Nuggets Rumors

Thunder Notes: SGA, Williams, Caruso, Conference Finals

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the favorite to win this season’s MVP award, admitted that his stomach was churning prior to the Game 7 showdown with the Nuggets on Sunday afternoon. He sure didn’t play scared, pouring in 35 points as the Thunder rolled into the Western Conference Finals.

“I was nervous, to be honest,” Gilgeous-Alexander told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. “Just knowing what was on the line. …To know if you don’t bring your A-game, it could all be over. But I think that nervousness motivated me.”

The Thunder in general showed some nerves in the early going but took control late in the first half.

“I think the nerves were natural,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We actually shot horribly to start the game. But I knew we were getting really good looks, and if we just stuck with it, we would loosen up and the ball would find the basket. I never was worried about this, the way we started. Once I felt the flow of the game and we had the right intentions and the right energy, I knew it would turn around.”

Here’s more on the Thunder:

  • First-time All-Star Jalen Williams scored 17 of his 24 points in the pivotal second quarter and added seven assists, Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman notes. Williams bounced back from a Game 6 dud in which he shot 3-for-16 from the field. “Great force, especially early,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It was definitely a conscious effort by him to use his speed and his power. He was on the gas from the jump (Sunday).”
  • Williams was fined $25K by the league for wearing clothing with profane language in his post-game media session on Sunday, NBA Communications tweets.
  • Daigneault used Alex Caruso as the primary defender on Nuggets star Nikola Jokic on Sunday, though Caruso got plenty of help from his teammates. Caruso gave up six inches in height and 100 pounds. The unconventional strategy worked as Jokic only took nine shots and committed five turnovers. “It’s a lot of hard work, obviously,” Caruso told Kelly Iko of The Athletic. “But he’s a difficult matchup because he does so many different things to get others involved and influence the game. Being relentless with my energy, the effort to make it tough on him. The guys around me did a good job of helping and swarming, because I’m not doing that on my own. Understanding the flow of the game, where you could be physical and where you can’t.”
  • Next up for the Thunder — the Timberwolves, who are making their second straight appearances in the conference finals. The subplot between the teams is the matchup of star guards SGA and Anthony Edwards. “My gut says OKC wins the series,” one scout told Sam Amick of The Athletic. “Their defensive coverages and schemes are so good. (They’re) closing up the paint and rotating out of scheme, then they have the best scorer in the game who has proven to come through when they need it.”
  • Daigneault believes the team has earned everything it has achieved. “We’re not perfect, but they’re just so easy to bet on. They’re great competitors, “ he said, per Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman. “They do things the right way, they’re professional, they’re inside the team. Everybody sacrifices for the team. Not everybody always gets what they deserve, but this team deserves these types of opportunities.”

And-Ones: Jokic, Malone, Spending Power, Jordan, Uniforms

After Sunday’s lopsided Game 7 loss to Oklahoma City, Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic was asked whether or not he intends to suit up for Serbia at the EuroBasket tournament this summer, as Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops relays. Jokic helped the Serbian national team win a bronze medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

I think the Olympics made me even better. Playing for your country, with other rules, with different players,” he said. “I need to decide. … I need to talk with the coaches and some of the main players. And we will see. But for now, for the next couple of days, there will be a lot of beer probably.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Michael Malone, the former head coach of the Nuggets who was fired with three games left in the regular season, is joining ESPN for its coverage of the Western Conference Finals, according to The Associated Press. The series tips off on Tuesday, with top-seeded Oklahoma City hosting Minnesota. Malone will be featured on both the pregame and halftime shows.
  • Which NBA teams will have the most spending power this offseason? Which will have the least? Danny Leroux of The Athletic breaks each team into categories, with the Nets having by far the most projected cap space at $58MM. The Spurs are among the group who project to have access to the full (aka non-taxpayer) mid-level exception, the Pacers could have the taxpayer MLE, and the Cavaliers are expected to be over the second tax apron. Leroux also gives a brief rundown of the types of moves each club could consider with respect to their financial situation.
  • A uniform worn by Bulls legend Michael Jordan during the 1992/93 season was recently sold at auction for $2.6MM, per Dan Hajducky of ESPN.com. Jordan, who wore the red uniform during road games, led the league in scoring for the seventh straight time and led Chicago to its third consecutive title in ’92/93. The former Hornets owner is joining NBC Sports as a special contributor when the NBA returns to the network this fall.
  • The NBA has informed teams that city edition uniforms will not be worn during the conference finals or finals, a league source tell Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). The city edition uniforms were evidently only permitted for the first two rounds of the playoffs. Indiana faces New York in the Eastern final.

Nuggets Notes: Depth, Porter, Tenzer, Gordon, Westbrook

Through two rounds of the NBA playoffs, Nuggets starters Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic, Christian Braun, and Aaron Gordon ranked one through four in the NBA in total minutes played. To some extent, that was a byproduct of Denver being the only team to play two seven-game series, but those four Nuggets all averaged between 37.3 and 41.3 minutes per game during the postseason, reflecting the team’s lack of reliable depth.

“We definitely need to figure out a way to get more depth,” Jokic said the Nuggets’ Game 7 loss on Sunday, per Tony Jones and Sam Amick of The Athletic. “It seems like the teams that have longer rotations, the longer benches, are the ones winning. You look at Indiana and OKC and Minnesota, and they have been great examples of that.”

Adding depth won’t be the easy for the Nuggets, who are hamstrung to some extent by maximum-salary contracts for Jokic,  Murray, and Michael Porter Jr. Denver projects to operate in tax apron territory next season, lacks appealing trade chips, and is the only team that doesn’t have a pick in this year’s draft.

As Jones and Amick observe, it would be logical for the Nuggets to explore trading Porter, who is the most expendable of the team’s highest-paid players. Troy Renck of The Denver Post comes to the same conclusion, lauding Porter for gutting it out through a shoulder injury in the postseason but arguing that his inconsistency has become a liability for the club.

An April report indicated that Nuggets ownership has a particular fondness for Porter because he played his college ball at Missouri, the same school Stan Kroenke and Josh Kroenke attended. However, the prospect of trading Porter at this year’s deadline was “very much in play,” according to Jones and Amick, who note that the Nuggets gave real consideration to including him in a package for Zach LaVine earlier in the season.

We have more on the Nuggets:

  • It remains unclear who will be making the roster decisions in Denver this offseason, since the team fired general manager Calvin Booth near the end of the regular season. League sources tell Jones and Amick of The Athletic that the Nuggets haven’t moved forward with a search for a new general manager yet and there’s an expectation that interim GM Ben Tenzer has a chance to earn the position on a permanent basis, as Marc Stein and Jake Fischer previously reported.
  • After playing through a hamstring strain in Game 7, Gordon told reporters, including Bennett Durando of The Denver Post, that he “knew the risks” of taking the court and acknowledged that he “couldn’t sprint,” but said he was determined to give the team all he had. “There was never a doubt in my mind that I was going to play,” he said. “The only thing that made me doubt playing was the MRI. The MRI told me something worse than what I was feeling.” Interim head coach David Adelman referred to Gordon’s effort as “one of the more incredible things I’ve ever seen,” tweets Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette.
  • Nuggets point guard Russell Westbrook was noncommittal when asked what he plans to do with his 2025/26 player option, as Benedetto relays in another tweet. Even if he wants to remain in Denver, it probably makes sense for Westbrook to turn down that $3.47MM option, since a new minimum deal would pay him $3.63MM.
  • ESPN’s Bobby Marks has published his Nuggets offseason preview in the form of an ESPN.com article as well as a YouTube video. There are some key extension candidates to watch in Denver this summer, according to Marks, who identifies Jokic (veteran extension) and Braun (rookie scale extension) as two players who will be eligible to sign new deals.
  • In case you missed it, Adelman is reportedly considered a strong candidate to have his interim tag removed and become the Nuggets’ full-time head coach.

Adelman Considered Strong Candidate To Remain Nuggets’ Head Coach

In the aftermath of the Nuggets’ blowout loss to the Thunder in Game 7 on Sunday, one of their core players made it clear he wants David Adelman to return as head coach.

“I love DA,” forward Aaron Gordon said, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN. “I hope he’s here next year. I hope he’s our next coach. I hope he gets an entire training camp and a whole offseason to figure out his philosophy. DA’s great. He was excellent for us, and I hope that he’s here next year.”

Adelman was elevated from his assistant coaching job with three games remaining in the season after Michael Malone was fired, along with general manager Calvin Booth, by the team’s ownership. Malone and Booth had a strained relationship due to differences in opinion over the team’s personnel and Malone’s rotation decisions.

Adelman is considered a strong candidate to have the interim tag removed, MacMahon reports. However, team governor Josh Kroenke declined to directly address the head coaching job.

The team’s superstar, Nikola Jokic, indicated that Adelman did an admirable job under trying circumstances.

“You had three games to change something,” Jokic said. “I think he changed energy. I think the guys were woken up a little. Guys had more energy. He made us believe something, and we played good. We played a seven-game series against the best team in the NBA. We had opportunity, we had chances. I think he did a really good job.”

Guard Jamal Murray told the Denver Post’s Bennett Durando that “I think (Adelman) did a great job” noting “the different schemes that we came up with.”

Adelman, who was an assistant with Minnesota and Orlando prior to be hired by Denver in 2017, wouldn’t lobby for the job after team’s 125-93 loss.

“Decision-makers will make that decision,” he said. “Obviously blessed to have this opportunity to take the helm and lead this team. If I’m not back next year, I’ll obviously never forget this. It’s been an incredible experience. To have the buy-in from the guys was really special for me.”

Aaron Gordon Available For Game 7 Despite Grade 2 Hamstring Strain

2:07 pm: Gordon has been listed as available for Game 7 (Twitter link). He’ll get the start and will attempt to play through a hamstring injury that typically takes weeks to heal, tweets Charania.


8:56 am: Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon has been diagnosed with a Grade 2 hamstring strain that will likely prevent him from playing in today’s Game 7 at Oklahoma City, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Gordon is still hoping to be active for the series-deciding contest, but Charania hears that it’s “becoming physically improbable to do so” because he’ll need several weeks to fully recover from the injury.

Gordon, who hurt his hamstring late in Denver’s Game 6 victory, participated in Saturday’s walkthrough in hopes of receiving medical clearance, writes Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. He is listed as questionable on the team’s official injury report and was expected to be a game-time decision.

“Obviously, (team medical staff) will do whatever they have to do for the safety of a person. But yeah, I don’t know,” interim coach David Adelman responded Saturday when asked about Gordon’s chances to play. “I’m sure the hoops (to jump through in order to play) are probably smaller because the game’s coming so quickly. It’s not a thing where he has three weeks to go through it. So it’ll probably be his comfortability along with the medical staff’s advice on what he can and can’t do. … If they say he’s available, he will start.”

Durando reports that Gordon was already dealing with the remnants of a calf strain that has been affecting him all season.

If Gordon doesn’t receive medical clearance, Durando expects either Russell Westbrook or Peyton Watson to take his place in the starting lineup. Adelman prepared for both scenarios during the walkthrough.

“You talk about plays you’re gonna run early in the game, actions to attack people. Some other guys took (Gordon’s) ball-handling responsibilities in case (he’s out),” Adelman said. “We know that’s where Aaron is so underrated and impactful, when he brings the ball up the court. So the other guys have to know those simple actions, but they’re not simple if you’ve never done them. So we walked through a lot of stuff today with different people. … But like I said, the hope is the responsibilities will be Aaron’s.”

Aaron Gordon Will Be Game-Time Decision For Game 7

May 17: Gordon will officially be listed as questionable for Game 7, Nuggets sources tell Tony Jones of The Athletic. The 29-year-old forward will continue to receive treatment leading up to the game in an effort to suit up, Jones adds.

Nuggets head coach David Adelman told reporters on Saturday that Gordon participated in the team’s walk-through and is expected to be a game-time decision on Sunday, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link).

“He fully was part of it,” Adelman said. “The game plan. Both sides of the ball. So if Aaron can play, he will play.”


May 16: Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain, reports ESPN’s Shams Charania. This leaves his availability for Sunday’s Game 7 against the Thunder up in the air.

Gordon has been a crucial piece of the Nuggets’ playoff run, hitting clutch shots in multiple games and playing excellent, versatile defense throughout the postseason. In this series, he is averaging 14.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 45.2% from three.

With Michael Porter Jr. already struggling with a shoulder injury and Jamal Murray needing an IV to replenish his fluids going into Game 6, the Nuggets have dealt with plenty of health-related adversity throughout this series, but if Gordon is unable to suit up, it will be their biggest challenge yet.

Julian Strawther had a big Game 6 for Denver but is undersized to step into a forward role. Peyton Watson has struggled to contribute offensively, but his length and athleticism has provided some good moments on defense. If Gordon is limited, Watson may be called upon to step into a bigger role.

Poll: Who Will Win Thunder/Nuggets Game 7?

The Thunder and Nuggets have played a dramatic, hard-fought series, with neither team able to take a commanding lead. After winning Games 4 and 5, Oklahoma City looked poised to put the series away, but Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Denver’s role players responded in Game 6, forcing a decisive Game 7, which will be played on Sunday at Oklahoma City.

The battle of the MVP candidates has been all anyone could have hoped for through six games. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 28.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game, while Jokic has responded with 29.8 PPG and 14.7 RPG.

Both teams have five players averaging at least 10 points per night, with Denver’s Murray (22.0 PPG) the lone player outside of the top two stars to crack the 20 PPG threshold. While the Thunder have gotten well-rounded contributions, Jalen Williams has struggled as the team’s second option, averaging 16.5 PPG on 33.7% from the field.

Even more concerning for the Thunder are the shooting woes of its top three players. None of Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams, or Chet Holmgren are hitting over 27% from three, though their offense has been bolstered by Alex Caruso knocking down 43.8% of his threes in addition to his typical disruptive defense.

One of the most important factors coming into the game will be the health of Denver’s do-it-all forward Aaron Gordon. Gordon was in and out of the final two minutes of Game 6 after injuring his hamstring trying to save a ball tipped away by Holmgren, an injury that has been diagnosed as a left hamstring strain, leaving his status very much in doubt.

Losing Gordon would be a massive blow to the Nuggets’ chances. In addition to his always-excellent defense, the veteran forward has come up clutch all series. He hit the game-winning shot in Game 1 and had multiple clutch baskets in Game 3, including a three-pointer to send the game to overtime with 28 seconds left in regulation and a mid-range jumper with a minute left in overtime to push the lead to nine points.

Depth has generally favored Oklahoma City, which has gotten positive minutes from Caruso, Cason Wallace, Jaylin Williams, and Aaron Wiggins. However, the Nuggets have found some answers in Christian Braun and, in Game 6, Julian Strawther, whose 15 second-half points were critical to earning the Nuggets some much-needed momentum.

The two teams have managed to play to their strengths for the most part, with the Thunder forcing a 14.3% turnover rate from the Nuggets while Denver maintains a 4% edge in offensive rebounding rate.

The Thunder are the second-youngest team in the league and occasionally that lack of experience has reared its head, with the most glaring example being in Game 1, when they intentionally fouled the Nuggets while up three with Jokic on the bench and no timeouts to get him back in the game. The Nuggets, on the other hand, have the most Game 7 experience over the last 10 years of any team outside of the Celtics.

The Thunder finished 18 games ahead of Denver in the regular season standings and the oddsmakers favor them trying to win at home. According to BetOnline.ag, the Thunder are currently 8.5-point favorites.

We want to know what you think. Will the Thunder be able to hold off the former champion Nuggets, or will Denver’s experience prove too much for the Thunder to overcome?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to make your predictions and share your thoughts!

Nuggets Notes: Murray, Strawther, Adelman

Jamal Murray wasn’t only dealing with the normal adversity of his Nuggets facing an elimination game as he headed into Game 6 at home, writes Bennett Durando of the Denver Post. Murray woke up on game day feeling sick enough that his status was listed as questionable heading into the pivotal face-off against the higher-seeded Thunder.

The severity of the illness required him to receive fluids via an IV drip, according to interim head coach David Adelman.

“There was a high likelihood he may not play,” Adelman said. “And you get the IV in you. You get the meds in you. … I kind of was watching the first six minutes like, ‘Is this real? Can he do it?’ And I thought he had good energy, good juice. There were a couple times he really didn’t want to go back to get the ball because he was so gassed, having a hard time breathing.”

Despite Adelman’s worries, Murray said he was always confident he was going to play, according to Vinny Benedetto of the Denver Gazette. In the end, Denver’s point guard ended up compiling 25 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists as the team won 119-107 to force Game 7 in Oklahoma City.

Everything was kind of bothering me, but kind of once the game starts and the team needs you and adrenaline kicks in, a couple of shots go in or whatever, you just kind of suck it up and get through it,” Murray said, matter-of-factly.

Adelman doesn’t take such things for granted, though. “… That’s Jamal Murray,” the Nuggets coach marveled. “It’s almost like the worse it is, the better off it’s gonna be.”

The star point guard will now have two full days to recover before the winner-takes-all matchup on Sunday.

Here’s more from the Nuggets:

  • Thursday’s must-win victory proved a measure of vindication for recently fired general manager Calvin Booth, writes The Denver Post’s Sean Keeler. Keeler points to the pivotal contributions from two of Booth’s draft picks: Christian Braun, who was taken 21st in the 2022 draft, and Julian Strawther, the 29th pick in 2023. Booth’s insistence on playing the young prospects he drafted, as well as his struggles to retain veteran talent, have been cited as reasons he clashed with former head coach Michael Malone preceding their dismissals — in Game 6, the kids repaid Booth’s faith.
  • Coming into the postseason, Strawther wasn’t sure he’d be part of the Nuggets’ playoff rotation, writes Durando. “The staff was transparent with me: ‘We may or may not need you to stay ready,'” he said, and stay ready he did. His heroics in Game 6, scoring 15 points over 10 minutes in the second half, were critical to the team extending the series. It was his first time scoring in double digits since February. Just as importantly to his coach, he didn’t get exploited on defense. “You want to keep an offensive player out there, but they have to be able to handle their own on the other end. And he did. We didn’t have to change schematically, defensively, because he sat down, moved his feet and guarded,” Adelman said.
  • Nikola Jokic has demonstrated more on-court leadership in the wake of former coach Michael Malone‘s firing, but that doesn’t mean the MVP doesn’t trust the Nuggets’ new coach. “Even when I see something and just ask him a question, he thinks about it. I think we have great communication,” Jokic said when asked about his discussions with Adelman regarding strategy, reports Eurohoops’ Johnny Askounis. That collaboration has helped rejuvenate a Nuggets team that will enter Sunday night with a chance to go to the Western Conference Finals.

2025 NBA Draft Picks By Team

The Nets and Jazz were among the teams who left Monday’s draft lottery disappointed, as Brooklyn slipped two spots to No. 8 while Utah, the NBA’s worst team during the 2024/25 season, ended up at No. 6.

Still, while they won’t be picking as high in the lottery as they might like, the Nets and Jazz will enter this year’s draft armed with plenty of ammunition. Brooklyn controls a league-high five 2025 draft picks, including four first-rounders and an early second-rounder. Utah, meanwhile, is one of just two teams (along with the Magic) controlling four picks in this year’s draft, including a pair of first-rounders.

Four other clubs – the Spurs, Hornets, Wizards, and Thunder – own three picks apiece, so those seven teams combine to control 25 of the 59 selections in the 2025 draft.

In addition to those teams with three or more picks, 12 more clubs own a pair of 2025 draft selections, while another 10 control one apiece. That latter group includes the Mavericks, whose No. 1 overall pick is their only selection in this year’s draft.

That leaves just a single NBA team without a draft pick this year: the Nuggets. Denver traded its 2025 first-rounder to Orlando back in 2021 as part of a package for Aaron Gordon in a deal that has worked out exceedingly well for the 2023 champions and sent out its 2025 second-rounder last offseason in a Reggie Jackson salary-dump. The Nuggets could still trade into this draft, but for now they’re the only team on track to sit it out.

To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2025 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 59 selections by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…


Teams with more than two picks:

  • Brooklyn Nets (5): 8, 19, 26, 27, 36
  • Utah Jazz (4): 5, 21, 43, 53
  • Orlando Magic (4): 16, 25, 46, 57
  • San Antonio Spurs (3): 2, 14, 38
  • Charlotte Hornets (3): 4, 33, 34
  • Washington Wizards (3): 6, 18, 40
  • Oklahoma City Thunder (3): 15, 24, 44

Teams with two picks:

  • Philadelphia 76ers: 3, 35
  • Toronto Raptors: 9, 39
  • Houston Rockets: 10, 59
  • Chicago Bulls: 12, 45
  • Atlanta Hawks: 13, 22
  • Minnesota Timberwolves: 17, 31
  • Indiana Pacers: 23, 54
  • Boston Celtics: 28, 32
  • Phoenix Suns: 29, 52
  • Los Angeles Clippers: 30, 51
  • Memphis Grizzlies: 48, 56
  • Cleveland Cavaliers: 49, 58

Teams with one pick:

  • Dallas Mavericks: 1
  • New Orleans Pelicans: 7
  • Portland Trail Blazers: 11
  • Miami Heat: 20
  • Detroit Pistons: 37
  • Golden State Warriors: 41
  • Sacramento Kings: 42
  • Milwaukee Bucks: 47
  • New York Knicks: 50
  • Los Angeles Lakers: 55

Teams with no picks:

  • Denver Nuggets

Nuggets Notes: Fourth Quarter, Strawther, Murray, Gordon, Jokic

The Nuggets defeated the Thunder in Game 6 in Denver on Thursday, blowing the game open and keeping it out of reach in the fourth quarter. This comes one game after the Nuggets gave away a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter to lose on the road.

Interim coach David Adelman shouldered the blame for the fourth quarter woes in Game 5, per The Denver Post’s Bennett Durando. That game saw Nikola Jokic play the entire second half. This time around, the Nuggets were able to give Jokic some rest — for nearly four minutes of game time — and he was able to come back into the game with a larger lead than when he left.

Part of the reason for Denver’s impressive fourth quarter was the stellar play of Julian Strawther, who scored seven of his 15 points in the final frame.

We have more on the Nuggets:

  • Jamal Murray was listed as questionable to play in Thursday’s game due to an illness, as we relayed earlier today. However, Murray pushed through and recorded 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in 42 minutes of play. After the game, Adelman credited the medical staff for getting him to a point where he could play, per the Denver Gazette’s Vinny Benedetto (Twitter link). “That’s Jamal Murray,” Adelman said. “It’s almost like the worse it is, the better he’s going to be. What a tough-minded man.
  • Aaron Gordon appeared to injure his left hamstring late in the game. According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link), concern about Gordon’s hamstring is “high,” per Adelman, but the team is fortunate to have two days between games to maximize any potential recovery time.
  • Jokic couldn’t care less about his shooting percentages or protecting his counting stats, as MacMahon writes. “Nobody should care about that at this time of the year,” Jokic said. The MVP candidate is putting up half-court heaves at a high rate this series after making a habit of doing so all season. “Most great shooters care about their stats. Bottom line,” Adelman said. “We’ve seen a lot of examples of guys taking shots just as the clock goes off or making that late pass to not take a bad shot. For Nikola to shoot the percentage he shoots and still shoot those shots — because, hey, there’s a chance it goes in and a chance it wins you the game — just shows how unselfish he is in all ways.