THJ to the Nugs in a 1 year deal

Nuggets have had a pretty great off-season. Got Jonas for free. Got Bruce Brown and THJ for vet mins. Got off MPJ's contract. Still have their MLE and BAE. DaRon Holmes should be back from injury. Really just need to figure out the backup PG situation now for the 20-30 games Murray will miss.

Yeah I'd say 5 of the non-play-in spots are spoken for with OKC, Houston, Denver, Minnesota, and LAC. Going to be a season long war for that final spot between a lot of teams.

Guitarsoup said:

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I think OKC, Houston, and Denver are the only teams on lock.

LAC: Relying heavily on 36yo Harden, 34yo Kawhi, 32yo Powell, 37yo Lopez, and Zubac. They have the talent to win 50 games. But those are some old dudes.

Min: They got worse. They lost NAW, Gobert/Conley another year older, and they still don't have a PG. They used their 1st round pick on a guy expected to be a massive project when there were multiple PGs that could have helped immediately. Not a single free agent acquisition.

MEM: I really like what Memphis did. They lost Bane, but added Ty Jerome at 1/4th the price. I think Cedric Coward will be ready to play right away. But I am not gonna bet on any team with Ja Morant in charge.

LAL: Obvious decline, even if they get Ayton.

GSW: Jimmy Butler never played over 65 games with Golden State, Miami, Philadelphia or Minnesota. You have to go all the way back to his days in Chicago to find a season where he played over 65 games. GSW Hasn't added any FAs, hasn't resigned any of their own FAs. Not sure what is happening there.

I think Dallas and SA can both make the push for 4th-6th seed.

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. Agreed with all the above

Just posting so this thread will stay above the 24-25 thread. Stop posting there!

Offseason question:

How many games will this starting lineup play together (assuming Kyrie misses the first 40 games)?

DeAngelo
Klay
AD
Flagg
Lively

I'll say 26.

NoahAg said:

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Just posting so this thread will stay above the 24-25 thread. Stop posting there!

Offseason question:

How many games will this starting lineup play together (assuming Kyrie misses the first 40 games)?

DeAngelo
Klay
AD
Flagg
Lively

I'll say 26.

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I'm not sure any. Everything coming from the team screams they want the starting lineup to be DLo, Flagg, PJ, AD, Lively.

^
I would like that.

NoahAg said:

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^
I would like that.

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Would be a very interesting watch. Questions would be regarding 3 point shooting, playmaking, and point of attack defense. Lots of length and rim protection though.

Then you could have BWill and Klay coming off the bench for serious offense on the second unit.

Sorry about that.

I only continued posting there because the discussion I was having was not worth dragging into this thread. But I'm done there.

Edit to add something relevant:

The lineup with PJ looks great, but I'd be inclined to have Klay start instead (assuming he doesn't fall off). D'Lo is not reliable enough to provide consistent spacing.

I agree with you that it wasn't really about the Mavs so there was no point in bringing it over to this one. That one will fade away soon enough.

I'm interested to see how it goes just bc that lineup would be so different from most teams. All I hear about is how good the defense will be and that no one will be able to score, etc. But I actually think our defense will get torched with a lineup where AD is the 4, and Cooper is the 2.

AD is a great defensive player at the 5. He's a liability at the 4 in my opinion. He can't keep up with small 4s and will be away from the rim with 4s who stretch the floor (which is just about every 4 in the league). Thats a major problem.

PJ at the 3 is decent. But I actually like him at the 4 better defensively against a lot of teams. And we just saw a lineup of lively, AD, PJ get torched in the play in by an awful grizz team. That is not a defensive juggernaut lineup.

Adding Cooper Flagg is not going to turn it into an awesome defensive team. Especially not with him at the 2. I think I would also like him better at the 4 defensively or possibly the 3. With him at the 2, he is not going to be able to keep up with playmaking guards. So we will have a 4 and a 2 who can't guard the players they will have to guard on the perimeter. And cooper's off ball defense is supposed to be great, but he won't be able to do much of that at the 2. And obviously we don't have a pg who can really stay in front of anyone.

Can you imagine this lineup playing someone like the Thunder or the pacers from this year? I think it will be very ugly against a lot of teams. Playing AD at the 5, cooper/PJ at the 4 and PJ/naji at the 3 would be much better defensively.

And we have no playmaking or shot creating, or at least very little. I don't expect Cooper to do a ton of that his first year, or at least not be very efficient at it. But he's really our only option.l other than AD, who is not really a playmaker in my opinion.

I'll likely be taking the under on season wins. I just don't see them being good enough defensively to make up for the struggles on offense.

But maybe I'm biased bc I still feel completely dead inside about this team/franchise, even after winning the lottery. I know a lot of people are likely looking into season tickets again (the people who said they were leaving in March/April. And I don't blame them if they want to do that. But i have no desire to. Even if this team is great, I just don't think I'll be into it like I was before. But I'll still follow them and watch a lot of games to see how good Flagg is.

What is the O/U on season wins? It's probably not going to be all that high. Thinking it's going to be in the low 40s, if not lower. People will be down on the team with no Kyrie for at least the first 2 months of the season and maybe close to 4 full months of no Kyrie.

I agree with all your concerns. I just think the defense will play. The size/length will be enough to comfortably win the rebound battle most nights. AD will probably be playing the 5 in the final minutes of a game, unless the double big lineup has been working most of the game.

I'm not talking about a top 5 team in the west, but possibly being a 6 and looking to be in the 7-8 play in game with a healthy roster and looking dangerous.

Free agent guard Spencer Dinwiddie has agreed to a one-year deal with the Charlotte Hornets, sources tell ESPN. Dinwiddie averaged 14.3 points and 6.2 assists as a starter for the Mavs a season ago and provides a reliable scorer, passer and leader for a young Hornets backcourt. pic.twitter.com/piYDtPQOxt

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2025

That spot actually makes perfect sense for him. Hornets might be my favorite league pass team next year. They'll be playing 145-140 games.

Free agent guard Dante Exum has agreed to a one-year deal to return to the Dallas Mavericks, sources tell ESPN. Exum considered two other contenders but returns to Dallas to share ball-handling duties to start the season with D'Angelo Russell. pic.twitter.com/3GZBxTgb8c

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2025

Yes. Exum needs to stay healthy but he's show he's a reliable bench PG with this team. Great signing.

Let's go. I guess we are finding a way to dump OMax or Hardy.

Yep, currently have too many players and not enough roster spots so someone is getting dumped.

Pardon my ignorance, but does dump simply mean wave? Can they just drop Powell or do they have to dump salary somehow as well?

NoahAg said:

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Pardon my ignorance, but does dump simply mean wave? Can they just drop Powell or do they have to dump salary somehow as well?

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It will have to be by trade, I believe.

We can either attach our one second round pick to somebody and send in to a team's cap space, or (less likely, in my opinion) we could see a consolidation trade where we are sending several players out for one good player. Or there's a third option where we hop in on one of the agreed upon trades as a 3rd or 4th team where we'll also have to likely throw in our second round pick.

Ayton to LAL. Damnit, was hoping they'd continue to whiff

Frank Vogel is finalizing an agreement to join the Dallas Mavericks as a lead assistant coach under Jason Kidd, sources tell ESPN. The 2020 NBA championship-winning coach is a major addition to the Mavericks staff. pic.twitter.com/P6CtwgyGrX

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2025

I was expecting this, but glad it's official.

shack009 said:

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Frank Vogel is finalizing an agreement to join the Dallas Mavericks as a lead assistant coach under Jason Kidd, sources tell ESPN. The 2020 NBA championship-winning coach is a major addition to the Mavericks staff. pic.twitter.com/P6CtwgyGrX

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 2, 2025

I was expecting this, but glad it's official.

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Wow impressive

zgolfz85 said:

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Ayton to LAL. Damnit, was hoping they'd continue to whiff

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People still think of him as the guy that was on the 20-21 Suns and he is not that anymore. It's a decent stopgap, but that team still has plenty of issues.

shack009 said:

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zgolfz85 said:

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Ayton to LAL. Damnit, was hoping they'd continue to whiff

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People still think of him as the guy that was on the 20-21 Suns and he is not that anymore. It's a decent stopgap, but that team still has plenty of issues.

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Way better than the roster they had yesterday

For the all people excited about Ayton here’s the effort you should be expectingpic.twitter.com/UJwNeDyxIa https://t.co/Yso4cooDE3

— 𝙷𝙱💫 (@HoodiiBook) June 30, 2025

Just wait until he gets hooked on Hookah

Guitarsoup said:

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For the all people excited about Ayton here’s the effort you should be expectingpic.twitter.com/UJwNeDyxIa https://t.co/Yso4cooDE3

— 𝙷𝙱💫 (@HoodiiBook) June 30, 2025

Just wait until he gets hooked on Hookah

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I mean I get it, but it's one thing to do that on a team with KD and dbook. Bron will have him murdered if he pulls that **** in LA

He's also played almost 40 less games than AD over the past two seasons.

How long do you think Bron will be on the Lakers?

shack009 said:

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What is the O/U on season wins? It's probably not going to be all that high. Thinking it's going to be in the low 40s, if not lower. People will be down on the team with no Kyrie for at least the first 2 months of the season and maybe close to 4 full months of no Kyrie.

I agree with all your concerns. I just think the defense will play. The size/length will be enough to comfortably win the rebound battle most nights. AD will probably be playing the 5 in the final minutes of a game, unless the double big lineup has been working most of the game.

I'm not talking about a top 5 team in the west, but possibly being a 6 and looking to be in the 7-8 play in game with a healthy roster and looking dangerous.

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Based on championship odds, I think we are 6th in the west. So I would think the o/u wins would be much more than low 40s. I'm guessing 47-48? I haven't seemed the actual number. Doubt they are out yet bc free agency isn't over.

shack009 said:

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He's also played almost 40 less games than AD over the past two seasons.

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I'm not overly worried about it. They're just better now than they were a few hours ago. There's far more scary teams in the west though

Guitarsoup said:

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How long do you think Bron will be on the Lakers?

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You mean future Dallas Maverick LeBron James? Maybe 6-7 months. Getting the band back together in Dallas.

hph6203 said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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How long do you think Bron will be on the Lakers?

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You mean future Dallas Maverick LeBron James? Maybe 6-7 months. Getting the band back together in Dallas.

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Bron isn't going to go to a West team. If anything is true about him and Durant, he's taking the easy way to a ring.

I think he signs with the Knicks with his old coach Mike Brown and take the easy way to the finals

Sean and God both left Dallas. Both are Klutch guys. Is it a Rich Paul thing?

Guitarsoup said:

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hph6203 said:

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Guitarsoup said:

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How long do you think Bron will be on the Lakers?

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You mean future Dallas Maverick LeBron James? Maybe 6-7 months. Getting the band back together in Dallas.

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Bron isn't going to go to a West team. If anything is true about him and Durant, he's taking the easy way to a ring.

I think he signs with the Knicks with his old coach Mike Brown and take the easy way to the finals

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Then Luka gets disgruntled after 2 years of a dumpster fire Lakers team and returns home.
We'll wait for you, Boo!