S50 Nuggets Pre-Season Presser
Posted: Tue Feb 02, 2021 4:04 pm
Well, it's Season 50, which means it's been about 47 seasons for me as GM of these Denver Nuggets - which were not for about a dozen of my peers, would seem to be some sort of record. Over those seasons we've won 6 rings, and we know a thing or two about when a team is close, and when it ain't that close. And fellas, we're not close.
Don't get me wrong. Put me in a 7-game series with a team with 75% the talent, and I'll probably come out ahead more often than not. But we're fighting a little uphill, we don't have a coherent cap or talent acquisition strategy, and frankly, our focus has been elsewhere. We haven't done a great job. And if we were in real life (unless we worked for one of the clubs with notoriously horrible ownership) we would definitely be fired.
That said. The cupboard is not fully bare, and the long-term outlook could be a lot worse. We have our young, talented front court locked up long term, and we don't have any other long-term salary obligations. We're not in the tax and don't project to be, and we're not outright tanking like some other teams. We brought in a lot of guys who had parts of their hey-days in Denver for a victory tour of sorts. And while we might not win many of the games on the court this season, we do expect to sell a lot of tickets, and give our fans a fun product to watch. Additionally, these wiley vets will hopefully learn our youngins a thing or two.
At the point, we brought in Randy Brown who excels in exactly the areas you need your point guard to excel at. We're a little flabbergasted he hasn't gotten more run in this league that is PG starved
At the two we'll have a roving cast of characters with Silva and Howard giving ageless wonder (and starter) Jerry West a breather.
At the 3, we'll bring back RJ-Bay Barrett. We expect he'll move on to greener pastures after the season, but you never know. New face Brandon Clarke and old face Colby Lopez (with a ring on his finger from his Denver days) will help back up the spot.
The 4 and 5 are set with Campbell and the Zeke Freek, and they'll get spelled by some other familiar faces.
Hopefully the future will be brighter, hopefully we'll find ourselves with more time and energy to devote, but if not, that's okay. It's all good in Denver.
Don't get me wrong. Put me in a 7-game series with a team with 75% the talent, and I'll probably come out ahead more often than not. But we're fighting a little uphill, we don't have a coherent cap or talent acquisition strategy, and frankly, our focus has been elsewhere. We haven't done a great job. And if we were in real life (unless we worked for one of the clubs with notoriously horrible ownership) we would definitely be fired.
That said. The cupboard is not fully bare, and the long-term outlook could be a lot worse. We have our young, talented front court locked up long term, and we don't have any other long-term salary obligations. We're not in the tax and don't project to be, and we're not outright tanking like some other teams. We brought in a lot of guys who had parts of their hey-days in Denver for a victory tour of sorts. And while we might not win many of the games on the court this season, we do expect to sell a lot of tickets, and give our fans a fun product to watch. Additionally, these wiley vets will hopefully learn our youngins a thing or two.
At the point, we brought in Randy Brown who excels in exactly the areas you need your point guard to excel at. We're a little flabbergasted he hasn't gotten more run in this league that is PG starved
At the two we'll have a roving cast of characters with Silva and Howard giving ageless wonder (and starter) Jerry West a breather.
At the 3, we'll bring back RJ-Bay Barrett. We expect he'll move on to greener pastures after the season, but you never know. New face Brandon Clarke and old face Colby Lopez (with a ring on his finger from his Denver days) will help back up the spot.
The 4 and 5 are set with Campbell and the Zeke Freek, and they'll get spelled by some other familiar faces.
Hopefully the future will be brighter, hopefully we'll find ourselves with more time and energy to devote, but if not, that's okay. It's all good in Denver.