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How many games will be in the win column for the Denver Broncos in 2025? Is Bo Knicks poised for a sophomore jump or will he regress in a sophomore slump? And what one word best describes the Denver Nuggets off season thus far? All things to come on today’s rundown, but we will begin in the NBA where the Denver Nuggets surprisingly haven’t made any moves in the last handful of days. Even though they started NBA free agency with a flurry, NBA summer league action has gone on. We got to see some bright spots from Deron Holmes and maybe a less efficient bright spot in Hunter Tyson. And it remains to be seen now that the majority of the moves have been finalized. Cam Johnson officially acquired. Uh Jonas Valenunis, the trade officially finalized and we will see. All has been quiet on the Western Front from the Balkan region in Greece with the temptation to play overseas for Panathanos, the Greek basketball powerhouse. So when you’re looking at this Denver Nuggets season in totality as John Wallace, Ben Tenzer, Josh Kunky, and David Adelman have thus far so far into the off season. What one word best describes how they approached this last month or so in free agency? John Wallace spoke earlier this week and said that while he feels confident in the group that they have currently, he does still see a need at the backup point guard position for this team. That’s a role that Bruce Brown flirted with during the title run season when they won in 2023. And that is something that as it currently stands would probably fall to the likes of a Jaylen Picket andor Julian Strawther. Bruce Brown, now that he’s back with the Nuggets, could reprise that role, but this roster looks different now than it did when Bruce Brown was the sixman kind of coming off the bench in relief of that. Christian Brown is now in the starting lineup, so you don’t have that kind of presence currently on your bench. And Michael Porter Jr. is no longer here and Cam Johnson, it remains to be seen how much differently the offense will look with him in the lineup versus MPJ. And then you have the Jonas Valenuna situation where he will play the the backup five. Somebody that David Adelman spoke glowingly about and somebody that could play alongside Jokic maybe in spell of an Aaron Gordon an aging player whose physicality and toughness is unmatched by almost anyone in the NBA. but has dealt with some lingering and nagging injury issues that found themselves manifesting in the postseason where he plays at game seven against the eventual NBA champions with a grade two hamstring strain. David Adelman, when given a chance to take a look at the roster, was very bullish and very confident on the group that they have and laid out some pretty encouraging words about how competitive this training camp or whatever the four uh practices or so that you want to call it is a and how they’re going to attack this season mentally. So, all in all, the vibes feel pretty high over there at Ball Arena about the 2025 Nugget squad and how they plan to forecast the 2025 season. So, when it comes to one word that describes this Nuggets offseason, this was an exercise actually thrown out there by Bleacher Report, the national outlet, and their one word surprised the hell out of me. The one word that they settled on was suspicious. Suspicious is how they at Bleacher Report, the collective group that wrote this article, would describe the Denver Nuggets flurry of offseason moves, starting with the MPJ Cam Johnson move and finishing with the Jonas Valenunis trade for Daario Sarich. I can’t for the life of me think of why they would say that. So, I made sure to read in detail their excerpt from the article, and their explanation was essentially this. They view the Michael Porter Jr. for Cam Johnson trade as a salary dump by a cheap ownership group disguised as a roster manipulation strategy to help them move some other pieces around. And therefore they say that the move was made, but the reasoning and intent behind the move may not be for the reasons that many think it is. I for one just completely disagree with that assessment. Have the Kronis developed a reputation and maybe been accused in the past of being on the cheaper side of the negotiating table when it comes to executives? Yeah, that’s what happened with Messiah Jiri when he walked out the door. Tim Connelly, who helped build the uh the championship core that we currently enjoy today, got the job because of that, and the Nuggets were were certainly lucky for it that it turned out the way that it did. But then when it came time for Tim Connelly to be paid again, the Minnesota Timberwolves offer Tim Connelly the Godfather contract that he simply could not refuse and thus he leaves Denver for another team. And then Calvin Booth, who was initially offered a contract extension after being internally promoted as an assistant under Tim Connelly. Calvin Booth turns down a contract extension offer from the Nuggets because it did not meet the financial expectation that he had. Ultimately, he turns that down and then gets fired not long after when they clean house with Michael Malone and the GM. And then you have the new two co-executive vice presidents who together are tackling the general manager role of Ben Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace overseeing basketball operations and player personnel. And both of them are inexperienced firsttime candidates for that job. Uh uh one of which was an internal hire, the other was bringing back a former internal candidate who had left when Tim Connelly left. So yes, if you want to say that route and take that approach with them, you know, in terms of pinching pennies or being quote unquote cheap, fine. But that has not been the case when it comes to roster construction and things of that nature. Kroni has spoken out against the apron uh second apron specifically, but that’s a lot of teams and governors in the NBA who don’t like that strategy. The Boston Celtics went way into that second apron window and then had to wholesale their roster shipping out Drew Holiday and Chris’s Porzingis and the Bucks dealing with the fallout of the uh Dame Lillard Achilles injury. So that that disdain for spending above a certain threshold, which is what the apron system was designed to prevent the likes of the Golden State Warriors from building a half a decade long dynasty with unlimited funds and resources is what it’s designed to do. And the disdain for that is not limited to just the cronies. But even in this context, in this scenario where Bleacher Report uses the word suspicious, why would it be suspicious if you as an organization could ship out a player in Michael Porter Jr. who, yes, at one time was a member of a championship core and a key contributor who overcame a lot of adversity to reach that point in his career, but had kind of gotten stale. Things had soured maybe and and you needed to shake things up. When you can ship out a player like Michael Porter Jr. to bring in a player like Cam Johnson who you feel confident has a similar skill set and has a a puncher chance at giving you the same level of production at a floor of what you were getting from Michael Porter Jr. with a higher ceiling who also makes half as much money in terms of average annual value dumping MPJ’s $38 million per year contract to bring in a Cam Johnson who’s making right around 21$22 million. Why is that suspicious and not savvy? You know what I’m saying? Why? I don’t understand why. Because they end up saving money and increasing their roster flexibility, dipping them below certain tax thresholds, which open up the ability for them to use a full mid-level exemption instead of a taxpayer non- taxpayer uh designation of that exemption. I don’t agree with Bleacher Report’s premise of the word suspicious. The word that I would use right now as I sit here to describe the Denver Nuggets offseason moves thus far is appropriate. You could say aggressive, you could say busy, but I think appropriate is the right term because up until this point, I don’t think the off seasons since the title run year in 2023 were appropriately managed and handled by the front office. And yes, by being appropriate, there was a level of aggression to it. And that is what I think is needed when you are in a title contending window with Nicola Joic, who in my mind, dollars to donuts, is the best player in the world at basketball. And so for Ben Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace, these co-executive vice presidents to make a tough decision that many in Nuggets Nation via the words of the organization felt was impossible in shipping out a member of a championship core in Michael Porter Jr. bringing in a player who I just mentioned has a comparable skill set and what appears to be a similar floor but a higher ceiling due to what he can do better than Michael Porter Jr. with the basketball in his hands, better basketball IQ, so you have more fluidity within the offense, and you have a deeper bag as an offensive player. Plus, I think you’ll get a a higher end on the defensive side of the court, even if rebounds take a little bit of a dip between Cam Johnson and Michael Porter Jr., you bring back Bruce Brown, who many, including the former head coach Michael Malone, never should have think never should have left. You bring in Tim Hardaway Jr. to be a veteran presence and a sharpshooter off the bench. Somebody who has ins an incredible amount of playoff experience and is going to provide the Nuggets with something that they sorely sorely lack in multiple areas. and Jonas Valenunis being the next and probably best answer at the backup five since at least Mason Plumbley and maybe even beyond that to spell Joic minutes in the regular season, potentially in the postseason, but also potentially play alongside and provide rest opportunities and depth at the four for Aaron Gordon. All of that to me summarizes an appropriate offseason response for the Denver Nuggets. So, I give kudos to Ben Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace, the co-executive vice presidents of player personnel and basketball operations, who I had my doubts were ready and were the right candidates to take this role given everything that the Nuggets have at stake. They absolutely gave an appropriate level of response to Nicola Joic’s comments and concerns, to the fan base’s comments and concerns, and took a good look in the mirror as an organization and appropriately took the steps necessary to move into 2025 with nothing but optimism. in the NFL. The question swirling around the Broncos and really all 32 teams in the NFL is how many games are they going to win? Win totals at all of the uh sports books across the country have been released by the experts in the desert and the Broncos right now sit at 9 and a half. Pretty appropo considering they came off a surprising 10 and seven season where I think they caught a lot of teams in the league, analysts, executives, etc. offguard with the resurgence of Bo Knicks who started slow in the first three or four weeks of the season and then in the back half of the season from weeks 11 or so to 18 was one of the better statistical quarterbacks in the NFL and somebody who on paper was giving Jane Daniels a run for his money as the flashiest rookie quarterback and potential rookie of the year winner. Knicks ultimately finished third behind Brock Bowers, who had the greatest rookie tight end season of all time in many estimations, and Jane Daniels, who as a rookie had his Washington Commanders, who only won a couple of games last year in the NFC title game with not a lot of help around him to do it. So, what does that mean for the Denver Broncos in 2025? With a win total sitting right there at nine and a half, you say, “Okay, they’re basically projected to do right around what they did last year within a game or so of that hook at the 9 and a half.” And you have to factor in a number of things. One, internally within the organization, you have continuity. You have the same coaches and coordinators outside of special teams. You have another full off season for Bo Nicks who was clearly drinking through a fire hose in his rookie off season and the first month of his rookie campaign to meld and develop under Shawn Peyton’s toutelage and then all of the additions that they made starting with the offensive side of the ball bringing in Evan Ingram to be the Joker that’s been sorely missed in Shawn Peyton’s first two seasons as head coach here in Denver. How he pans out, we don’t know. But they have a best the best answer that they’ve had in Shawn Peyton’s tenure is now currently on the roster and in theory presents a lot of flexibility with how he can be used. You then draft RJ Harvey to be your running back after Javvante Williams ships out of town and the two remaining backs in Jul Mclofflin and Audrey Estame simply couldn’t do enough to try to capture that starting role when given the opportunity to do so. R.J. Harvey currently as we stand here right now remains unsigned. But the likelihood of that happening in the near future got greater this morning and last night as a couple of second round picks among the 30 who were holding out during the guaranteed money standoff have already broken through and accepted nonfully guaranteed contracts which should according to Sher and others create a domino effect where more signings will cascade throughout the day. Pat Bryant becomes the latest addition to the wide receiver room. So, two of your top three picks, everybody outside of Jade Baron are focused on key positions, skill positions on offense. And then you have the defensive side of the ball where they bring in Dre Green Law and Telenoa Hufunga, two studers players who when healthy are some of the best at their position, in some cases all prolevel players at their positions. You add Jade Baron to a talented secondary that features a promising rookie in Riley Moss and the reigning defensive player of the year in Patrick Certan. You as of now don’t have any expiring contracts coming in with the Zack Allens, the John Franklin Meyers, the Nick Bonito, etc. You have another year of all of those guys to build into Vance Joseph system. a defense that was already top five and top 10 in the majority of defensive metrics measured in the 2024 season. All of that internally trends to a tick upward. Externally, what did the division around them do? Well, the Raiders certainly appear to have gotten better bringing in Pete Carroll, Gino Smith, drafting Ashton Genty to go alongside Brock Bowers. Certainly they are a candidate to be better in 2025 than they were in 2024. The Chargers who beat the Broncos twice last offseason draft Omari and Ham last off seasonason last season draft Omari and Hampton who the Broncos could have taken at 20 and when he was on the board but they elect to step not step over the crystal to get to their blender as George Peyton and Shawn Payeyton alluded to. And then they have another year for Jim Harbaugh, Justin Herbert. Lad McConi continues to take another step and they figure to be a contender for the AFC West just as they were and a playoff contender just as they were last season. The Chiefs who you can say maybe they’re on the decline. Maybe they there’s there’s cracks in the armor that we are seeing more clearly than we have in previous years. But at the same time, even if they’re the worst 15-2 team in NFL history, they’re coming off a season where they went 15-2 and made an appearance in the Super Bowl. So, that’s not necessarily a a great divisional outlook for the Broncos, and that yes, they got better, but at a minimum, every team in their division seems to have gotten better or stayed relatively the same. So for the Broncos, if I’m sitting at at at a table right now looking at a n and a half win total coming off of a 10 and seven season, my thought is this. The Broncos are going to exceed 9 and a half wins in the 2025 season. That is their mark. I would take the over in that situation and I would feel confident in doing so. I think Bo Knicks is poised to have more of a breakout type of season the like of which we saw from Jaden Daniels last season. I think he is not going to have the same slow start to the season that he did. That’s been a point of emphasis for Shawn Payeyton in his offense as a whole and it will trickle down to his starting quarterback. He’s going to be able to focus more on the nuances of the quarterback position and not the fundamentals of getting the play in on time and lining things up at the line of scrimmage. And did they play a bad NFC South and catch a few breaks with the B team Chiefs in week 18? Yes. But I think those things are going to cancel out the slow start that Bo Nicks had and then he is going to improve and exceed expectations and probably get to that 4,000 yard mark as a passer, especially if the run game headed up by JK Dobbins and RJ Harvey can bring balance to an offense that was sorely lacking in 2025. All of that combined with the defensive additions that they’ve made and another year of Vance Joseph’s system to be able to assimilate all of those pieces together where especially assuming health, this could be a top three uh defense in the NFL and it may not be number three. So, if I’m looking at the Denver Broncos win total at nine and a half, I think it is a very fair, logical thought process to say they are going to exceed and at a minimum match the 10 wins that they got last season. Some may view that as a disappointment. Some may view that as a good thing. That is up to the eye of the beholder. But if we’re just looking at the raw numbers, I love the Broncos to enter the double-digit win column once again in 2025. We are still on RJ Harvey watch. We do not know as of this moment in time whether or not he will sign his deal today or in the near future. As rookies reported yesterday, the Avalanche continue their march toward the off season with all 82 games being released by the NHL. And the there’s an interesting development in Major League Baseball that could have a Rockies tie that maybe we’ll get into tomorrow. So much to go on a not a jam-packed sports weekend, but one that is going to crank up significantly in the next 72 to 96 hours when Denver Broncos training camp 2025 kicks off next week. We will be there to catalog it all for you on Denver Sports and at denverports.com. Like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or X, Tik Tok, all of our social media channels at Denver Sports1043, denports1043. And we’ll catch you tomorrow. I can in put in the work.
