- The Nuggets can’t afford to be patient with the disappointing play of Emmanuel Mudiay for much longer if the team hopes to show improvement in the win column this season, Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post writes. “Let’s be honest, if there’s a situation where [Mudiay] is not playing well, or anybody else is not playing well, we have the depth to make changes,” coach Michael Malone said. “We want to win games. A big part of last year was culture and development. This year … if we’re healthy, we feel it needs to be about winning, as well, to get our fans back and to feel good about the direction we’re heading in.”
Nuggets coach Mike Malone believes the addition of Alonzo Gee brings “defensive versatility”, Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post writes. “I’ve been a fan of him from afar for many years,” Malone said. The team signed Gee on Tuesday.
WEDNESDAY, 10:55 am: The Nuggets officially announced the signing of Gee on their Twitter feed.
TUESDAY, 6:54 pm: The Nuggets are finalizing a deal to add Alonzo Gee to the team, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (Twitter link). Denver has only 14 players on the books after waiving Jarnell Stokes earlier today.
Gee spent last season with the Pelicans and nearly made New Orleans’ roster this year before being waived right before the season started. He’s previously played for Denver during the 2014/15 season, though he was traded mid-season to the Blazers in the Aaron Afflalo deal.
Wing depth is an area of concern for the Nuggets. Will Barton remains sidelined because of an ankle injury and his absence has led to Jameer Nelson playing alongside Emmanuel Mudiay in the starting lineup. Earlier today, we learned that Denver could be without Gary Harris for up to four weeks because of a foot injury.
Nuggets starting shooting guard Gary Harris could be sidelined up to four weeks with a foot injury, Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post tweets.
Harris apparently suffered the injury in a loss to the Pistons on Saturday night. He had 13 points and four assists in 28 minutes against Detroit but missed the 112-105 loss to the Trail Blazers the following evening. The Michigan State product sat out the first four games this season while recovering from a groin injury.
He was averaging 10.8 points and 2.4 assists over five games. Harris started all 76 games he played last season, averaging 12.3 points and 1.9 assists while shooting a healthy 46.9% from the field and 35.4% on 3-point attempts.
Denver’s backcourt is already depleted with Will Barton missing the last seven games because of an ankle injury. Jameer Nelson started against Portland, while rookie Jamal Murray played 28 minutes off the bench.
The Nuggets waived power forward Jarnell Stokes on Tuesday, an indication that they may sign another guard to get them through Harris’ absence.
The Nuggets have waived forward Jarnell Stokes, league sources informed Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post (Twitter link). Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com confirms the transaction in a tweet.
Stokes, who missed the last two games with a foot injury, appeared in just two games this season and played a total of seven minutes. The 6’9” power forward appeared in 21 games with the Grizzlies over the last two seasons and another handful with the Heat. He has averaged 2.4 points and 1.4 rebounds in 5.4 minutes in 28 career games.
He was signed by Denver in September to a two-year contract and received $150K in guarantee money. His $980K salary for this season would have been fully guaranteed if he had remained on the roster through January 10th.
The University of Tennessee product was originally drafted by the Jazz with the No. 35 overall pick in 2014.
- Nuggets coach Michael Malone credits Nikola Jokic for being willing to accept a reserve role to help make the team better, according to Harrison Wind of BSNDenver. Malone tried juggling his lineup as Denver fell to 3-6 Saturday, starting Kenneth Faried and moving Jokic to the bench. “Nikola Jokic is probably the most selfless player on our team,” Malone said. “He’s a guy that even came to me, says ‘Coach I don’t want to start anymore. I just want to win.’ He’s one of the few guys on our team, that if I can pull him out of the starting lineup, he’s not going to be upset and pout. And I give him a lot of credit and respect for that.”
- The Nuggets have resisted multiple trade overtures for Danilo Gallinari over the last two years, sources tell Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, who suggests that Denver is well positioned to package a handful of players and/or picks for an All-Star. O’Connor envisions John Wall as an ideal target for the Nuggets, though he acknowledges that there are no indications the Wizards point guard is available.
According to Bobby Marks of The Vertical, there are 33 players around the NBA who can potentially earn incentive bonuses this season based on their own durability or performance, or based on how their team performs. Although Marks doesn’t identify all 33 players who have incentives included in their 2016/17 contracts, he discusses over half of them, passing along a number of interesting tidbits about those potential bonuses. Here are some of the highlights:
Minutes/games played bonuses:
NBA bonuses are deemed either “likely” or “unlikely,” using the previous season’s statistics as a benchmark, so if a player didn’t appear in many games during the previous year, a team can include a games-played benchmark and call it an unlikely incentive. For instance, John Henson‘s contract with the Bucks features incentives if he plays 60 games or 75 games this season. He appeared in just 57 contests in 2015/16, so neither of those marks is viewed as likely.
Miles Plumlee (Bucks), Luis Scola (Nets), Greivis Vasquez (Nets), and Deron Williams (Mavericks) are among the other players who have incentives in their deals for games played or started.
Individual statistic bonuses:
The Trail Blazers got creative with Maurice Harkless‘ new contract this summer, including an incentive bonus in the deal that can be triggered based if he keeps his three-point percentage above a certain level. Jeremy Lin, meanwhile, not only has a three-point percentage incentive, but also has bonuses linked to assists, turnovers, and threes and free throws attempted per 36 minutes.
Individual achievement bonuses:
Players like Bismack Biyombo (Magic), Evan Fournier (Magic), and Will Barton (Nuggets) have incentives related to their individual performances as well, but they’re related to awards and honors, rather than raw statistics. Biyombo gets a bonus if he makes the NBA’s All-Defensive team, Fournier gets some extra money for an All-Star appearance, and Barton would get $250K if he wins the Sixth Man of the Year award.
Of course, some of these incentives are more realistic than others. For instance, Thaddeus Young (Pacers) probably shouldn’t be counting on the $500K incentive bonus that he’d earn if he wins the league’s MVP award.
Team performance bonuses:
Several players, including Fournier, Jon Leuer (Pistons), and Joe Ingles (Jazz) have bonuses related to their teams making the playoffs. Many of those postseason incentives are tied to another condition. For example, for Taj Gibson to earn his bonus from the Bulls, he must appear in at least 60 games, play in at least 75% of Chicago’s playoff games, and average 25 or more minutes per game during the regular season.
Some players also have incentives linked to their teams’ win total, and once again, some are more attainable than others. For example, Nikola Mirotic could earn an extra $800K, but he’d need the Bulls to win 65+ games, so there’s a good chance his shot at that bonus will disappear about halfway through the season.
Be sure to check out the full breakdown from Marks for many more details on players who could earn incentive bonuses in 2016/17.
- Nuggets coach Michael Malone is relieved to have Gary Harris back in the lineup, relays Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. The third-year guard, who started 76 games last season, returned to the court Saturday. He had been out of action with a groin strain he suffered in Denver’s first preseason game. “If we can have Gary Harris out there for 15 or 20 minutes I think that helps us,” Malone said of easing him back into the linup. “Whether he starts or comes off the bench, it doesn’t really matter because of his ability to play both ends of the floor.”
Pablo Prigioni, who was waived by Houston on Monday, is drawing interest from a team in Spain, according to Orazio Cauchi of Sportando. The 39-year-old point guard has an offer from Barcelona that he is reportedly considering. Prigioni played for the Knicks, Clippers and Rockets in four NBA seasons.
There’s more NBA-related news tonight:
- Former NBA guard Marquis Teague has been released by his Israeli team, tweets international basketball writer David Pick. The younger brother of Pacers guard Jeff Teague, Marquis Teague played 88 games for the Bulls and Nets but has been out of the league for the past two seasons.
- Ex-NBA players Jeremy Evans and Robbie Hummel have signed with Khimki Moscow, Pick reports (Twitter link). Evans, who was waived by the Pacers last week, had a guaranteed $1,227,286 contract. Hummel had a $150K guarantee from the Nuggets, who released him last week.
- Three recently waived players were part of a D-League trade today, reports Chris Reichert of The Step Back (Twitter link). The Northern Arizona Suns dealt Xavier Munford, Cory Jefferson and Alec Brown to the Greensboro Swarm in exchange for three draft picks. Munford, a 24-year-old shooting guard, was released by the Clippers, Jefferson was cut by the Cavaliers and Brown was waived by the Suns.