Could Jamal Murray Lead the Nuggets in Scoring This Season? | DNVR Nuggets Podcast Live

Jamal Murray is off to the best start of his career and leading even Nikola Jokic in scoring so far, at 27 points per game. Will that trend continue? Will Aaron Gordon’s hot free throw shooting continue? And what about the win streak or triple-double streak? The DNVR Nuggets podcast team breaks it all down and more.

0:00 – Intro
3:30 – Hangover takes
18:30 – Can Jamal lead the team in scoring?
24:00 – Can Jokic set a career high in rebounds or assists?
26:40 – Can the Nuggets finish top 5 in FT%?
31:30 – Predictions for this upcoming week
45:00 – ATA
58:00 – Superchats

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#Nuglife

[Music] Get [Music] out of here. I’m sitting here going like, “Why is he so confident in this [ __ ] bullshit?” Anyway, guys, mics are hot. Walk in here. Mics mics are hot. What is everybody? Welcome to the DBA show. Let’s go live. Bet 365. Download the Bet 365 app. Choose your offer. Find out why. We’re going to be limited to no ordinary 365. We’re here in the studio high above the BMR bar in the corner of Jackson. Come visit us. Maybe tomorrow night. Maybe dressed up in a costume, a Halloween costume. Do you have a Halloween costume, Vote? No, I don’t. Let’s get together. We have to I don’t have one either. Yeah, I mean I think I’m going to go um searching in the DNVR costume closet. I think I have a costume in my office right now, actually. We might need to figure this out. Borrow Dev’s Vegeta costume. We just cycle through each other’s costumes throughout the year. Uh Nuggets are rolling, fellas. Three games in a row. We’re on a threeame win streak. It doesn’t. We haven’t celebrated. We didn’t mention streak on the show last night, but they are technically on a win streak. Yeah, we determined it’s three, right? Two is not a streak. Three is a streak. Yeah, but streaking a small streak. The Suns and the Pelicans combined for one, so it’s really kind of two. That’s kind of true. Uh it doesn’t matter. Did the Nuggets just play the two worst teams in the Western Conference? Possibly. Yeah, they There’s no way there’s anybody worse than the Pelicans, right? Utah Jazz are playing well right now. So, I think that is correct. Uh we’re going to give some hangover takes. I’ve got some stats. I wonder if they will continue, including Jamal Murray leading the team in scoring. Is this the year or is the rule of Mir Sloff still apply? I also think it would be fun to make some predictions. We’re one week into the season, four games, so maybe we’ll make predictions for week two. What’s going to change for the Nuggets? And then later on, why not a little around the association? Talk about some other teams that are either good or terrible. Who’s to say? I got Brennon Vote here. What’s up, guys? Um, I mean, we can skip around the association. We can skip around the association cuz I’m just going to talk about the Brooklyn Nets the entire time. Well, that that’s why we need to go around the association for you to do that. They don’t play tonight, right? I just looked at it. No, no, they’re not. I feel like they play every night based on the Slack messages I get from V. They’re on the Nugget schedule right now. I’m not going to lie, it’s made my life hard. Oh man, that is making things tough. Uh Harrison wins here. Who’s the second most watchable player on the Nets? Oh, that’s a good question. Second most watchable. I mean, I don’t You could say Camore Denim. I think it might be Don. It might be. You could say Cam Thomas, but he gets as unwatchable as it gets, man. Also, they have Danny Wolf, right? I He’s not playing yet. He’s not playing, but he will be. Baby Yolk will be the second most play. Grandchild Yoke. I mean, Terrence Mann’s putting in good minutes. It’s pretty desperate, but he’s not fun, though. I don’t think No, he’s not. He’s not a fun player. No, he’s not. Uh, but that’s enough about them. We’ll save that for segment four. Kale, let’s go to the hangover takes, shall we? Fire up the hang. Fire up the hangover takes. Uh, it’s kind of weird having hangover takes, but you were in the building last night, so we didn’t get your full extended thoughts. Yeah. Um, I think the only people hung over today are the Pelicans. That’s true. Uh, that’s true. I’m hung over. It was a late night. Not partying, just working. But I have some notes. Uh the first is I I tried to write about this angle, but Comrade Adelman really I mean the way he’s just it’s everyone gets a chance here and uh he he said that would be the case and he’s walking that walk and I think everyone is loving it. I think everyone is really Jokic likes this what he called a European style of rotation which is just you earn your minutes or you lose your minutes and that’s pretty fluid. Edelman’s been consistent in that since he got the job till now and he showed us that in the first half well before it was a blowout. It was Julian Strawther was that was plan A for the night like he was going to play in the first half and he did a lot of guys are getting on the a lot of guys are getting on the floor right now and that and feeling like it it’s there’s opportunity to play and close if you play well has these guys flying high for sure. Yeah, I like But here’s one of the questions I have on that very point. Because right now, it’s like when you’re winning, this is cool. Everyone plays and you know what? Blah blah blah. But if you start losing or whatever, everyone’s role is kind of reduced right now. If you think about it, Aaron Gordon’s role is a little reduced. Christian Brown’s role is reduced. Jokic at one point in the third quarter, the Nuggets had the two leading scorers in the game, Joic and Brown, and it was 11 and eight points respectively. So, it’s What about the Pelicans? You didn’t count, you know, they didn’t have a lot of people popping off the box score unless you look at Jordan Pool’s minus 38 or whatever it was. Was he really that? I think it was minus 35 or something like that, but felt like it. Yeah. No, I Everyone’s role is down, but I don’t I don’t think it feels that way to go. Like I think if you’re on a bad team and you’re just kind of waiting for your opportunity, like if you’re in Brooklyn, you’re like checking your numbers every night. But I think right now these guys are hooping and they know, okay, I’ll get a chance to play or if you’re Payton or your Tim, I might get a chance to close. And you know, guys like Christian and Bruce who are used to kind of sliding around the rotation as needed. So, I think the guys are on board with it. Most importantly, the big fella seems to be on board with it. Yeah, that’s probably the most important thing. You know, as long as Yoke is cool with whatever rotation they’re throwing out there and he if he believes in it, that’s probably a good indicator for the rest of the team. Yeah. I do wonder though. I mean the Nuggets right now it’s all sunshine and rainbows and so we’ll have to wait to see the moment you know they they are tested a little bit maybe lose maybe a losing streak is it like hey well you know so and so got to play these minutes over me and I actually wasn’t the one we’ll have to wait to get to that point but right now it does feel like there’s nine guys on the 10 guys in the rotation and with the exception of Cam Johnson everybody is kind of playing well so it’s not like anybody’s playing bad everybody’s playing well and that if your role is reduced but Everybody’s playing well. It’s like, well, yeah, but we’re all happy. I would say with the exception of Cam Johnson, everyone is having a great time. And I don’t even mean that. I’m not just talking about How was he in the locker room? I haven’t seen or heard much of him at all, honestly, since we we spoke to him. I think he may have been getting treatment last night when I was in the locker room. And I’m not just saying that because of the relative struggles or whatever. Like, the Suns were hitting him over the head with a 2×4. He can’t get a call. He’s already got a stinger in his shoulder. Like, the vibes are up for everyone. And Cam’s like, “Yeah, he just wants to go home already.” Um, but you know, I know it’ll come around for him for sure. Maybe he was up up in the practice court. You know, shooters like when they have a bad shooting night, you’re like, I’m going to shoot my way out of it. Could have been could have been getting treatment. I didn’t really I didn’t really probe too much. Yeah. Um, another take I have hangover take. And and part of this is Cam Johnson doesn’t look confident right now. So, we’re extra looking at guys who do. Tim Hardway Jr. obviously has enormous confidence in his shot. He’s always looking for it. But I think it’s also an underrated trade of Pton Watson. You know, Christian Brown to me is another guy who’s still doing doing his job for the most part. Had a good scoring game last night. Last two nights, I think he’s put up some numbers. But I think he looks a little frustrated. Some of these shots at the rim you can tell he’s like, “Dang, man. I my I’m me cuz I don’t miss these and he’s missing a lot right now.” Pton Watson to me is a guy that just kind of has like some irrational confidence almost, you know? But it’s a good thing for a guy like him when he comes on the court. He kind of has this thing about him where he thinks he’s about to pop off. Yeah. But then again, I don’t think he took any bad shots last night. You know, the two shots that he did take and and that’s been kind of the case. He made them both, right? So far this season. Yeah. He was two of two. One of them was a kind of step back midi, but it was smooth and and he was open to your point. Yeah, it was good. Which, by the way, and it was in garbage time, I think, a little bit. And to me, it’s I kind of like this like play really within the lines. And if Nuggets are up in the fourth, all right, explore a little bit. Not too much, but explore a little bit. and he got to the Yeah. the step back. Yeah. And I just think, you know, Pwatt playing well and being able to close, that’s given him so much confidence here, just knowing he’s going to get whatever it is, 18, 20, 22 minutes a night, that does a lot for for guys. Yeah. You know, and I just think this rotation, it just leads to guys having more confidence in themselves in their games. Yeah. Another hangover take I have, we mentioned this a little bit on the show last night, but Bruce Brown, I think, um, is waking up a little bit. And maybe it was just that specific game and Alvarado kind of doing his hat tip thing that got him going, but to me, Bruce, we think of him as the sixth man on the championship team, but he really wasn’t the sixth man for most of the year. He was a bench player and then, you know, did some of the stuff as the year went on and then the playoffs he was the sixth man. But I think in this role, I don’t know that I would call him the sixth man. You know, I don’t know if there is a six-man right now. Honestly, I don’t I don’t know that there’s a defined the sixth guy, but I do think that his role doesn’t change in that he needs to come in and bring FU energy. And he didn’t right away in the last game, and he hasn’t had it every second he’s been on the court. But I do think he played with it once it got turned on on him. He played with it the rest of the game. He went from zero to 100 like that. Yeah. The second José Alvarado tipped his little cap at Did you see this? Yeah. Did I give you guys my pregame Jose Alvarado Bruce Brown note? Bruce Brown warms up to country music and as in my experience the only guy in the NBA that does that and there was a country ballad blasting and his old teammate Alvarado came out and dapped him up and said turn this off. It was I thought it was hilarious. I love that Bruce does this. I’m telling you, I’m so thrown off by Bruce’s anecdote about how in Denver he gets to wear his hat cowboy hat and people don’t look at him weird because I kind of feel like he likes to be looked at weird. So that the anecdote, you know what I mean? That’s why also it’s not like everybody’s wearing cowboy hats here. He’s still kind of the only one. It’s like Bruce, no, we just love you, man. Like Yeah. If if Wind showed up with that cowboy hat, we’d be like, “What the hell?” There’s zero other people who wore a cowboy hat to the Nuggets game tonight. When when people do it in Rhino, we unless it’s Western night, then we’re we all got our hats on, which it was last night. And his fit was great. But wait, it was I think so. The Nuggets play the in arena girl whose name is eluding me. I apologize. She was dressed up. You don’t always know. We miss western night. You don’t always know when it’s a theme night. I feel like it was western night. I thought so. She was She was in a Maybe it was Halloween. You know what? There definitely were a lot of people dressed up. Oh, is that coming up? That’s hilarious. No, but I love Bruce Brown. Like to me the team is it’s almost like a movie, you know? It’s like Oceans 11 and everybody is like this one-dimensional character. Bruce Brown has to be the guy that comes into the game like, “All right, Basher’s here.” You know, it’s time for Basher to come and do Basher things. And I just felt like he brought that at a certain point in the game and it’s like, “Oh yeah, that’s if he brings us every game.” That’s Bruce, man. Like that that’s why he’s here to be that guy. Old Basher. We all I described him as nettlesome in the column last night. He is annoying. He He is like um just like I don’t know a traffic block or something like just something in your something between you and point A and point B that you just can’t really get rid of. And that’s that’s Bruce’s life. Just you’re playing and then somebody’s talking [ __ ] and you’re just like who is that? It’s [ __ ] Bruce. It’s Bruce. I am curious how Julian um how he feels about his new role because he’s in essentially a contract year. this is, you know, he’ll be eligible for an extension next summer and it’s like he played 11 minutes. Adelman after the game gave him the, “Hey, way to stay ready, you know, this or that.” But it is like, yeah, he stayed ready for 11 minutes. I mean, he to me is the biggest trade candidate on the Nuggets for sure. Really? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he doesn’t he’s not in the rotation. Like, he’s clearly behind Tim. Yeah. and Bruce. And I mean, he got 11 minutes last night and he was quote, you know, in the rotation the same way Spencer like Yeah. It’s the nine and a half man rotation and the half has been Spencer Jones and last night it was Julian. Yeah. Uh but you know what was the This is a real This is serious analysis. The tarot card episode, right? We talked about Julian maybe kind of being in a bit of a cage here to start the season and he can’t like victimize himself. He has to he has to work his way out of it. I I’ve talked about this before. Of all the young guys, Julian Strawther was the one they had to worry about the least. Was he around? Was he working out? Is he coachable? Is he doing the things they asked him to do? That’s why despite his scoring archetype, Michael Malone had so much trust in him. So my point is, I think Julian is the last guy that I would kind of think, well, he’s going to shut himself off here because his role took a step back. I I think he’s a young professional. This is the crazy thing. And I’m like, take this with a grain of salt cuz I don’t I I’m almost we’re in the early part of the season where everyone’s available. There’s a part of me that’s almost excited for the first time somebody’s not available. So, we just see something different cuz right now it’s like I obviously the starting five. We want to see Cam kind of catch his rhythm. We want to see CB get back to last year’s consistent self. Those are two little missing ingredients. But I almost there’s part of me that wants to see Tim Hardway Jr. just play with the starters one night. There’s part of me wants to see Pton Watson play with the starters one night. Not cuz I think it’s better, but just because I’m like, “All right, what else? What else is there?” But that will come and and same thing with Julian Straw. They’re like, I want to see what happens when he gets Tim Hardaway’s minutes just as the backup. So, there are these things, but that will come with time. I mean, the team no team is healthy 82 games, but there is a part of me that wants to see it. All right. Uh, any other hangover takes for you guys? I have one, but I do think it’s time for our first break of the of the afternoon. All right. Let’s take a break and then we’ll get to your hangover take. Kale is a wreck today. Oh my god, Kale. Um, shout out to our friends over at Monarch Money. Monarch Money.com. Use the code DNVR. Uh, if you’re somebody who needs help with finances and maybe that’s just organizing your finances, maybe it’s tips to save money. I know I definitely was one of those people. You know, that’s why I started up with Monarch Money. Use the code DNVR at monarchmoney.com. You’re going to get 50% off your first year. Don’t let any financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Monarch Money, they come in and they show you where you can save money, where you might be spending too much money. They put everything right in front of you in a real clear, easy to understand way. So, they track every dollar for you. They’re on top of your money. They tell you, like I said, where you can save, where you’re spending too much. So, they really just, you know, make you a better accountant for your own finances. Named CNBC’s top fintech companies in the world. Forbes’s best app for couples to balance finances. Named the best budgeting app of 2025 by the Wall Street Journal. Monarchmoney.com. Use the code dnvr. You’re going to get 50% off your first year. 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com. Colorado. Stop by your local Dick Sporting Goods for the hottest apparel and footwear from top brands like Nikes, Adidas Originals, F FP Movement, some of those soccer brands that I’m not familiar with. Uh, I’m familiar with this one though. DNVR. That’s right. You can get our gear, Eric Weedam’s creations at your local Dick Sporting Goods. Plus, while you’re there, score the latest equipment for baseball, football, soccer, basketball, golf, and all your tailgating essentials. If you found a lower price, Dick Sporting Goods will match it with their best price guarantee. So get your gear fast with free curbside pickup at your nearest store or with easy shipping from dicks.com because every season, including this Nugget season, starts at Dicks. Let’s go. All right, back here. Segment two. I’m very curious cuz you were at the arena. You know, you always get a little bit different. What What’s your hangover take? Screening. screening is a is a new the Nuggets are a better group this year at screening and they’re enjoying a new life with I would say a rotation of nine guys who at least can set a screen uh and I asked nine real screeners nine real screeners you know the difference between Cam and Mike is I think you know a first of all Mike’s back is compromised so he didn’t really want to set screens and then if he did he was slipping and when he slipped it was to score you know skinny guys also just have a hard time I mean this might bull bowl for as big as he couldn’t set a screen totally and I think when you’ve had three bad procedures you’re probably not like digging in there but the point is even when he would slip it was kind of to maybe go score and you know like which which obviously is a valid look but Cam I think is interested in like completing the entire action and if he needs to set a good screen or just it’s the right call to slip because of what else it unlocks he’ll do that. Jamal Murray is a guy who talks a lot about how screening is important to him. I mean to the game of basketball, but he mentions it as a detail that goes overlooked. And I asked him this question last night and he says it is improved. He said Christian Brown is really good at it. That’s how he gets all his looks to the rim. Setting a good screen and then slipping. He said big Jonas Valenunis is huge. Fact check true. Uh he talked about how Pton’s improved in it. How Tim does it a lot. And these are things that they utilize, right, as they run a real offense in the second unit because a they have professional personnel, but b guys that are willing to screen and unlock some things for other guys. So, it’s it’s a part of their success right now. I won’t go so far as to call it the secret to their success because as Christian Brown said last night, that’s actually still Jamal and Yoke. What do you think of that answer, by the way? If you didn’t see it, Christian Brown was asked about Yeah. They’re what makes him so good in the split game and he was like, “It’s just Murray and Yoke.” And then Matt pressed him like, “Other than that.” And he’s like, “No, it’s just Murray.” And then he then he relented a little bit and he said, “Yeah, that’s like that.” He knows that that’s how he gets his looks at the rim. He knows that that’s how he’s made his money, frankly. Uh and but I think, you know, Christian is is very comfortable seeing himself as a cog in a machine. He’s definitely comfortable talking about himself that way. And that’s not going to change. That’s what got him $125 million. So that’s going to be his approach on the court and at the podium. Yeah. Big Val is a great screener. Yeah, he set like he every game he sets a couple screens that just it equals two points. It it just leads to a wide openen look like having that on the second unit is just so massive. Here’s another question for you and it’s about the rule of Mirislav and that is whenever we were asking this goes all the way back to like 2018 when we were like well who’s going to lead the team in scoring is you know Jokic and he said it’s always Jokic. Whenever you ask one of these statistical questions, the leader is always just going to be Jokic. And that rule has lasted for a very long time. Yoke just is the default leading the team. I will say this, Yoke doesn’t seem that I mean, it’s early and these games are easy. Yoke always has a method to his madness. Yoke, I don’t think, is ever gunning for MVP. I think he’s especially not gunning it for it this year. And maybe the scoring is the thing. Murray’s at 27 points per game right now. Yoke’s at 20. Yes, it’s early, but is this the year that Murray leads the team in scoring? It could be because one change in the offense through four games and you know, through four games like lopsided approaches can can change the data, but they Jokic is not posting up nearly as much as he used to. And you know, part of that is because they have, I think, more options. They’re a bit more versatile as an offense. The other part of it is I think he knows that that’s he goes in there, he doesn’t get calls, he gets roughed up. If he does that for 82 games, that’s how he’s gassed in the playoffs. I wish he had done it a little more in the Golden State game, to be honest. Um, but he didn’t do it in that game. Maybe that was part of it. You know, in the Phoenix game, he didn’t have to cuz guys were cooking, so he didn’t. In the Minnesota game, he did. He went down there into Rudy’s paint and stuffed him in a locker. We’ll track this throughout the year, but I think he’ll be really comfortable like operating from the high post and just like kind of going back and forth and running DHOs’s and making reads and not necessarily hero balling his way from the post into uh let’s say a 60point loss. You know, I do think the part about saving himself for the playoffs is a big piece of this. Honestly, I think a lot of what Jokic is doing right now is the like, yes, I’ve been tired in the playoffs lately. Let’s just when we’re up 30 on the Pelicans, let’s chill a little. But he is now leading the NBA in points in the post. He is second most frequent. Only Zubots is a is more frequent in the post than him. Guess what his field goal percentage is on postups? 70. Way too low. Really? That’s 77%. He is shooting He is leading the NBA in points off of postups. And he is shooting 77% on postups. That’s insane. He’s leading in the NBA and it actually he he is in the post less than he was last year which is crazy. He just owns that space. But I but I love this idea of that still being the case. They’ll go to that when they need it. But that is the that is the please save us. We can’t generate us offense. Like the idea here is this group should have more options and if Cam doesn’t have it one night then maybe Tim does, etc. The Nuggets, I believe, became the first team to ever score 122 points or more in their first four games ever. While shooting over 50% from the field. Yep. And Jokic is averaging 20 points per game. Yeah. It’s crazy. That’s crazy. Yeah. You know, if if you were to say, “Yeah, they did this for the first time ever.” Like, oh, Yolk’s probably averaging like 35, 40 a game, right? Yeah. He’s averaging 20 points a game. Yeah. It’s crazy. And Nicole Joic, he always does what the team needs him to do offensively to win a game. Last year it was score 30 points. This year it’s very different it seems like early on. Now you know they played uh a team that’s already quit on its coach in New Orleans. Um they played according to what Mattbia says is not the worst defense in the league in Phoenix but might be. So this next game against Portland should be a really good test. But if they can keep doing this with him scoring 20 points per game that seems like a pretty good formula to me. They’re not even hitting threes yet really. I mean, Tim Hardaway is Jamal’s hit a few. Aaron Gordon had a nice game if I remember correctly, but as a group, it’s not like they’re shooting the lights out from deep yet. Uh, by the way, Matt HBO was right. They are not the worst defense in the league. They’re 29th, right? They’re 28. Oh, they must have had a good game. They passed the Toronto and nobody is within a country mile of one team. We all know the team. No, no, say it out loud. The Brooklyn Nets have a 129.1 defensive rating. The Toronto Raptors are 29th at 121.3. I know. Like that’s wild. Do they just get stop at half court when they’re running back on defense? Kind of actually. Yep. Kind of. I’ve watched every second of it and this checks out. Yeah. There’s just there’s a lot. Have you really watched every second? Virtually. Yeah. I’ I mean I’ve missed I’ve watched a lot of it too. I mean I enjoy it. Not every second. Not every second. Could Jokic So what is our verdict on this Murray thing? Could do you guys think like what what what percentage chance would you give of Murray leading the Nuggets in scoring? I mean, it’s probably going to be Jokic. I think I think so, too. I think so, too. I I’d say Jamal, you know, every other year he had like a 5% chance, probably. This year, 20. Okay. 25. I like 20. I like I’ll take 20. Yeah, I’ll go a little high. I’ll go about 30%. Cuz I do think that there’s something to yoke. If he doesn’t need to score, I think he’ll kind of do. But it’s just Yoke scores whether he wants to or not. Yeah, that’s the problem. Everybody else has to try to score. Yeah, yoke. It just happens. And Yolk’s shooting Yoke, who’s hanging out on the perimeter more, is also shooting 17% from three right now, right? I don’t think it’s going to get up to 40 again, but it’s going to be higher than 17. That’s so true. Everybody really just They have to try to score. Totally. Y’s like, “I was trying not to score tonight. I had 18.” The one when they beat the Suns, he took that one shot in the first half and it’s only because Christian Brown gave him such a good pass. He had to. He like owed it to Christian. He’s like, “Hey man, man, that was good.” Um, what about this? We have talked about Joic maybe in one of the topics in the offseason. He’ll never have a new career high in any of his numbers because his career highs are so high. 30 points per game, whatever. He’s currently at careerhighs for assists and rebounds. Oh, per game. Per game. Per game. Yes. Are what are the chances he does set a careerhigh in one of those categories this year? Assists seems very high to me. I actually I agree. 11.3. His previous high was 10.4, I think. Yeah. I mean, this seems like one he’ll probably get this year. Oh yeah. You think? I do. Yeah, I do. I think if Cam Johnson becomes a spot-up option against I mean, yeah, they’re like V said, they’re not even shooting the three. Well, Cam Johnson’s looked terrible on offense this year and he’s still averaging 11 plus assists per game. He does have two games, too, where he checked out pretty early, you know, like he could leaving a few minutes on the table. That’s true, man. One that he went into overtime, so all right, maybe it all evens out. But I wonder too about the rebounding, though. 14.5. The problem is 13.8 8 is his career high and that’s really high to sustain. That is ridiculous. But do you know what his low is so far this season on rebounds? 11. 12. Excuse me. 12. So part of me wonders if like his baseline for rebounding this year is just going to be like 11 boards, 12 boards and then every now and then he’ll have a 20 rebound game. Yeah, maybe. Why do you think he’s getting so many more rebounds this year? I wonder because he’s not he’s shooting less perhaps. So like if you’re not shooting then you’re more in rebounding mode. Offensive rebounds for sure. Offensive rebounding. Yeah. Is his offensive rebounding up? Not really. Two and a half. So, he’s had better years. It is interesting. Maybe it’s that they played the some teams that have brick took a lot of shots. He’s also a really good rebounder and that that is going to continue. He’s had some ridiculous rebounds. It is. To me, the big one was I can’t remember the exact number. I think he had 17 to Rudy’s five in Minnesota. Is that right? And that’s Yeah. You know, my favorite rebound of the year though, I think it was Minnesota when he had the like the loose ball and he tapped it over to himself and literally three guys ran that way. He somehow both rebounded and jked the guys all in one and then had a wide open layup. Uh I still don’t think he’s Well, 10.2 assists feels awfully doable. Yeah, you know what? I’m with it. You know what? Career high in assists. I think it’s very on the table this year. It would kind of be surprising in my opinion if he averaged less assists than he did last year. I mean, the way things are going so far, I just think he’s going to play such fewer minutes, you know, needed to be so much that that last year you have to think about how many times he had to put sixth gear just all and I just don’t know that he’s going to do that this year. That’s a good point. Um, so we’ll see. Uh, don’t look now, but the Denver Nuggets currently lead the NBA in free throw percentage 89.5%. They have traditionally struggled with free throw percentage, but I’m wondering if this one is here to stay. Here’s the case for it. The guys who are shooting free throws are a little different. You know, Jamal Murray, you’re getting a little bit better free throw shooters, but mainly Aaron Gordon used to suck at free throws. He doesn’t suck anymore. And maybe it’s just as simple as that. So, could they lead the league in free throw percentage or be just like top five where they’ve traditionally struggled there? I It might come down to Yoke to be honest. 93%. He’s been a pretty, you know, up and down free throw shooter throughout his career. I feel like Yeah. kind of runs a little hot and cold. He’s been good so far this season. Porter, too, by the way, for all of his shooting, he’s like a weirdly not super great. I mean, I think he’s% jump shot. He jumps so high. He should start jumping a completely different shot from three compared to at the line. Yeah, career 79% for MPJ. So maybe even that. I mean, I don’t I have no idea, but I think that might be it. Well, he doesn’t get to the line a ton. So, I think it’s mostly Aaron Gordon, honestly. Aaron Gordon was like a 60% free throw shooter until last year, right? And he taught himself how to shoot. And you have you just have professionals on the bench, man. Tim Hardaway Jr., first Brown, Jonas Valentunis. Yep. I think that’s a good point. And Payton, who I think I mean, I don’t know what his free throw numbers are, but 100%. There you go. Take it like two. The ball’s coming out of his hands as a as a just more smoothly than last year in general. So, yeah. Well, and I mean, no small thing, but you replace DeAndre Jordan with who was like a horrible free throw shooter. Val’s at 80% care shooter. So, you know what? This might be a weird strength of the Nuggets. They’re getting to the line. So, there’s, you know, there’s something there. What are they? Oh, no. They are They are actually 23rd. I love that, man. They They don’t get to the line a ton because they’re not grifters, but when they do, they knock them down. That’s That works for me. That’s exactly what we want, isn’t it? It is. We’re going to get our cake and eat it too to this year. Uh, all right. Let’s take another break on the other side. Let’s make some predictions for the next upcoming week. Tight. Shout out to our friends over at Bet365. Make sure to download the app and use code DNVR365 when you sign up. Bet along with us for every Nuggets game. You can follow along and bet with Superstar Dev and all of us on the pregame show. Uh, but Bet365, it’s the only betting app I use. It’s the best one out there. They’ve got tons of great features for this NBA season. Tons of awesome prop bets. We have a lot of custom DMVr bets on there, you know, throughout the season. We had one opening night. We’ll probably have another one really soon. But make sure to sign up for bet 365 with the code DMR365. You can hit that QR code right there on the screen as well. An official partner of the Denver Nuggets. Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when you bet $5, win or lose. Sign up. Use the code DMVR365. Deposit $10. Place a bet for $5 to get $200 in bonus bets. If your bet wins or loses, bonus bets can be used on the spread, totals, player props, futures, and more. We’re done for the moment. Never ordinary at bet 365 must be 21 plus physically located in Colorado. Please gamble responsibly if you are someone who knows a gambling problem and wants help. Call or text 100 gambler. Terms and conditions apply. You know what’s a popular drink at the sporting events I get to attend in this lovely job? Miller Light. And I think I get why. Because sometimes you want a light beer. And when I say sometimes, I mean all the time now. I’m 32. I I only want light beers. I used to make fun of Adam for it. Now I get it. But when you say you want a light comes for us all, brother. Comes for us all. Except for Miller Light, brother. The original Lightbeer who’s been doing this for 50 years. 50 years young. It’s It’s like they’re still 21. You know what I mean? Still in their peak. Still in their prime. It’s Miller time. And you know, you know about Miller Light because it’s been this go-to classic option for for 50 years. And it pairs great with with Nuggets games, with ABS games, with fall activities. Pairs great with almost everything. Not driving, but most things. Miller Lightite. Great taste. 96 calories. Go to millerite.com/dvr to find delivery options near you. Or you can pick up some Miller Lightite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. You know about Miller Lightite. Cheers to 50 years of Miller time. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 oz. All righty, we’re back here. Segment three. Make sure you hit the like button. Uh we’re back tomorrow for a Halloween edition. Come to the bar. Put your costume on. Come to the bar. Bring your candy. Who’s going to bring us some candy tomorrow? Reese Reese’s. Reese’s Peanut. Reese’s guy. I’m a Reese’s guy. Yeah. What are you guys What are you looking for tomorrow? Um I’m a uh like Sour Patch guy. All right. Sour Patch is good. They hurt the roof of your mouth if you have too much. I mean, yeah. I’m lactose intolerant and working. So, you don’t have any candy? There’s probably I’ll probably have like a sandwich at some point. Worth original or anything? Uh, I mean, some people will give me candy. If that happens, I’ll eat it. All right, there you go. Bring us some candy tomorrow. That’d be fun. Uh, predictions for this upcoming week. Who wants to be bold enough to start? I I have one which just shouldn’t be too bold. Um, actually, it’s not bold. It’s a real prediction, right? That’s what we’re doing. I have Cam Johnson averaging double digits next week. I know. I know the points per game. I know that’s pretty modest. Lower. Let’s pick the bar up off of the floor for a second. Off the floor. I’ll say 12 plus 12 plus points next week for for Cam Johnson. Um just I just think like I actually just still think this is going to work. I I know it’s been a rough go for him. I made that joke about it. I think this guy is is the one thing he genuinely truly is is a great spot-up shooter. A great spot-up shooter will find their way in this offense. I have it coming around a bit for Cam next week. Don’t you feel like the whole Cam experience so far, you know, it’s like you move to a new town and you like join some adult club and everybody already knows each other and you kind of like it’s your first time hanging out with the group and you’re just trying to like find what the angle is. They all have some back jokes and stuff, but he’s accidentally doing the thing for from the friendship movie. He just put a bar of soap in his mouth and everyone’s grossed out. I don’t get that. That’s a pretty niche reference, but if you get it, let me know. I do feel like that’s kind of how he is. He’s just not quite where he hangs out. I’m I’m going to be a little bearish. I think Cam is going to have two good games, two bad games this week, which is progress, I think, because I think the biggest thing will be about inconsistency of of good play for him in this early go. But I do look at the schedule at Portland. I think is a tough game. You have Sacramento at home, Miami at home, Golden State at home. That’s basically the next week. So, you get a little home stand. I think two of those games will be good. Two of them might be a little rough. I’ll take I’ll buy I’ll buy it. But as long as it averages out to 12. There you go. What about win? Do you got anything? I I have a prediction that this Portland game is going to be the toughest game that the Nuggets will play this next week. Oh, it’s a good one. Like Portland, I’m just looking at what they’ve been up to. 122 points on the Lakers, 136 points against the Jazz. You know, not the best wins, but they’re scoring. Yeah. Yeah, it could be a little test for the Nuggets defense. I was really hoping we were going to see this, you know, that that last night against the Pelicans was going to be this the a real first opportunity to see how good this defense is. I still don’t really know, bro. They didn’t run offense. I mean, this is they didn’t run a play the whole game. There really was like they dribble the ball up the court and just be like, “Does anybody want the ball anywhere on the floor?” And they’re like, “No, not really.” So, I mean, 88 points, can’t take much away from it, though. I’m just excited to see how the defense looks against, you know, a Blazers team that’s been scoring a lot. They had 139 on the Warriors already this season. You know what I think about the Blazers game that is going to be interesting is they lead the league in steals per game, 12.2. They have athletes, they fullcourt press, and they just have speed. And that’s those are things we haven’t, you know, that’s what we’re concerned in the preseason. You played Toronto, you played Minnesota. Those are the teams that made Denver look bad. Denver hasn’t really faced that yet in the regular season. I think they’re going to face it tomorrow. So, to me, it’s a good challenge to see if Denver can dribble the ball up the court with their backup point guards. I like that. Absolutely. I want to piggyback off yours a little bit and throw Portland in there. I don’t know if you guys have noticed, we’ve made group of death jokes about the NBA Cup before, bro. Oh, I forgot it’s the NBA. NBA Cup. Have you guys seen Have you guys seen Denver’s group? Portland is supposed to be the basement dweller. It’s Denver, Portland, Golden State, Houston, and I think the Spurs. So, like, come on, man. But here’s my prediction. The Nuggets will open up group C 2 and 0 getting wins over the Blazers and the Warriors in this next week. Those are both cup games. They are, brother. We have two cup games in one week. Buckle up, fellas. Is it cup week? Buckle up. Oh my goodness. What do we tell? Oh, here we go. Look, I’m telling you, when this came out, I put out there that we got the group of death. And I my mentions were flooded with people like that’s the weakest group in the entire group is ridiculous. Look at the look at the Nuggets group compared to East Group A. Yeah. For example, Suns, the Jazz, and the Kings. Oh my god. Timberwolves without freaking Edwards. East group A. East group A. Yeah, you got some duds in there. You have one playoff team. Probably the Cavs better make it out of there. Wow, that is pretty rough, man. Even honestly, group B. And I think like see I’m not this is not a real complaint actually at all. Just want to but it kind of hurts the cup, man. Like two at least two multiple of those teams are good like and and or just entertainment value, right? Like you have the Spurs with WBY, you have the Nuggets with Joic, you have Steph, you have KD. like to have multiple of these teams not get through because they’re all in the same group. Tough sledding. Realistically, what’s the worst team you could see coming out of this for the finals? I think I could see I could see Toronto versus Detroit being the our NBA cup this year. I have Portland wrong. No, that’s honestly impossible because it has to be a West versus East team. It does. I think so. I don’t know. I don’t know how it goes once you go to the other I mean, nobody knows. Nobody knows how the cup works. I’m pretty certain it’s west versus east. All right. Well, then uh that’s why it’s sorted out this way. Realistically, I mean, Flutter, if they don’t come out of their group, it’s going to be a miracle. I have Portland. This [ __ ] is so stupid. Talking about this and I have Portland cuz I have them rallying around their head coach. Oh, that’s an old That’s an old. That’s tough. That’s tough. All right. What about some more predictions here? I’ll give him one other one. I think it’s funny to say because uh Joic is going to extend his triple double streak. Yeah. throughout the entire week. Yeah, I think he does it against Sacramento. I think he does it against Miami, which he almost always does. Golden State will be the tough one and Portland will be tough ones, but I think that the Nuggets haven’t had to go into top gear yet. And I’m kind of excited. I think they might have to go to top gear at least for a stretch against Portland. Honestly, the the toughest games, you know, even including this next week to get a triple double against were the Suns and the Pelicans probably because of the he didn’t play in, you know, the fourth quarter. Here’s the thing. Here’s the thing that like the the positive asterisk that needs to go back to Joic’s triple double records at the end of the day. He gets all of them in three quarters. He gets all of them before the fourth quarter starts. It’s unbelievable how good this guy is. Uh, but yeah, I don’t see a reason why it would slow down. He’s definitely doing it against the Kings. And the the Heat, by the way, can’t stop scoring either. So, Nuggets Heat could be like 142 to 140. Yeah, keep an eye on the black score there. Miami Miami might be kind of tough, honestly. That’ll be an interesting one. What else? What else we have? Who off the bench you think will have a breakout game? I I I think we’ll get a Bruce game where it’s not like we’re just talking about him cobbling together steals or something, but we see Bruce kind of knock down a handful of outside shots, get going. And I’ll say that it is the Kings game where somehow Russell Westbrook gets Bruce Brown going. I was actually thinking about that. It’s actually been interesting. Westbrook’s now in the starting lineup for Sacramento. He just finds his way, man. I think originally he was in there for Shruder. Now he’s just still in there. Yeah, just finds a way, man. Yeah, his numbers have been good. His numbers have been have been not bad at all. He’s going to put up numbers. I mean, that’s what Westber does. He’s a He produces. He produces. It is absolutely crazy, though, that they made the insane Sarich for Val one for one. So, they had all the cap space to sign Dennis Shruder and he’s not even starting for them anymore. No, Sh’s starting. He’s still starting. Oh, okay. Yeah. Um Charich out of the rotation right now. Right. Well, you know, right now just just wanted to update. Sh is like I got to play with Russ again, bro. God, so true. Cuz they’re not a fit. Is that They’re not a fit. Uh I think What do you think that interaction was like in the King’s locker room? Russ goes, “Wait, you were on the team last year? We were teammates.” Poor Sar. Although he’s making good money, so I’m sure he’s fine. He’s fine. Uh, I think Pton Watson will have a breakout game in the next in the next week. And by breakout game, I just mean like he’s had good games. I think throughout I think he’s three for four. I think the first game was bad. I think he’s the last three have been good. But I think there’ll be a game where we’re like that was his best game of the year. That was that was really a strong outing. Maybe it’s like, you know, 15 points, five blocks. Yeah. You know, something something like that. Yeah. I mean, Adam, he’s a guy who wants to reward people for playing the right way and playing well. So, as long as Peyton Watson keeps this up, he’s going to get more and more playing time. I’m going to say that we get our first taste of the Jokic Big Vow lineup this next week. I love this one. Where’s it going to come though? Like that. That’ll be an interesting one. Do you try to slow down? Miami spreads you out. They play like five out. Do you try to go double big to counter it? I don’t know. I mean, Sacramento plays a lot of guards as I was just saying. Not going to do it against Golden State, I don’t think. Portland. No way. No. Oh, we’re going to get a Jokic Yang Hansen game. I mean, maybe Golden State. I I I think Golden State could be a cool team to throw it out against just because you’ve already played them. Want to give them a different look in the cup. Yeah, it’s a cup. That got me. Save it. Save it for the cup. You think they’re going to risk You really Okay. All right. You want to save the cup? It’s a weapon for the cup. Saving it for the cup. Yeah, could be. That Oh, that brings me to a Big Val point I wanted to make. Uh, some of the ABS people were quoting my my tweet about Big Val last night and they said there’s already a Big Val in Denver. Yeah. Put those two guys side by side and you tell me who Big. Let’s go. Hey, I’m going to stand up for the ABS here. I’m I’m a Nushkin fan. I I They can both be Big Val. They can both be Big Val, but he’s a damn good player. They can both be We have our Big V. You are right though. It is funny. One of them is a 7 foot tall Lithuanian, so I think he gets to keep it. I think the the Big Vow name has uh transferred over to every broadcast as well. Really? Nobody calls him by his name. He’s just Big Val. Which one? Altitude for one for Valentunis. Yeah. Oh, I love it. Big Val and I think little national broadcast too. I do. I You know what? I think they can both be Big Val, though. I think it’s kind of cool if you each have a big vow. There’s something cool about that. Was Big Val his nickname before he came to Denver or is that a new thing? Valentunis. Yeah. Like did other teams call him that? I don’t know. I don’t think so. I don’t know. We’ve been calling him. Yeah, we’ve been calling him well before he got Is that his nickname? Yeah. It’s a really hard one to think about. You can’t Valenunis is too long. This is why all hockey players have nicknames because you don’t want to say Nushkin over. Yeah, he can keep Big Val too for that reason for sure. That’s so true. You know, we could call him Little Val though. I do love that. Not quite as big. It’s not quite as good. The bench is so awesome. I mean, is this what having a bench feels like? Yes. And it rules. This is so cool. I’m so excited to watch the bench every single game right now. How I mean, I think we’re all like really optimistic about the Nuggets, but I still am like reserving this idea that you don’t win. You can’t win them all. Yeah. But how many games could they win before you start to get reckless? I’m not reckless right now. I feel like I’m very pragmatic. They played bad. They played bad teams. I need a signature win. Portland’s not that. Sacramento’s not that. Miami’s not that. Golden State. Yeah, I think if you bounce back against Golden State at home. Yeah, a big win against Golden State would would get me pretty excited if they’re going like undefeated into that game. If you go seven and one, you’ll be like, “All right, this team is ready to roll.” Oh, I’m going to get reckless. You’ll get reckless. Yeah. What about you? Um, will you get reckless at five in one? I mean, come five and one’s a good record. Yeah, sure. Uh, if the if they if the defense starts like getting even better, I’ll get reckless. I don’t know. I’m close, man. Like I I I was get reckless right now. Yeah, I was kind of getting reckless in the summer. So just more of the same. I I agree with you though. A win over an established very good team would be would go a long way. When you look at this lineup, remember because we always look at 10 games. So they’re four games through Portland at Portland, Sacramento, Miami, Golden State, Indiana at home. That’s a four game home stand. And then you’ve just got at Sacramento at LA. If you look at that and just said on paper, how many of those are they going to be underdogs in? I think they’ll be favored tomorrow at Portland probably. Don’t you think a point and a half or so? Two-point favorite. Small favorite. They’ll be home. They’ll be favored, I think, in all of the home games, including Golden State. And then at Sacramento, I think they’ll be favored at Clippers on a second night of a back-to-back. That might be the one game they But the Clippers aren’t exactly lighting the world on fire. I know it’s possible they are favored in every game coming up. I think they’ll be underdogs in one of their next games. So if you’re favored, nine and one would be a hell of a start. Yeah, I mean it would be, man. And looking at the schedule, the we always knew the beginning of it was kind of easy, but the Nuggets are taking advantage of it, but we were worried because so many new pieces, new coaching staff, new bench, Cam Johnson, like things the Nuggets have looked a little better, I think, than I thought they would so far. And that’s mainly because the I thought the bench would be better. I didn’t think it’d be this good though. Yeah. Okay. You guys want to do a little around the association? Do it. Light it up. Look at that. Presented by Fire on the Mountain. Fire on the Mountain. Presented by Fire on the Mountain. Buffalo Wings. We got to go there. I almost went there yesterday. There’s some upstairs right now. Is there really? Yeah. When did that arrive? I just saw it in the Slack like 5 minutes ago. I think it just got here. Let’s wrap. Oh, I’m This is actually super exciting. Yeah. Hey, let’s you Shout out to Fire on the Mountain, though. I mean, there are a lot of segments you can sponsor around the association. This is a good get for them, though. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Uh, go ahead. Well, I just wanted to start by saying, guys, we made a lot of fun of the Phoenix Suns on this show. And we should just take a step back and recognize that they almost won last night. Did they really? Who? They have the Jazz. The Grizzlies. They lost though. John Morant game winner. Oh, that’s right. It was John Mar. 28 and seven for John Mar. Coward and Adalma with 14 off the bench each. Cedric Coward. Oh, Coward. Yeah, he’s good. He’s good. I’ve heard with 112 and five. Jiren Jackson Jr. with 18 six and three. A very balanced effort from the Grizzlies as they get a win over the struggling hooked on Phonic Suns. Devin Booker did have 32 points, but he shot 38% from the floor. Mark Williams 20 and 12. Everyone gets something, I suppose. We don’t talk enough about the Phoenix Suns literally taking the Charlotte Hornets center rotation and moving it to Phoenix. I know it is really weird, man. Uh we thought that would be a good idea. In some serious ATA here, the Oklahoma City Thunder are 5 and0 and they have not had Jaylen Williams and they have wins over Houston, Indiana, which was a really good competitive win and then some duds, Sacramento, Dallas, Atlanta. But my take on the Thunder is we kind of like to clown them cuz they’re a little young and these different things, but I will be honest, man. It’s a mountain to climb. I don’t clown them. I have a lot of respect for the Thunder, man. They are freaking good. They had the respect to say of Denver last year that they were the one team where we felt like if we played great, we could still lose. I think I would say the same thing about them that it’s we’re still 80 games away from the playoffs. But it does feel like it’s like, man, they really are good and Denver’s just going to have to be able to be good enough to be in position to beat them. Yeah. I mean, the Nuggets are a lot better. I think the Thunder are going to be better in the playoffs, too, than they were last year. And I think just like last regular season, I no matter how you feel about the playoffs, pencil the Thunder, and you could write it in pen even in the one seat. Like, they’re going to win a boatload of games. They might not lose. They did you guys see, by the way, the news today? Kind of crazy news. Nicola Topic. Oh, yeah. Has testicular cancer. We found out that he had the testicular injury. We thought, “Oh, he got hit, you know, and now he has to do this or that.” Now it comes out actually it was a cancer screening that he was going through and now he’s going to undergo chemotherapy. His entire career now I have to imagine is in doubt because chemotherapy wrecks your body. That’s not like a thing it’s I’ll be out for a couple weeks. That’s kind of a crazy story honestly and and it has implications even for Nicola Joic. We talk about the national team and how reinforcements are on the way. I now wonder, you have to wonder, will he ever play for the national team? Like, how will his career unfold? So, that’s a a tragic story for such a young guy. Absolutely wild. Absolutely wild. I mean, we dealt with that a little in Denver with N, right? That’s right. That’s right. I think he had the same thing. Same thing. So, a little bit crazy. He did come back. So, and he did make it possible, but it’s such a young player. I mean something that we’ll talk about probably more in years to come because there’s no tournament this summer but we kind of were excited for all right top pitch is coming up and this or that and now who knows um other teams as we go around the association San Antonio Spurs what do we make of this WBY guy and what do we make of the fact that the Spurs now we weren’t really counting on them and now you look at it and say if Denver’s a two seed is it possible they get like WBY in round one if they’re a three seed even the Spurs are 4-0 I’m not buying it yet So, easy teams. They they beat New Orleans and I’m I mean um I I’m just looking at the Spurs roster like that’s the biggest reason I’m not buying it. They’re not really healthy yet though. Who’s not healthy? Fox who I think they should trade by the way like almost immediately. He might be a loser. that well also because they have Castle and they drafted my my jersey guy Harper and he looks incredible and it just sort of in a weird way Fox kind of accelerates your timeline and like all right you could say well you have Wimby why wait but I don’t think that is enough versus you have you have these young guards that are good like right on his timeline and like just let them play with them I I would trade Darren Fox how good they are this year TBD they’re certainly not the door match they once were they’re going to be a terror to play against every time. That That’s the thing though. By the way, Dylan Harper and Wimyama on the floor together, 78.6 defensive rating. It’s only, you know, basically 120 possessions. But it also tracks you’re like, “Okay, WMBB is a crazy erases 20 points off the board and Dylan Harper is a great lockdown defender.” I just look at the Spurs and I’m with you guys. I think that they’ve beaten three of the worst teams in the NBA. If we look at their schedule, they beat Dallas in opening night. How bad has Dallas been? And that was their opening night. Disaster. Then they beat New Orleans in overtime. We just know how unimpressive that is. Then they beat the Brooklyn Nets and then Well, the fact that they had to go to overtime to beat New Orleans might be Well, I think New Orleans didn’t give up on their season yet. I think that was only game two. That wasn’t game four. That was game two. So, they still had hope. Uh, and then the Toronto Raptors. So, yes, they will get tested here eventually, but I think they’re going to be a playoff team. Wiman, man, is they’re definitely going to be a playoff team and they’re going to be a team that you don’t want to play in the first round. That’s for sure. We’ve talked a lot about the Warriors. I think that they’re really impressive. I think they’re also going to be in competition for like this top of the west. Um, after that though, it gets interesting. The Lakers already without Luca Donuch, Austin Reeves is doing his thing, but it’s only really worked once out of three times for them to get wins. Uh, I think the Lakers’s year is just going to be like this, man. They have the Lakers or you can just pencil them in for the plan. Just pencil them in. What do you make of the Clippers not being good? Um, I I think obviously a little overrated. I mean, I haven’t watched any of their games. I’ve seen Chris Paul has not been good though. You know, I think this was a classic case of you put all these guys on paper and you’re like, “Wow, we have this really deep team.” But then you actually play the games and like, “Oh, Chris Paul’s not that good anymore.” Um, so probably a little overrated, but I I think they’ll be better. I I’ve still got them in the playoffs for sure. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Kawhai’s been underwhelming and they, you know, I mean, he’s not been bad, honestly, but underwhelming for a guy, for the guy he’s supposed to be. And they’ve looked like an old group that’s not in super great shape yet. So, I mean, I look, I don’t Ty Lou to me, like what the evidence for him being a great coach is the job he does raising the floor on like an otherwise compromised team. Yeah. And I think they’ll be pesky at some point because that’s what Tyoo does. Yeah. But he’s probably gonna have to make some gamles with his rotation, right? to make some gamles. Was that a play on words, bro? Sorry. I almost I almost blew right through it. I was wondering if you would. What about Minnesota? They’ve obviously been cursed right now with Anthony Edwards uh falling out and he’s going to miss a little bit of time. But even with him, there is something to I think we fear them more than most teams other teams do. Well, yeah, they play way better. one team in the NBA they enjoy playing is Denver. Uh but I kind of look at them and just think early there there’s a lot of these teams that when they have one injury, albeit a big one, you’re kind of like, “Oh yeah, their roster is not that complete. They can’t really withstand that.” And I think they’re one of them. Yeah. I mean, look, they’re going to win more games with Anthony Edwards in there. Their record is probably a bit skewed. But the the the takeaway, I think, for the Wolves through five games, and I know this cuz they’re saying it, our friends in Minnesota are saying it, they’re not sure this is a defensive group anymore. When Rudy Gobber goes off the floor, there’s a huge drop off. Now, Ant can play great defense and he’s been out, but I mean again, like the the swap, everyone said, “Well, they lose Nquille Alexander Walker.” Well, everyone likes Taran Sharon Jr. Different reasons, though. The ladder is a scorer. Walker was an extension of this defensive thing they had going on. Do they still have it? Will they get it back? But I think all of a sudden they look less like a group of defensive stalwarts. I think the forgotten stepchild of the Western Conference is the Memphis Grizzlies. I think they’re just a team nobody really ever thinks about. They are three and two. They lost to Miami, been really good. They lost to Golden State. So did we. Uh but they beat Phoenix, Indiana, New Orleans, they too. It’s like we’re so early in the season, we can’t tell what anybody is, but Memphis does have some interesting talent. And yes, Cedric Coward is pretty pretty fun to watch. He’s like an old school college shooting guard. Yeah. No, Memphis is solid. You know, they got um they got Ty Jerome, too. Ty Jerome, is he on the squad? Let’s take a look here. I think that is where he landed up. So they got some guys. No, no, no, no. They’ve got I mean they’ve been started man they started Jock Landale in the last game that is wild. Jaylen Wells is my guy though. Santi Alama is a good player. John Kchar is a really good like a-hole. Yeah, you see him. He’s like plays with like this edge that everybody kind of hates him. Old friend KCP. I mean look, they’re not winning a title, but to to Adam’s point for the last three years, last four years, how good or bad is Memphis is the biggest outlier. They’re always a tough team to play against, too. Yeah. Did you guys know they have PJ Hall? Wow. Shout out. Shout out PJ Hall. Can you imagine if he plays rotation minutes? If it’s Big Val versus PJ Hall minutes in a game, that would be incredible. You guys aren’t as into this as I thought you would be. I’m not not a believer in PJ Hall. No, I haven’t been thinking about PJ Hall, but What about the Houston Rockets? The last team here. They’re two and two. They do have the number one offense in the NBA, though. Not Denver. It’s the Houston Rockets. That’s wild. You think they’d have the number one defense? Maybe there is this early sample size thing where we’re like the Timberwolves suck at defense. So do the Rockets. The Rockets are good. They’re another team that’s just going to suck to play against. I mean, all their, you know, athletes and and defenders and you got Kevin Durant, of course, Shangon. Uh I mean, Nuggets Rockets, I can’t wait for those two teams to play for the first time. That’s going to be awesome. It’s going to be a minute. They do have Boston coming up, Dallas, Memphis, San Antonio, Milwaukee. So, they have some games I think will test them here coming up. Can I give you guys my biggest disappointment in the NBA so far? Please. The Orlando Magic. They suck. They do suck. And I don’t think it’s gonna be solved either. I think they have two main problems because, you know, this is my like side piece team. I love that because I love France Vagner. I love Jaylen Suggs. I kind of like Anthony Black, although he might not be any good. Tristan Dilva, I like Paulo Bancero is like one of my least favorite players in the NBA. He seems like a nice guy. I have nothing against it. I hate not like some guys I hate because they feel like, you know, a-holes or whatever. I just hate his game. Sure, but I also think their coaching might suck, man. My guy Jamal Mosley, that’s my guy, too. How much we loved him when we were courtside and how intense he gets and everything else. Turns out that stuff’s not that important. Would Michael Malone move to Orlando? Ooh, that would be a fun game to play. He gets his defensive team finally. It’s another Malone type. Eastern Conference a little easier. Good weather. Orlando. Can you see him in Orlando? I don’t know. I don’t know if I can see Mo. Disney World, Portland, New Orleans, Orlando. Those are the jobs that potentially we could see opening up. New Orleans. It’s going to be tough to get somebody to take that New Orleans stuff. Established coach. You mentioned Portland earlier in the year. Portland’s an option. Where else is there like maybe a potential opening? I’m looking right now. There’s not that much disgruntled. Yeah, I don’t know. Not feels like Sacramento’s always going to be open. Can you imagine? I think a guy who might I mean, are they really that tied to Doug Christie? Come on. But I mean, he’s not going to Sacramento. Can you imagine? No, I know. I know. I know. Does Does Quinn Snyder make it through the year? You know, I don’t know if Melan would go to Atlanta, but Well, actually, here’s a crazy one. You No. There’s some rumblings that Chris Finch might be wearing out his welcome in Minnesota. Can you imagine the rivalry going up a whole other level? 100% I can. Yeah. 100 million%. There’s no way. No way. He calls Anthony Edwards the best player he’s ever coached. Look, I think Tim at this point should do it just to complete the arc if nothing else. Oh, it’s like a full evil arc, man. I think Orlando makes a ton of sense for Malone, does it? Defensive team roster. Yeah, I mean, imagine just going from coaching in the West to coaching in the East. He should do it just for that. For nothing else, just for that. You just the road to the playoffs is so much easier. You got a couple stars, you got good players. Yeah, I could see. And and it’s a team that’s underperforming, right? So if you take Nobody’s gonna really care if you underperform. Yeah, he did. He was in the bubble that one time, so he’s familiar with it. Do we have any super chats? Uh and then also Michael Porter Jr. had a bunch of points last night. He had 329 and two on 60 44 100. Nice. Nice. Big Honey, number three offensive rating, number five defensive rating, number two net rating. Still haven’t peaked yet either. This team is going to be scary good when everything starts to click. They have the number five defensive rating. I don’t think so, but let’s see. Let’s find out if they true. The number five defensive because of last night. Yeah, holding a team to 88 points in this league in four games. That’s going to help you out a lot. We probably need to make some ground rules on defensive rating takes the first uh But you know what? F it. Facts are facts. Join us on the internet for overtime where we go to the internet where as opposed to before when we were only partially on the internet. Now we’re only on the internet. And Maddox, shout out Maddox who’s celebrating two months of memberships. Shout out our supporter clubs. I made a little day of the life video for you last night. That should be coming out soon. Maddox saying, “Happy two months. Love the start to the season.” Jamalstar, baby. By the way, do you guys have accounts on Blue Sky? I would follow you over there if you do. We do technically have a D&B Nuggets account on Blue Sky. I only use it to tweet my articles out because I’m self- serving, but you can follow Kyle, I’m not going to blue sky. Kyle M. Hey, vote. There you go. Write it down. Write it down. Kill. Take one mention for vote on an off day. Is off day show a separate category? If Kyle’s going to super chat it, we’re going to log it, bro. Got to log it. Josh Barnett from down on shouts Kale, you bloody legend. #theear of Jamal Murray D&VR. Fire it up, Kale. Fire up. Fire it up. Fire on the mountain, you know. Oh, I’m going to go eat some of that right now, actually. Uh, everybody, hit that outro music. Thanks for tuning in. I can’t wait to be back tomorrow, Friday night at the DMV bar. Always a great time, man. I miss these. Last night, last week, we had a Saturday night. Tomorrow, Friday night at the DMV bar. Hit the like button. See you tomorrow. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] We all silly like the mayor.