Jamal Murray

Jamal Murray Cleared To Return For Nuggets

April 11th, 2025 at 7:28pm CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets guard Jamal Murray, who has been out since March 26 with a right hamstring injury, is available to play in Friday’s game vs. Memphis, the team announced (via Twitter).

Murray is expected to be on a minutes restriction in his first game back, tweets Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette.

Having Murray back in the lineup should be a big boost for a Nuggets team that lost four of the six games he has missed in the past two weeks. A win over the Grizzlies on Friday, combined with a loss by either the Clippers, Warriors, or Timberwolves, would clinch a playoff spot for Denver, as we detailed earlier today.

Before he was let go from his position as the Nuggets’ head coach, Michael Malone expressed uncertainty about Murray’s return timeline, telling reporters that “hopefully” Denver would have its second-leading scorer back by the playoffs. It’s unclear if Murray will suit up on Sunday – that may depend on tonight’s outcome – but it appears he should be available for the start of the postseason, barring some sort of setback.

Murray got off to a slow start this season, averaging just 17.8 points per game with a .420/.333/.803 shooting line in his first 17 games, but he has turned things around since then. In his past 48 contests, he has averaged 23.0 PPG on .493/.417/.919 shooting.

Latest On Nuggets’ Dismissals Of Calvin Booth, Michael Malone

April 10th, 2025 at 9:45am CST by Dana Gauruder

Team officials and players had grown weary of the disconnect between Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth and head coach Michael Malone. That, plus a desire to audition top assistant David Adelman for the head coaching job, led to the dismissals of both Booth and Malone, The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Tony Jones report.

Booth wanted to fire Malone as the team struggled down the stretch but knew he no longer had the power to make that bold move because of his contract situation. In the last year of his deal after failing to sign extension with ownership, Booth figured he would have to wait until after the playoffs to dismiss Malone, depending upon how the team performed.

Instead, owner Stan Kroenke and team president Josh Kroenke chose to part with both of them. The Kroenkes had made previous efforts to repair the relationship between Booth and Malone to no avail and ultimately decided to get rid of the negativity that was affecting the team. The team’s most important players, including Nikola Jokic, had grown frustrated and weary by Malone’s fiery approach.

Having replaced Malone shortly before the regular season ended, Adelman will have a chance to show whether he should have the interim tag removed after the postseason. Adelman has the support of the team’s regulars due to his steady and calm demeanor.

The ownership group is also aware that Adelman, whose contract is expiring, could have other head coaching opportunities. The Trail Blazers are likely to pursue him if they decide to fire Chauncey Billups, league sources tell Amick and Jones.

Here’s more from The Athletic’s in-depth reporting:

It’s expected that the Kroenkes will mull a possible reunion with Tim Connelly, the former Nuggets GM who took over as the Timberwolves’ top exec in May 2022. Connelly has an opt-out in his contract for this summer. However, it’s believed that the Timberwolves’ new owners, Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore, will try to retain him. If the Nuggets can’t pry away Connelly, they could instead make a run at Minnesota GM Matt Lloyd.
Malone had more input on personnel decisions when Connelly ran the show. Once Booth took over, Malone had much less influence and that irked the head coach. Booth had considered firing Malone prior to the team’s 2023 championship run.
Booth had extensive discussions with the Kroenkes heading into the season but chose not to sign what he believed was a below-market offer. However, Booth believed that an extension was a mere formality. The Kroenkes pulled their offer when the club got off to a mediocre start.
As previously reported, Booth wanted Malone to give more minutes to the younger guys that he drafted, particularly Jalen Pickett and Peyton Watson. After the team was eliminated by Minnesota last season, Booth thought Malone should have expanded the rotation during the regular season to keep the top players fresher, while Malone thought Booth should have given him a more well-rounded roster.
Booth’s offseason decisions to give Zeke Nnaji a four-year contract and sign Dario Saric further strained the relationship. Malone hasn’t used either player in the rotation in recent months. Malone’s decision to stick with Russell Westbrook, another offseason pickup, over Pickett also caused considerable friction.
Westbrook’s future with the organization, even if he picks up his $3.4MM option, is uncertain. Adelman was quicker to sub out Westbrook for Pickett during the team’s win over the Kings on Wednesday. Jamal Murray is expected to return from his hamstring injury on Friday.

Nuggets Notes: Adelman, Malone, Booth, Murray

April 9th, 2025 at 9:50pm CST by Arthur Hill

Interim coach David Adelman talked about improving the “overall vibe” around the Nuggets as he met with the media before Wednesday’s game at Sacramento, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (Twitter link). Adelman also cited the need for players “to start to rely on each other in a more positive way. And constructive criticism is good, but I think there’s gotta be a better way to communicate with our group. And that I think will lead to better play.”

Adelman is in a difficult spot as he takes over a team locked in a tight playoff race with three games left in the regular season. Denver could wind up anywhere from third to eighth in the conference standings, so it’s urgent to pick up wins tonight against the Kings, Friday at home against Memphis, and Sunday at Houston.

Adelman also acknowledged former head coach Michael Malone, who amassed 471 victories in nearly 10 seasons with the Nuggets before being dismissed on Tuesday along with general manager Calvin Booth (Twitter link).

“Best coach in (franchise) history,” Adelman said. “Can’t argue it. Percentage-wise. Wins. Finals championship. … The national narrative, whatever it is, I look at it as a hell of a run. And he’s not done.”

Adelman told reporters that vice chairman Josh Kroenke met with the players after the decision to fire Malone and Booth was announced (Twitter link). According to Adelman, Kroenke’s message was, “To be concise: ‘Be better.'”

There’s more on the Nuggets:

Booth deserved to be fired after letting the trade deadline pass without a major addition, but Malone should have been treated better, contends Troy Renck of The Denver Post. Renck argues that if Malone had been in charge of personnel, he never would have let Bruce Brown or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope leave in free agency. Renck also points out that Malone gave opportunities to the young talent that Booth drafted, but only Christian Braun has emerged as a dependable rotation player.
Booth’s mistakes included gambling on Jamal Murray‘s health by giving him a four-year max extension last offseason, writes Sean Keeler of The Denver Post. Murray was a vital part of the 2023 championship team, but he missed the previous two postseasons with a torn ACL and his status for this year’s playoffs is uncertain due to inflammation in his right hamstring.
Giannis Sfairopoulos, head coach of Crvena Zvezda in Belgrade, talked to George Adamopoulos of Eurohoops about getting an offer to become an assistant with the Nuggets when Malone took over the team in 2015. “If I agreed, maybe I would still be there,” Sfairopoulos said. “But that’s not the point. The point is it was bad timing.”

More Details On Nuggets’ Decision To Fire Malone, Booth

April 9th, 2025 at 3:37pm CST by Rory Maher

While the timing of the Nuggets‘ firings of head coach Michael Malone and Calvin Booth was certainly surprising, team president Josh Kroenke and his father, owner Stan Kroenke, had decided “days earlier” to move on from both when the season ended, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. A season-worst four-game losing streak — and the possibility of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2018 — accelerated that timeline.

Malone and Booth continually butted heads over lineup and roster decisions since Denver won its first title in 2023, resulting in a culture in which “coaches don’t trust the front office and front office (employees) don’t trust the coaches,” as one source told Durando.

According to Durando’s sources, part of the impetus behind ownership’s decision to fire the winningest coach in team history was that “multiple key players” began tuning out Malone’s messaging, something he seemed to allude to last month after a loss in Portland.

“They’re not going to go back and watch their minutes, because nobody watches their minutes,” Malone said at the time. “Nobody watches film. So we’ll have to show them the film.”

The bickering between Malone and Booth only got worse over time.

“It wasn’t fun to be around that environment,” another source told The Post. “Everyone was waiting for an endpoint.”

Here’s more on the dismissals of Malone and Booth:

Malone was frustrated both privately and publicly about the Nuggets’ defensive regression, but their decline on that end of the court also factored into the organization’s frustration with its coach, according to Durando. After having the eighth-ranked defense last season, Denver has fallen to 20th in 2024/25.
Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports also hears the tension between the coach and GM “began to mount” during Denver’s late-season skid, with Booth making lineup suggestions that Malone disagreed with and which he did not take “kindly.” Booth was also critical of Malone’s coaching and usage of Jamal Murray, league sources tell Goodwill. Booth wanted Malone to push Murray more defensively and play him fewer minutes — he’s averaging a career-high 36.3 MPG and is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury which might jeopardize his postseason availability.
League sources told Yahoo Sports in January that Malone was likely to resign from his position after the season due to his poor relationship with Booth. Malone was reportedly under contract through 2027, while Booth was on an expiring deal.
Harrison Wind and Brendan Vogt of DNVR Sports (subscriber link) discuss why the Nuggets chose to fire Malone and Booth, and why the team made the decision with only three regular season games remaining on its schedule.
Durando of The Denver Post lists five candidates to replace Booth as general manager, including assistant GM Tommy Balcetis, who has been with the franchise since 2013.
In a similar story for The Post, Luca Evans lists 10 candidates to replace Malone, including interim head coach David Adelman, a longtime assistant. Frank Vogel and Taylor Jenkins are among the other coaches listed.
How did opposing head coaches react to Malone’s firing? Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press has the story and quotes.
The timing of the decision to fire Malone and Booth was “rude, crude and disrespectful,” according to Mark Kiszla of The Denver Gazette, but he contends it was overdue, since their broken relationship was wasting the prime of Nikola Jokic, who is having one of the best individual seasons in NBA history.
Mark Medina of RG.org views the situation differently, arguing that ownership is ultimately “at the heart” of the disconnect between the coaching staff and front office.

Jamal Murray’s Postseason Availability In Jeopardy?

April 6th, 2025 at 7:18pm CST by Rory Maher

Nuggets guard Jamal Murray missed his fifth straight game on Sunday against Indiana. Speaking to reporters prior to the game, head coach Michael Malone discussed Murray’s injury, which the team has described as right hamstring inflammation, as Bennett Durando of The Denver Post relays.

“Jamal’s hurt. It’s not careful. He’s hurt,” Malone said when asked how careful the team is being with Murray by withholding him from games. “So there’s a big difference. Careful is if a guy can play and you want to be smart. We’re not in a situation to do that. There are six teams vying for four (playoff) spots. So if Jamal Murray is not out there, it’s not careful. It’s because he literally just is not able to play at the moment.”

A few weeks ago, it seemed like the Nuggets would be a lock to clinch a top-six seed and a guaranteed playoff spot in the Western Conference. But they have gone just 5-8 over their past 13 games, including losing three straight. The standings are so tight that Denver is one game back of the No. 3 seed while also being one game ahead of the No. 8 seed, Durando notes.

Murray has initially been listed as questionable before being ruled out in recent games, but it doesn’t sound like his return is imminent. Malone admitted he wasn’t sure if Denver’s second-leading scorer would be active for the start of a first-round series if the Nuggets make the playoffs. Presumably that would apply to a potential play-in tournament appearance as well, which would take place prior to the playoffs.

“Hopefully he’s able to be back by (the playoffs),” Malone said. “This has been a weird one. It was day-to-day, day-to-day, and then next thing you know, it’s not day-to-day.”

The Nuggets actually have a winning record (8-5) without Murray this season, but they’re a much better team when he’s on the court than when he’s not. He has averaged 21.6 points, 6.0 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 36.3 minutes per contest across 65 appearances in 2024/25, with a shooting slash line of .476/.396/.887.

As Durando observes, Murray was hampered by injuries during last year’s playoff run and during last summer’s Olympics. The 28-year-old signed a four-year, maximum-salary extension before ’24/25 began and is under contract through 2029.

Second-year guard Jalen Pickett received his third start of the season on Sunday in place of Murray.

Nuggets Notes: Pickett, Jokic, Kerr, Westbrook

April 5th, 2025 at 2:59pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jalen Pickett has received extensive playing time for the Nuggets in the first three games of the month. Pickett is averaging 11.3 points, 6.0 assists and 5.3 assists in 30.3 minutes per night and hasn’t committed a turnover in two of those three contests. “He’s proven himself to be trustworthy,” coach Michael Malone told Bennett Durando of the Denver Post.

Pickett, a second-round pick in 2023, signed a four-year contract in July of that year.

We have more on the Nuggets:

While Nikola Jokic is considered an offensive superstar, advanced stats suggest he has quietly become an elite defender as well, ESPN’s Chris Herring and Tim MacMahon write. They note that Jokic has finished first in defensive box plus-minus, which measures a player’s box-score defensive impact and value to his team per 100 possessions, for the past three seasons. He’s within striking distance of doing it again. “He knew that if they wanted to win at a high level and become a champion, he couldn’t be a liability. Now he’s become a strength on that side of the floor and learned how to anchor a defense,” Warriors forward Draymond Green said. “He literally willed himself to become better on defense.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr has high praise for Jokic, Eurohoops.net relays. “It’s unfair to compare eras, but he’s the best center I’ve ever seen. For one year, I’ve played against Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], I’ve watched him obviously. Kareem couldn’t do all this stuff,” Kerr said. “And again, eras dictate a lot of that. We’re in the modern era, and we’re watching a guy who’s doing things that nobody has ever done before. It goes so far beyond the skill level, it’s the competitiveness, the intelligence: he’s absolutely one of the smartest players ever, and you see it in so many different ways.”
With Jamal Murray sidelined once again due to a hamstring injury, Russell Westbrook had a rough outing in a loss to the Warriors on Friday night, Durando points out. He shot 2-for-9 from the field and committed four turnovers in 20 minutes.
Westbrook made a couple of late mistakes that proved costly in a double-overtime loss to Minnesota on Tuesday night. The Athletic’s Tony Jones describes why the Nuggets need the best version of the veteran guard to make a deep playoff run this season.

Northwest Notes: Avdija, Walker, Nuggets, Jokic, Ingles

March 22nd, 2025 at 10:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija is enjoying the best scoring stretch of his career, writes Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian. Avdija posted a season-high 36 points in Friday’s win over Denver, bringing him to 162 over the last six games. He was a productive scorer during his first four NBA seasons in Washington, but he has raised his game since being traded to Portland last summer.

“I don’t think I’ve played like this before,” he said. “I think I knew I had it in me. But I’m not really thinking about it. I’m just playing. I’m just free. I love playing around the guys. I love making plays. I love being on the court with our team, regardless of how I score or how much I score.”

Avdija is among the reasons Portland has become a surprise contender for the final play-in spot in the West. Not only is he scoring at a career-best rate of 15.9 PPG, he’s also pushing the ball up-court and setting up teammates, averaging 5.7 assists during those same six games.

“His play-making is getting better,” coach Chauncey Billups said. “He actually cares about play-making. He’s learning and learning and learning about his guys. They’re learning him.”

There’s more from the Northwest Division:

Jabari Walker, who missed the past four games while in concussion protocol, is listed as questionable for the Trail Blazers‘ meeting with Boston on Sunday, tweets Sean Highkin of Rose Garden Report. Anfernee Simons and Donovan Clingan, who sat out Friday’s game due to illness, are also questionable.
The defensive issues that have been plaguing the Nuggets were on display again Friday at Portland, observes Troy Renck of The Denver Post. They surrendered 128 points to a Blazers team that was missing its leading scorer and fell to 8-8 since the All-Star break. Renck adds that losing Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the last two offseasons has left coach Michael Malone with no answers for certain matchup problems.
Nuggets star Nikola Jokic will miss his fourth straight game Sunday in Houston with a left ankle impingement, according to Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Post (Twitter link). Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun are all probable.
Joe Ingles hasn’t played much this season, but Timberwolves coach Chris Finch put him in the starting lineup on Friday so his eight-year-old autistic son could watch him play, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Jacob Ingles was recently able to sit through his first game without sensory overload, and Finch wanted to do something to honor the family. “This is the stuff,” Ingles said, “I’ll remember forever.”

Injury Updates: Jokic, Murray, Hachimura, Giddey, Ball, Robinson

March 19th, 2025 at 9:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Nuggets are missing Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray for Wednesday’s matchup with the Lakers, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. Both players also sat out Monday’s win at Golden State.

Jokic has a left ankle impingement as well as a contusion on his right elbow. Murray is dealing with a sprained right ankle and had difficulty moving during a session with assistant coach John Beckett more than two hours before the game, according to MacMahon.

During a pregame meeting with the media before the final determinations were made, coach Michael Malone said, “you listen to your body,” adding that he trusts the players and training staff to make the right decisions. He reacted angrily to a suggestion that the Nuggets are intentionally resting their best players.

“I think that’s just a bunch of bulls–t,” Malone said. “I mean, in the last 10 years, Nikola Jokic has played the second most games in the NBA. Ten years. And the guys in that top 10, none of them are superstars. So if Nikola is not playing, it’s not because he’s sitting. It’s not because he needs rest. It’s because he’s hurt and he’s trying to play through things that most wouldn’t. We’re at a point right now where we have to do what’s best for not just Nikola, but for all our guys, as we move forward and try to close out this season.”

There’s more injury news to pass along:

Lakers forward Rui Hachimura is sitting out his eighth straight game tonight due to tendinopathy in his left knee, but coach J.J. Redick said he’s making progress and is considered day-to-day, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN (Twitter link). Hachimura has been taking part in three-on-three scrimmages and participated in warm-ups before tonight’s contest.
Bulls guard Josh Giddey, who had been sidelined since March 10 with a sprained right ankle, is making his return in Wednesday’s game at Phoenix. Coach Billy Donovan plans to give Giddey his normal workload of 30-32 minutes and said he may play again Thursday at Sacramento, tweets K.C. Johnson of Chicago Sports Network.
Lonzo Ball didn’t accompany the Bulls on their six-game road trip, but he has started shooting with his injured wrist, Johnson adds (Twitter link). Donovan said Ball, who sprained the wrist in late February, still has a long road toward recovery.
Knicks center Mitchell Robinson remains on a minutes restriction after returning last month from ankle surgery, but coach Tom Thibodeau views it as more of a guideline than a definite policy, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link). Thibodeau said the limit is around 24 minutes, which is what Robinson played Monday night, but he’s willing to extend it depending on how his center feels.

Nuggets Notes: Malone, Defense, Gordon, Westbrook, Jokic, Murray, Braun

March 18th, 2025 at 8:42pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Head coach Michael Malone believes the Nuggets will have an abbreviated stay in the postseason if they don’t improve defensively, according to Bennett Durando of the Denver Post.

“If we’re going to be a team that is serious about making the postseason and being a team that can win a round, win another round,” Malone said, “if we don’t start defending for four quarters, we’re never gonna get that opportunity.”

The Nuggets are averaging the third-most points in the league. However, they rank in the bottom 10 — 24th overall — in points allowed at 116.7 per game. They’re in the middle of the pack in defensive field goal percentage and 21st in defensive three-point percentage. They’re also in the bottom 10 in turnovers forced.

We have more on the Nuggets:

Their outing on Monday was encouraging. The Nuggets sat three starters — Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Christian Braun — but still ended the Warriors’ winning streak with a 114-105 victory. Aaron Gordon poured in a season-high 38 points and Russell Westbrook was solid all-around with 12 points, 11 rebounds, 16 assists and three steals. Malone had high praise for the veteran guard afterward, Tim MacMahon of ESPN relays. “I felt from the get-go Russ’ tenacity, his intensity, what he brings every single night,” Malone said. “Just being a leader in the huddles, getting on guys, uplifting guys, whatever is needed at the time. That’s why Russ has been such a great addition to us all season long.” Westbrook could be a free agent after the season — he holds a modest $3.47MM option on his contract for next season.
The Nuggets have banked 44 victories but they’ve been in a win-one, lose-one rut most of this month. In the last three games, they sandwiched victories over the Lakers and Warriors with a home loss to the lottery-bound Wizards. “I think the entire season has pretty much been like this,” Jokic told Tony Jones of The Athletic. “We kind of don’t know what team is going to go out there. Some nights have been good, and some nights have been bad. I think the good thing is that we have actually won most of the games.”
Gordon is listed as probable to play against the Lakers on Wednesday due to right calf injury management and a left ankle sprain, the team’s PR department tweets. Jokic (right elbow contusion/left ankle impingement), Murray (right ankle sprain) and Braun (left foot inflammation) are all listed as questionable.

Nuggets Notes: Gordon, Murray, Watson, Rest

March 15th, 2025 at 10:50am CST by Rory Maher

Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon was able to return to action on Friday following a two-game absence, but the right calf injury he has been battling for much of the season continues to cast a murky cloud as the postseason nears, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. Gordon, who has also been dealing with a left ankle sprain recently, has missed a total of 27 games thus far in 2024/25.

“You’ve gotta remember, and I think about this all the time, there’s a big difference between, ‘Hey, Aaron can go out there and play,’ and, ‘He can go out there and play effectively,'” head coach Michael Malone said. “So I think most of the times when he’s not available to play, it’s because — calf strain, ankle, whatever it may be — it’s been, ‘I can’t go out there and do my job.’

“Obviously, we know what Aaron means to this team. And every chance he’s had a chance to play, he’s played really well for us. But it’s just been a very up-and-down season in terms of availability, and that’s been really frustrating for him.”

Gordon was a game-high plus-16 in Friday’s victory, finishing with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and a block in 31 minutes.

Here’s more on the Nuggets:

Durando describes Friday’s comeback victory over Los Angeles as an “awful night” for the Nuggets, who needed another Jamal Murray game-winner to emerge victorious against a Lakers team missing LeBron James, Luka Doncic, Dorian Finney-Smith, Rui Hachimura and Jaxson Hayes. Three of the last seven meetings between the two teams have been capped off by game-winning shots from Murray, Durando notes. “This isn’t a beauty pageant,” Malone said. “We don’t get rated on our wins. It’s a win.”
Third-year forward Peyton Watson struggled in his limited playing time during Sunday’s loss at Oklahoma City, but he enacted revenge by scoring 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting and playing strong defense in Monday’s victory over the Thunder, according to Durando of The Denver Post. “I was fired up to play today,” Watson said after the game. “I knew I was going to get another chance. And this is how I respond to things like this, when I’m being challenged by my coach or my team.”
Malone talked extensively after last year’s playoffs about trying to find ways to get his rotation regulars more rest ahead of another potential postseason push in 2025. However, with only two games separating Denver, Houston, Memphis and the Lakers as they jockey for positioning behind the top-seeded Thunder, Malone said finding an ideal balance between rest and winning will be “really hard, if not impossible,” as Vinny Benedetto of The Denver Gazette relays (via Twitter).

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