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2024-25 NBA Thread: for the second time, somebody in Dallas hits low percentage shot that leads to a generation of conspiracy theories (26 Viewers)
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Kev4029
Footballguy
It certainly was earlier in the year - from a complete outsider's perspective, their power struggle and behavior reflected unprofessionally on both of them. Nuggets fans, in general, have been praying for Booth's firing since this offseason. I think he's made most of the right big choices and nearly no good small decisions since he took over - I don't think the team wins the title two seasons ago without him as GM because he made the trade for KCP that Connelly wouldn't have, but it's been a bit downhill since. Since the title, I think he's gotten a little too much blame for things that were either the right call (letting KCP walk) or situations where his hand was forced (the Murray extension was happening but maybe they could have gotten some concessions, BB walking after the title) - but boy has he ****ed things up around the edges - giving Reggie Jackson the two year contract he got then dumping him with three second rounders, Saric this year (who at the time I thought was a good signing for the player but a stupid contract).
As far as Malone goes, I think he was a great coach for the vets and should go down as the best Nuggets' coach of all time, but something had gone sour this year. The Nuggets podcasts that I listen to seemed to think that the power struggle earlier in the year between him and Booth started to divide the locker room between Booth guys (all the young dudes, mostly) and the Malone guys (most of the vets), plus the added complication where it was pretty obvious the whole team was frustrated with Murray to start the year. Ultimately, Malone didn't do enough to develop the younger guys on the roster and his message seemed to have gotten stale. I don't know if he deserved to get fired, but I'm also not sure he deserved to keep his job either.
I assume this means the potential for a complete roster overhaul this offseason which was 100% bound to happen either this offseason or next anyway, with Watson and Braun extensions looming and the inability to pay them with the current roster. But now it will be fast tracked, if they can find any positive value for the non-Jokic pieces, which I am incredibly skeptical of.
Kev4029
Footballguy
Too soon.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Booth is not technically fired.
My understanding is that he is still with the team for the time being but they won't be renewing his contract going forward, which expires at the end of the season.
Kev4029
Footballguy
Probably semantics, if he was on an expiring contract. He'll be relieved of all duties but still collect a check rather than being fired.
General Malaise
Footballguy
Nuggets making a play for Chauncy Billups.
jvdesigns2002
Footballguy
I don’t like the Nuggets firing Malone at this point in the season. They should have let him play the season out and see if they could make a playoff run. With that said—and I’ve said it a few time before in this thread—the team is a defensive sieve and they need to find a way to put at least some effort on that end of the court. They slipped to the 25th ranked team in regard to points allowed—and the only teams that are in the play-in that rank worse than them are the Hawks and the Bulls. Maybe this firing will wake up the team defensively, but I still feel like Malone has done enough in Denver to have not been fired in this manner.
Courtjester
The Town Drunk
This is an absolute slap in the face to all Nuggets fans. I am just in shock. I get Booth was instrumental in getting the ring, but his actions (or shall I say inactions) this year are one of the primary reasons the team is where it is at. Malone realized what he had in Joker and wanted to go all in for another ring. Booth was the corporate yes man and didn't do anything to improve the team at the deadline because they wanted to avoid the 2nd tier luxury tax. Don't even get me started on Kroenke because I would get a quick time out writing what I think of him. Every Nugget fan knew at the beginning of the year this team wasn't going to be good enough to get another ring with the way the roster was constructed, but Booth wanted to develop the young guys and didn't bring anyone in. They needed another defensive big to fill the non-Joker minutes and the +/- numbers for the team prove how far they fell off when he wasn't on the court. I am sorry you just can't have it both ways in the NBA. When you have a top 10 player all time in Joker you do all you can to capitalize on that window. You don't care that wow, we might have this young guy who could be decent five years from now or let's save a draft pick, four years for now.
I will not be surprised to see Denver fall to the play-in game and just phone it home.
I see everyone on the Nuggets boards talking about what the off-season will bring, but ownership better understand Joker does not give a darn about his records. He loves his family and his horses and has made a good deal of money. I could see him retiring and say screw this. Porter and Murray got their $$$ and have since just not cared .CB and Gordon try but there is only so much they can do. This is probably about the lowest I have felt as a Denver fan (well maybe when Melo left is a close 2nd).
I will not be surprised to see Denver fall to the play-in game and just phone it home.
I see everyone on the Nuggets boards talking about what the off-season will bring, but ownership better understand Joker does not give a darn about his records. He loves his family and his horses and has made a good deal of money. I could see him retiring and say screw this. Porter and Murray got their $$$ and have since just not cared .CB and Gordon try but there is only so much they can do. This is probably about the lowest I have felt as a Denver fan (well maybe when Melo left is a close 2nd).
Kev4029
Footballguy
FWIW, I think the defense being trash this year is the result of a whole bunch of issues that weren't necessarily Malone's fault or within his control. The biggest issue is the team is incredibly shallow - They have 6 plus NBA players (starters + Watson), and a couple guys that I would call more rotation-minus level players (Westbrook and Strawther), which lead to limited talent defensively and Malone overplaying the decent players that were healthy, especially Jokic. For the same reason Jokic is having his best offensive season of his career, he has been flat bad defensively because he's playing 37 minutes a game with the largest offensive load in the NBA - he can't be both their offensive savior in that fashion and a linchpin in their defense. In the past, their defense has picked up in the last five minutes of the game as they switch to putting Jokic at the level of the screen and scramble around behind him, but it's been pretty mediocre this year because Jokic has been hurt/tired and the people behind him aren't as good.
If they weren't in such a trash situation with their non-Jokic/Gordon contracts and had some picks (I think their '31 1st rounder was the only trade asset they have beyond swaps... zero second rounders) - they could have made a trade to improve the team but that wasn't the case.
I would assign blame for this year's failures more on Connelly/Kroenkes for the stupid MPJ contract and dumping picks for money savings, Booth for making every wrong move on the margins, and Murray for not being prepared or engaged for much of the season, before I would put the blame on Malone. That said, Malone certainly spent most of the season underperforming with a mostly bad team that was buoyed by the best player in the NBA.
dickey moe
Fingerpicker
Man, these NBA coaches are on some short leashes.
Courtjester
The Town Drunk
The more I read about this, you know they had to have Joker's blessing or at least his knowledge of this move.. It is telling that his agent met with the front office a couple weeks back. You have to speculate that something along the lines of my client has carried this team and something needs to be done was mentioned.
Kev4029
Footballguy
I have a hard time to see any positively transformative moves this offseason. They have too few picks. MPJ is a negative contract with his back injury, especially with his hamstrings giving him fits for the last month - somebody might take a chance but it won't be for significant positive value. Murray might have some interest but he's probably more neutral than positive value. Gordon is on a fair contract but is worth more to Jokic/Nuggets than the other 29 teams. Watson and Braun could be sweeteners to a bigger deal but they are both in the last years of their contracts.
identikit
Footballguy
They almost always end up with a new gig though.
Usually quick-like
Or they keep getting paid from their contract
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msudaisy26
Footballguy
Usually I would agree, but the recent ones in the NBA haven't looked that great. The Bucks last year, and the Grizzlies this season.
identikit
Footballguy
Major
Footballguy
He should prolly let Udoka sleep with his wife
Desert_Power
Footballguy
I think at one point Dodds tried to do a BasketballGuys site and started that forearm around then.I looked - there has been like a dozen posts in two years.I haven't stepped foot into the basketball forum in a couple years. Last I did, it was a ghost town.I assume this thread gets more posts.I like how there's an entire Basketball Forum but this is in Free For All.
I didn't even know such a thing existed
Instinctive
Footballguy
Maybe they'll trade Jokic for Anthony Davis and a first. Dallas could throw in some developmental wing maybe.
I've heard defense wins championships.
msudaisy26
Footballguy
Nah Jokic will get a little more. He has actually won a title and MVP.
CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
Crazy finish in Milwaukee - T-Wolves were up by 20 with under 10 minutes remaining and lost by 7.
Ghost Rider
Footballguy
NBA refs are probably the dumbest officials in any sport. They fall for the flopping like you wouldn't believe, and then nonsense like this.
Anarchy99
Footballguy
Probably going to play the B team the last few games. Brown needs to play the last 3 games to get to 65, but the other guys could take a break.
scoobus
Footballguy
Just seems wild to play especially Tatum almost 50 minutes in a meaningless game with a week left, but what do I know.
the moops
Footballguy
He has pretty much no chance of making all NBA so that’s dumb
Jayrod
Footballguy
Final tune up plus set the tone with a likely opponent.
msudaisy26
Footballguy
I know the regular season usually sucks, but I really wish the West had two more weeks and about eight more games.
I assume part of the motivation for the timing is specially NOT to give him a playoff run. If they won a series or two, it would become more awkward to fire him. If they had already decided they didn't want him back, this timing avoids the possibility of that scenario.
Kev4029
Footballguy
That's what Zach Lowe and his guest (and Nuggets reporter) Matt Moore said. I really think if the infighting was as bad as it seems that it was, they should have addressed it last offseason. It wasn't a new issue and the organization let it fester. I thought Malone was about to be fired around December before the Nuggets kind of turned it around because of Booth's very public and very critical things he had said. In retrospect, I wish they would have moved on from Booth after the playoffs and given Malone another season without that drama (which, to be clear, he created in some part) to see if it was still working.
Jayrod
Footballguy
Tatum hit a shot in the last 3 seconds in 3 of the 4 quarters in regulation.
Q1 - stepped into a 3 at the buzzer
Q3 - baseline fadeaway vs 2 defenders at the buzzer
Q4 - stepback 3 with 2.x seconds left to tie the game and force OT
scoobus
Footballguy
Ok?
Zow
Footballguy
Yeah he's kind of in the Suh and Draymond bucket where I feel no sympathy for them should they receive an arguably unearned penalty/foul because frankly they created the situation.
Jayrod
Footballguy
It was basically 3 buzzer beaters in the same game. One to save the game and send it into OT.
Don't know if I've ever seen that in the same game by 1 player.
Sorry, it may be commonplace to you I guess? Just thought it was remarkable. Maybe not, carry on.
Navin Johnson
Footballguy
I beg to differ. Happy Gilmore accomplished that feat no more than an hour ago
Anarchy99
Footballguy
Celtics injury report on their final road game and back-to-back of the season: Tatum, Jrue, White, Horford, KP all OUT. Brown QUESTIONABLE. Brown played 20 something minutes in his last 8 appearances . . . and even the media has suggested it's to get him up to 65 games played and merit consideration for one of the All-NBA or All-Defense teams. Doubt he would make those, but he apparently has bonuses attached to making them. Maybe he can get carry over votes from last year's title run. I don't see it, but who knows how people vote . . .
scoobus
Footballguy
I mean that’s cool, not trying to diminish it or anything, it just had nothing to do with what I wrote haha.
Craig_MiamiFL
Footballguy
Mike Malone responds 
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
Which has now been rescinded
Long Ball Larry
Footballguy
This is what scientists always hoped could happen when they invented AI
Craig_MiamiFL
Footballguy
Imagine having to do a tribute for a 26 year old coming off a finals appearance. That's already had a hall of fame career.
Can debate options but easily one of the biggest blunders in sports history. You don't even get to thinking about Anthony Davis's part in it. You don't deal a 25 year old superstar / face of the league that's displayed zero desire to leave
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msudaisy26
Footballguy
Assuming nothing happens he will be a hall of famer one day, but if he retired tomorrow he wouldn't be.
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