Denver Nuggets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Christmas Day Schedule Includes Thunder-Spurs, Rockets-Lakers

August 8th, 2025 at 6:00pm CST by Eli Cohen

The NBA’s highly anticipated Christmas Day schedule has been revealed, courtesy of ESPN’s Shams Charania (via Twitter). The five-game slate is heavy on Western Conference powerhouses, with just one game coming from the Eastern Conference, in a matchup of what is expected to be the top two teams in the Cavaliers and Knicks.

This will be the first Christmas Day game for the Cavaliers in the post-LeBron James era, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Their last December 25 game came in 2017.

Following the Eastern Conference matchup, the Spurs will travel to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder, as Victor Wembanyama squares off against Chet Holmgren, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Jalen Williams.

Kevin Durant and the Rockets will then duel LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and the Lakers in a clash of teams balancing championship aspirations with their Hall-of-Fame veterans and younger future-facing casts. The Rockets last played a Christmas Day game in 2019, writes Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle.

The final two matchups of the night will see the Mavericks face off against the Warriors, and finally, the Timberwolves going up against the retooled Nuggets in a battle of Northwest Division powerhouses.

As Marc Stein notes (via Twitter), between the Christmas Day schedule and the reported opening night schedule, the league has chosen not to highlight a Mavericks-Lakers matchup on either of these two anticipated dates. Instead, Stein reports (via Twitter), the battle of Doncic’s current and former teams will likely occur at the end of November during the NBA Cup.

As Law Murray of the Athletic notes (via Twitter), only three teams that won at least 49 games last season aren’t featured on the Christmas Day slate. Those teams are the Celtics and Pacers, who are expected to take a step back as their stars (Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton) recover from Achilles tears, and the Clippers, who will not play on Christmas for the fifth year in a row.

Nuggets’ G League Affiliate Makes Several Leadership Changes

August 6th, 2025 at 4:06pm CST by Rory Maher

Former NBA forward Ryan Bowen, who has been an assistant coach with the Nuggets for the past decade (and 12 seasons overall), will be the new head coach of the Grand Rapids Gold, Denver’s NBA G League affiliate announced in a press release.

“Ryan brings a championship mindset, years of experience, and a deep connection to the Nuggets system,” said Gold president Steve Jbara. “We’re thrilled to welcome him to Grand Rapids and can’t wait to see the impact he’ll make on our players and our community.”

Bennett Durando of The Denver Post reported last month that Bowen would be transitioning to the new job. He will replace another former NBA veteran, Andre Miller, who coached the Gold for the past three seasons. According to Durando’s source, Miller is “leaving on his own terms to pursue other coaching opportunities.”

The press release also announced three additional changes to Denver’s organization:

Longtime scout and assistant coach Chad Iske has been named the Gold’s general manager, as first reported by Durando. Iske will also be the Nuggets’ vice president of pro personnel.
Nihal Kolur, who has been a basketball operations associate with the Nuggets since 2022, will be the Gold’s assistant GM and the Nuggets’ director of strategy. Kolur specializes in the CBA, salary cap and roster building.
Matthew Tynes has been named the Gold’s director of operations and scouting. Tynes has been a basketball operations assistant for the past two years.

Nikola Jokic's Love Of Horse Racing May Motivate Him To Keep Playing

August 2nd, 2025 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

There have been suggestions that Nikola Jokic‘s passion for training racehorses might cause him to leave the NBA early, but Troy Renck of The Denver Post predicts it will have the opposite effect. The Nuggets center was overcome with emotion after one of his horses won a race last weekend (Twitter video link), becoming more demonstrative than when he led his team to the NBA title in 2023. However, Renck points out that there’s not much money in Serbian horse racing and states that Jokic will likely keep playing as long as he can to help finance his stable.

Latest From Stein, Fischer: Paul, Smart, Thomas, Kuminga

July 28th, 2025 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Chris Paul returned to Los Angeles and signed with the Clippers on a one-year deal last week. Paul showed strong interest in playing for one of his other former teams before making his decision, according to the latest Substack article from Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.

The other team that Paul considered rejoining was the Suns. The team’s star, Devin Booker, was intrigued by the potential reunion, given how they meshed during Phoenix’s run to the 2021 NBA Finals. There was also seemingly a spot for Paul at the point, since Tyus Jones chose to sign with Orlando.

The Suns’ front office decided to go in another direction. Phoenix was much more interested in defensive stalwart Marcus Smart, who chose to sign with the Lakers after reaching a buyout with Washington. Phoenix’s brass also had some concerns how the future Hall of Famer’s presence might create some awkward situations for first-year head coach Jordan Ott.

The Suns wound up claiming Jordan Goodwin off waivers and signing Jared Butler to a non-guaranteed contract. Paul also drew interest from the Hornets, Mavericks and Bucks, as previously reported.

Citing a source, Stein said Dallas had D’Angelo Russell higher on its wish list than Paul. The Mavs’ brass believed Russell would be more comfortable in a complementary role once Kyrie Irving returns from his knee ailment. They also felt Russell was a better fit with Anthony Davis, considering they had played together with the Lakers. Russell signed a two-year deal with the Mavs.

Here’s more nuggets from The Stein Line:

The Hawks considered absorbing Smart’s contract into its $25MM traded player exception prior to his buyout. Atlanta opted instead to acquire Kristaps Porziņgis and make a sign-and-trade transaction for Nickeil Alexander-Walker. The Bucks explored potential trades for Smart and the Heat‘s Andrew Wiggins with the aid of Pat Connaughton‘s expiring $9.4MM contract. They instead dealt him to Charlotte for two future second-round picks.
Fischer reiterates that the Nets’ offers to restricted free agent Cam Thomas have yet to exceed two-year proposals featuring an annual average value in the range of the league’s $14.1MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception. Those offers also include a team option for the second year. Brooklyn appears to be in no rush to ramp up negotiations with Thomas’ representation, given Thomas’ lack of leverage.
Regarding another prominent restricted free agent, Jonathan Kuminga has not gotten an offer from the Warriors close to his reported $30MM annual asking price. The Warriors’ best offers to Kuminga have topped out in the two-year, $40MM range, per Stein. As previously reported, the Kings and Suns are regarded as the top suitors but Golden State wants a first-round pick in any sign-and-trade deal. Phoenix is unable to offer a first-rounder.

And-Ones: Spagnolo, Storylines, Offseason Grades, Givony

July 28th, 2025 at 8:32pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Matteo Spagnolo, whose NBA rights are held by the Timberwolves, will continue his EuroLeague career in Spain, having signed a three-year deal with Baskonia, according to Donatas Urbonas of BasketNews.com.

Minnesota selected Spagnolo with the 50th overall pick of the 2022 draft. The point guard’s contract with Baskonia includes NBA exit clauses, per Urbonas.

Spagnolo is coming off a second EuroLeague season with ALBA Berlin, for whom he averaged 9.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in 21.0 minutes per game. He played for the Timberwolves’ Summer League team the year he was drafted but hasn’t since participated in any NBA contest.

Here’s more from around the international basketball world:

What are the big storylines still hovering over the NBA this offseason? ESPN’s Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks examine that topic, citing Jonathan Kuminga‘s restricted free agency, Luka Doncic‘s extension talks and Russell Westbrook‘s free agency among the issues that have yet to be resolved.
The Hawks, Nuggets, Rockets get the highest marks from ESPN’s Kevin Pelton for their offseason moves. Pelton hands out grades for every team in the league, with the Pelicans receiving an F for their transactions.
Draft expert Jonathan Givony has left ESPN after an eight-year stint with the network, he announced on his Twitter page. ESPN offered him an extension but Givony declined, stating “we were unable to find alignment on my value to the company.” He will continue to analyze the draft as well as college, high school, and international basketball for the company he founded, DraftExpress.

Barkley Likes Their Offseason Moves

July 28th, 2025 at 3:57pm CST by Rory Maher

The Nuggets have had a busy offseason, trading Michael Porter Jr. and a 2032 first-round pick to acquire Cameron Johnson (and roster-building flexibility); trading Dario Saric for Jonas Valanciunas; and adding Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr. in free agency. Longtime analyst and former NBA star Charles Barkley is a fan of the moves they made, he told Sean Keeler of The Denver Post. “I think (the Nuggets) and the Houston Rockets have probably had the best summers (in the NBA),” Barkley said. “And (the Nuggets), they’ve got the best player in the world (in Nikola Jokic). They just needed some more depth. They kind of broke the team up after they won the first championship (2023), and that’s really unfortunate. (They’ve) still got the best player. You want to give them as many opportunities as possible. But I thought they had a great summer.”

Nikola Jokic Headlines Serbia’s Preliminary EuroBasket Roster

July 28th, 2025 at 8:32am CST by Luke Adams

As expected, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is among the 17 players listed on Serbia’s preliminary roster for this year’s EuroBasket tournament, the Basketball Federation of Serbia announced in a press release (hat tip to BasketNews.com).

Jokic is one of a handful of NBA players on the Serbian roster, along with Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, Thunder guard Nikola Topic, Heat forward Nikola Jovic, and Wizards center Tristan Vukcevic.

There are also several other players in the group who have previous NBA experience, such as Vasilije Micic, Marko Guduric, Filip Petrusev, and Alen Smailagic.

The Serbian national team is convening on Monday to begin training for EuroBasket and will play a series of exhibition games in August leading up to the event, which tips off on August 27.

The Serbians will face Estonia, Portugal, Latvia, the Czech Republic, and Turkey in the EuroBasket’s group phase. The field is made up of four groups of six teams apiece, with 16 of the 24 total clubs advancing to the knockout round of the tournament.

It will be the second straight summer in which Jokic has represented Serbia in an international competition — he led the team to a bronze medal finish at the Olympics in Paris in 2024. However, the Serbians were eliminated in the round of 16 by Italy in the most recent EuroBasket tournament in 2022, despite 32 point and 13 rebounds from Jokic in that game.

Nikola Jokic’s Agent Suggests LeBron James To Denver In 2026

July 27th, 2025 at 8:59am CST by Arthur Hill

A boat trip is sparking speculation that two of the NBA’s biggest names could eventually team up with the Nuggets, according to BasketNews.

In an Instagram post on Saturday, Misko Raznatovic, the longtime agent for Nikola Jokic, shared photos of himself with LeBron James and Maverick Carter, James’ business partner, in St. Tropez. Raznatovic added the caption, “The summer of 2025 is the perfect time to make big plans for the fall of 2026! @kingjames @mavcarter.”

Speculation has been building that James could be on the move — whether it’s during the upcoming season or next summer — ever since he picked up his $52.6MM player option. That decision was accompanied by a statement from his agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, who said the 40-year-old star still wants to compete for championships and would be monitoring the Lakers‘ offseason moves.

The Cavaliers, Mavericks, Warriors and Knicks are among the teams that have been mentioned as future homes for James, but the Nuggets also make sense from a competitive standpoint. James is coming off a second team All-NBA season, and partnering him with Jokic could significantly bolster Denver’s title chances.

The Nuggets couldn’t afford to give James another $50MM contract with Jokic ($59MM) and Jamal Murray ($50.1MM) already on their books for 2026/27 and beyond. Aaron Gordon ($32MM) and Cameron Johnson ($23MM) will also limit the Nuggets’ financial flexibility, but James might be willing to accept a smaller salary to join a team that would give him a chance to win a fifth ring.

There seems to be a growing sense around the league that this will be James’ final season with the Lakers as the team focuses on building around Luka Doncic and prioritizes cap space for the summer of 2027. James has been an All-NBA selection in each of his seven seasons since coming to L.A. in 2019 and delivered a title in 2020.

And-Ones: Jefferson, ESPN, Vancouver, Expansion, 2024 Moves

July 22nd, 2025 at 11:38am CST by Luke Adams

Richard Jefferson has reached an agreement to return to ESPN (and ABC) for next season and is expected to remain on the network’s top broadcast team with Mike Breen, reports Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. However, Doris Burke‘s spot alongside Jefferson and Breen on that team remains up in the air, Marchand adds.

Jefferson reportedly drew interest from Amazon Prime Video before agreeing to remain with ESPN.

If ESPN does decide to replace Burke, Tim Legler is the leading candidate to replace her on the network’s top broadcasting team, according to Marchand, though he says that a two-person booth is also a possibility.

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

The Raptors and Nuggets will play a preseason game in Vancouver, B.C. on October 6 as part of the league’s Canada Series, the NBA announced today in a press release. It will be a busy week or two for Vancouver in terms of NBA activity, with the Mavericks also said to be holding their training camp in the city. The Raptors announced today that their training camp will take place in Calgary, Alberta, so it won’t be a long flight to Vancouver for them.
While NBA owners may not be eager to expand the league beyond its current 30 teams immediately, there’s still a sense that it will happen sooner or later, according to John Hollinger of The Athletic. As Hollinger explains, the NBA’s European league project is a bigger priority at the moment and the league likely also wants to get its local TV situation worked out before expanding.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN revisits the biggest offseason moves from 2024 in order to reevaluate the grades he gave them a year ago. In some cases, that meant a major readjustment downward — the Pelicans originally got a B-plus grade for their Dejounte Murray trade, for example, and now get an F. However, other moves look much better than did a year ago, including the Trail Blazers‘ acquisition of Deni Avdija, which Pelton bumped from a C-plus to an A-minus.

Nuggets Sign Curtis Jones To Two-Way Deal

July 21st, 2025 at 3:12pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

July 21: The Nuggets have officially signed Jones to a two-way contract, per NBA.com’s transaction log.

July 20: Undrafted free agent former Iowa State guard Curtis Jones has agreed to a two-way deal with the Nuggets, his NEXT Sports agent Austin Walton tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

As Charania notes, Jones’ Summer League performance for Denver’s Summer League squad clearly inspired the signing. The 6’4″ swingman notched averages of 14.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.6 blocks in just 20.2 minutes per game, with shooting averages of 54.9% from the floor and 46.7% on three-pointers.

Jones spent his first two NCAA seasons with Buffalo, which included a 2023 All-MAC honor, before transferring to Iowa State. Last year, he was named the Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year and to the All-Big 12 first team for his play. In 34 bouts, he averaged 17.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG, and 2.3 APG, with shooting splits of .430/.374/.845.

Reporting after last month’s draft indicated that Jones had agreed to sign with Denver, but no further details were provided at that time, so it was presumed to be a training camp agreement. His strong Summer League showing lined him up to join Tamar Bates and Spencer Jones as the Nuggets’ two-way players.