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Post by GBG on Jul 9, 2024 14:10:32 GMT -5
When Zeke becomes a “late” bloomer with a team like Washington or Charlotte at age 25 or 26, and averages 13/8 and 1.5 blocks a game on 54% shooting and 39% from 3, I might take a couple victory laps. Y’all assume he can’t play since that’s what Malone thinks and Zeke knows it. Kid has a fragile psyche and confidence problems. A change of scenery will change him as a player. It's been four years and he still can't stop knocking the ball into the 5th row anytime it comes within 5 feet of him. His teammates are actively terrified of throwing him the ball. I will especially point to your myopia when taking the victory laps. |
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Post by TNF on Jul 9, 2024 14:18:58 GMT -5
He'll be a late bloomer. Mark my words. "Nuglife"
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Post by LotharBraunBrownBryant on Jul 9, 2024 14:52:31 GMT -5
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Post by TNF on Jul 9, 2024 14:55:10 GMT -5
Now Malone has to play him.
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Post by jacksalmon on Jul 9, 2024 16:47:27 GMT -5
When Zeke becomes a “late” bloomer with a team like Washington or Charlotte at age 25 or 26, and averages 13/8 and 1.5 blocks a game on 54% shooting and 39% from 3, I might take a couple victory laps. Y’all assume he can’t play since that’s what Malone thinks and Zeke knows it. Kid has a fragile psyche and confidence problems. A change of scenery will change him as a player. It's been four years and he still can't stop knocking the ball into the 5th row anytime it comes within 5 feet of him. His teammates are actively terrified of throwing him the ball. And yet he is one of the big cogs of the second unit. This is just another reason why the Nuggets time at the top is gone forever. Don't get me wrong, I don't like the reality of that as I would like to see them succeed, but I cannot hope for better results when I see what they got for this next season. This will be one mediocre team that will probably make the playoffs but will most likely lose in the first round. There is no way that Jokic and Murray can carry them on their own, especially when Murray is likely to miss half the games and be hurt when it comes to playoff time. |
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Post by famicommander on Jul 9, 2024 17:07:23 GMT -5
It's been four years and he still can't stop knocking the ball into the 5th row anytime it comes within 5 feet of him. His teammates are actively terrified of throwing him the ball. And yet he is one of the big cogs of the second unit. This is just another reason why the Nuggets time at the top is gone forever. Don't get me wrong, I don't like the reality of that as I would like to see them succeed, but I cannot hope for better results when I see what they got for this next season. This will be one mediocre team that will probably make the playoffs but will most like lose in the first round. There is no way that Jokic and Murray can carry them on their own, especially when Murray is likely to miss half the games and be hurt when it comes to playoff time. He's obviously not a big cog in the second unit. They drafted Holmes and signed both Saric and Cancar to multi-year deals and brought back Jordan. One of Nnaji or Tyson will be traded, even if we have to send out a pick to get someone to take them for nothing and buy them out. The bench rotation will be the backup PG, Watson, Saric, Holmes, and Strawther. At least to start the year. Vlatko and hopefully another depth SG will be the fringe rotation guys, like Holiday and Strawther were last year in the regular season. DJ, Pickett, the two-ways, and whomever remains between Zeke and Tyson are the deep bench. |
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Post by somborshuffle on Jul 9, 2024 17:51:20 GMT -5
Nnaji will see fewer minutes than Jay Huff did last season. He simply must be shipped out.
Calvin created this problem with an obscene contract extension. And now he must fix it or lose his job.
Maybe he waits until midseason and if things aren't going well I can see Nnaji, MPJ and the 2031 1st being traded. The often mentioned Atlanta combo of Hunter and Bogdanovic would be great.
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Post by scooter on Jul 9, 2024 17:55:57 GMT -5
And yet he is one of the big cogs of the second unit. This is just another reason why the Nuggets time at the top is gone forever. Don't get me wrong, I don't like the reality of that as I would like to see them succeed, but I cannot hope for better results when I see what they got for this next season. This will be one mediocre team that will probably make the playoffs but will most like lose in the first round. There is no way that Jokic and Murray can carry them on their own, especially when Murray is likely to miss half the games and be hurt when it comes to playoff time. He's obviously not a big cog in the second unit. They drafted Holmes and signed both Saric and Cancar to multi-year deals and brought back Jordan. One of Nnaji or Tyson will be traded, even if we have to send out a pick to get someone to take them for nothing and buy them out. The bench rotation will be the backup PG, Watson, Saric, Holmes, and Strawther. At least to start the year. Vlatko and hopefully another depth SG will be the fringe rotation guys, like Holiday and Strawther were last year in the regular season. DJ, Pickett, the two-ways, and whomever remains between Zeke and Tyson are the deep bench. I’m pretty sure they don’t want to get rid of Tyson; they signed his college friend/teammate on a 2-way deal. The FO definitely wants to find a new home for Nnaji and as of now that likely requires attaching an asset, so it’s possible that HT draws the short straw and gets moved sooner or later. But I see no reason to believe the FO just wants Tyson gone. Personally, I think Tyson could be a useful spot bench player and hope he gets an opportunity with the Nuggets. I think he’s probably the best shooter on the roster under 25 and might be able to play a role similar to what Hauser provides for the Celtics. |
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Post by ChuckTaylor on Jul 9, 2024 18:19:28 GMT -5
Next 2 weeks will help sort the sophomores. May force a significant re-eval. If the Sophs don’t show they’re at least minimally playable after a season in the league, any one of them could/should be packaged and shipped.
During those SL games/practices 2nd yr players are usually clearly better or they’re truly fringe (exceptions for 19 yr olds etc).
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Post by scooter on Jul 9, 2024 18:20:56 GMT -5
Nnaji will see fewer minutes than Jay Huff did last season. He simply must be shipped out. Calvin created this problem with an obscene contract extension. And now he must fix it or lose his job. I too want to see Nnaji re-homed. But I hardly think Booth’s job rests on what happens with Nnaji. |
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Post by duh88 on Jul 9, 2024 18:35:47 GMT -5
Add me to the list of Tyson believers. He’s a bucket-getter - I want to see what he could develop into.
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Post by famicommander on Jul 9, 2024 18:37:58 GMT -5
He's obviously not a big cog in the second unit. They drafted Holmes and signed both Saric and Cancar to multi-year deals and brought back Jordan. One of Nnaji or Tyson will be traded, even if we have to send out a pick to get someone to take them for nothing and buy them out. The bench rotation will be the backup PG, Watson, Saric, Holmes, and Strawther. At least to start the year. Vlatko and hopefully another depth SG will be the fringe rotation guys, like Holiday and Strawther were last year in the regular season. DJ, Pickett, the two-ways, and whomever remains between Zeke and Tyson are the deep bench. I’m pretty sure they don’t want to get rid of Tyson; they signed his college friend/teammate on a 2-way deal. The FO definitely wants to find a new home for Nnaji and as of now that likely requires attaching an asset, so it’s possible that HT draws the short straw and gets moved sooner or later. But I see no reason to believe the FO just wants Tyson gone. Personally, I think Tyson could be a useful spot bench player and hope he gets an opportunity with the Nuggets. I think he’s probably the best shooter on the roster under 25 and might be able to play a role similar to what Hauser provides for the Celtics. I need to see drastic improvements from Tyson pretty much across the board before I believe he's got a shot at cracking an NBA rotation. His strength is lacking to the point that he gets pushed around by smaller guys. His speed is lacking to the point where even bigger guys can dribble around him. His engagement level is low. He does not rebound as well as a man his size should. He is not often seen setting screens, boxing out, or moving without the ball. He has no ball handling or passing skills to speak of. He's a streaky shooter and he has quick hands, so if a ball does happen to get into his reach he does come up with some steals. Beyond that he doesn't demonstrate anything above average even at the G-League level. He was not among the top 4 best Grand Rapids Gold players last season. However good or bad you thought Braxton Key was last year, I promise you from watching almost every minute they played that he was considerably better than Hunter Tyson. |
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Post by TNF on Jul 9, 2024 18:42:30 GMT -5
We're improving except at PG, which is the most important position. Jamal isn't a true point and Pickett is Picket. Joker is Joker but we need another real point. Will Westbrook solve and will he even be here?
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Post by duh88 on Jul 9, 2024 19:08:12 GMT -5
Fami - not saying Tyson is rotation-ready now - but I've seen enough to believe that he's capable of making a "rotation-ready" leap, while staying on a cap-friendly contract.
The board, in general, is treating Tyson like a radioactive entity - I think that's reactionary. The contract is cheap and there's skills there that can be utilized.
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Post by duh88 on Jul 9, 2024 19:09:08 GMT -5
We're improving except at PG, which is the most important position. Jamal isn't a true point and Pickett is Picket. Joker is Joker but we need another real point. Will Westbrook solve and will he even be here? Murray is actually a really good playmaker - doesn't get enough credit for it, really. I like Westbrook because he'll drive to the basket 10 times per game - it's what he's still good at. It's the type of wrecking-ball we need on the second unit, and what we missed most from BB. |
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Post by rock on Jul 9, 2024 19:22:34 GMT -5
Add me to the list of Tyson believers. He’s a bucket-getter - I want to see what he could develop into. He looked good last summer. But during his limited regular season time he looked terrible |
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Post by LotharBraunBrownBryant on Jul 9, 2024 20:06:00 GMT -5
the idea that Zeke Nnaji will keep the Nuggets from winning in the first round of the playoffs is asinine.
As a reminder, the Jokic-Murray tandem is 8-3 all time in playoff series -- 4-0 in the first round, 2-2 in the second, 1-1 in the third, 1-0 in the finals. Jokic's only first round loss was missing both Murray and MPJ, and against the suddenly-healthy Warriors who went on to win it all. This team isn't going to be a first round exit unless Jokic is missing, or multiple other starters are missing, and "is Zeke on the roster" isn't going to be the difference maker there.
Jamal/Braun/MPJ/AG/Joker + ?/Strawther/PWat/Holmes/Saric is a homecourt team with no need for Zeke. If Zeke outplays Holmes or Saric and therefore forces Malone's hand, that's a bonus.
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Post by GBG on Jul 9, 2024 23:09:20 GMT -5
the idea that Zeke Nnaji will keep the Nuggets from winning in the first round of the playoffs is asinine. As a reminder, the Jokic-Murray tandem is 8-3 all time in playoff series -- 4-0 in the first round, 2-2 in the second, 1-1 in the third, 1-0 in the finals. Jokic's only first round loss was missing both Murray and MPJ, and against the suddenly-healthy Warriors who went on to win it all. This team isn't going to be a first round exit unless Jokic is missing, or multiple other starters are missing, and "is Zeke on the roster" isn't going to be the difference maker there. Jamal/Braun/MPJ/AG/Joker + ?/Strawther/PWat/Holmes/Saric is a homecourt team with no need for Zeke. If Zeke outplays Holmes or Saric and therefore forces Malone's hand, that's a bonus. I particularly like your last sentence. You and I are probably the only NT posters (maybe TNF too) who have acknowledged the possibility that Zeke could improve. The awkward tweener with confidence issues is still just 23, and while I don’t expect him to establish himself as a bonafide rotation player for us, it’s still theoretically possible. I’ve seen more surprising things happen in my half century of following the NBA. |
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Post by somborshuffle on Jul 9, 2024 23:26:11 GMT -5
Question: if Murray misses 25 games this year, who takes his spot? As bad as RJ was after a strong start last year, the answer to that question was still clear.
Until we get a clear back up for Jamal we shouldn't be comfortable with the off-season.
If the answer is Westbrook then Jokic will need to be taking 30+ shots in those games. Either that or MPJ can finally start consistently earning his money by stepping up.
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Post by duh88 on Jul 10, 2024 0:09:39 GMT -5
I can still see Zeke having a solid career. He’s a damn good defender. If Zeke plays the 3, then I think he can have a long career.
Zeke as a big-man tho is radioactive. His arms are too short and that inhibits him from rebounding. That can’t be fixed.
In terms of him being a big SF - he would have a long career if that’s his responsibility. Unfortunately, Malone keeps trying to wedge him in as a 5 and that will kill his career.
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