The Nuggets' 94-89 win was the first NBA title in 47 years of existence. In winning their first title, Denver ends years of recent frustration in not being able to reach the mountain top. Both have participated in specific drills, according to Malone, but have yet to progress to contact or anything live at practice.The Denver Nuggets won their first NBA championship in the most psychical game of this year's five-game series. It’s a refrain Malone has said on several occasions, emphasizing how neither he nor the front office has put any pressure on either player to return. “It is also just as likely that they don’t.” “It is under the realm of possibility that Michael Porter and Jamal Murray return this year,” Malone said. Cousins is expected to be available for Friday’s game at Boston.Īnd yet as much as the Nuggets have endured, one can’t help but envision how dangerous Denver will be once they get healthy.Īs Malone was explaining the rationale for the team’s deadline patience, there was Porter working with developmental coaches on the far end of the court, going through shooting drills and raining in 3-pointers. Their need for a backup center will be filled, at least temporarily, with DeMarcus Cousins, whom the Nuggets’ signed to a second 10-day contract. Their attempts at finding a defensive wing weren’t hollow. Adding Bryn Forbes a few weeks ago addressed their biggest need - outside shooting. Still, it didn’t mean they weren’t active or trying to improve. Dozier’s torn ACL, the stars were hardly aligning for this season to be Denver’s best chance at a championship. With extended rehabs for Murray and Porter, not to mention since-traded P.J. Malone, team president Tim Connelly and Denver’s ownership had the luxury of not forcing anything because of the stability they’ve built the past several years. 4 seed and with a favorable schedule to close the season. At 30-24, the Nuggets opened Thursday only 3.5 games out of the No. The Nuggets have, somewhat unbelievably, punched above their weight in the Western Conference considering all the injuries they’ve sustained. The Nuggets didn’t move Green, Campazzo, Rivers or Cancar because they didn’t have to. Campazzo, another player whom the Nuggets had discussions about, sources said, bolted off the court before reporters could trickle onto it. That meant not moving JaMychal Green’s $8.2 million salary for a defensive-oriented wing, as The Post reported they’d targeted, and opting not to trade any of the expiring contracts of Facundo Campazzo, Vlatko Cancar or Austin Rivers.Īs Rivers headed off the practice court Thursday, he jokingly asked a group of reporters whether he’d been traded. “As we started, I said, ‘I’m not saying nothing can’t happen in the next couple of hours, this is the NBA, but as far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing going on,’” Malone conveyed to his team before they flew out to Boston.ĭespite many discussions, including frameworks that fell through, according to league sources, the Nuggets stood pat. Just hours before the trade deadline, as rumors circulated about the since-completed James Harden-Ben Simmons blockbuster deal, Malone told his guys not to fret. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menuīefore the Nuggets opened one of their rare practices Thursday morning, head coach Michael Malone gathered his team and tried to ease their minds.
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