have to add talent to their current roster, not break up their current roster.

[dc]

I mean this is silly talk. This is a championship team with the core still very young and a multiple time MVP with a game that should age well. You’re just going to blow that up? They can’t make other moves?

Even if Minni created the perfect team to counter the Nugz, we can’t be sure they can financially afford to keep it together in the long term.

[KennerLeaguer]

Era of bigs (Jokic/Giannis/Embiid) could be very short Looking at MIN/OKC/IND/BOS/NY/DAL guards/wings bounce back. And MIN/OKC could be TOP2 teams for next decade.

Oklahoma, Minnesota, Boston and Indiana all have impactful bigs.

[jkvonny]

This sounds like a panic move by some bloggers.

Blow it up? Are they crazy??

This guy has covered the team for years. He's solid.

If you can't beat Minny, there are no more rings.

And Minny was built to beat the current Nuggets.

I think the guy is right.

I do like their take on the Pacers/Knicks game . They are right. Pacers got screwed.

They are pretty good TBH.

[jkvonny]

They have to add talent to their current roster, not break up their current roster.

This