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.
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What could have been a very exciting offseason for Golden State Warriors fans has turned into one of dread. They haven’t made any major additions to the roster, aside from a couple of late second-round picks from the Draft, and the Jonathan Kuminga situation has gone from bad to worse. It’s clear that the Congolese baller no longer wants to be part of the Dubs. He wants to be a first or second option, and Head Coach Steve Kerr hasn’t been able to run the team with Kuminga as the centerpiece. The issue, however, has been finding a way out. Kuminga has placed a high value on every trade package, one that other teams have been unwilling to match. As a result, Kuminga hasn’t agreed to a contract that would allow the Warriors to sign-and-trade him, leaving him to explore free agency, an option that likely won’t land him a big payday. Recent reports, however, have linked him to the Sacramento Kings, a franchise the Warriors were previously reluctant to deal with regarding Kuminga. Warriors insider Anthony Slater revealed in an ESPN podcast that Kuminga has had contact with Kings’ General Manager Scott Perry for the first time, and was impressed with what they were offering. “He liked the pitch that Scott Perry gave, and he’s open-minded to the idea of Sacramento,” Slater said. “And I think part of that pitch is, you’re talking starting role, you’re talking bigger opportunity than the Warriors are [giving] necessarily now. And I think that’s the part that shouldn’t get lost in this whole situation.” Slater then emphasized that Kuminga isn’t just chasing money, he’s also looking to be the star in a new team. And the Kings, for now, seem to be the only team that can make that happen. “Kuminga is not just looking for the exact contract he wants and free agency. He’s looking for the opportunity he wants on the court,” Slater concluded. Kuminga was selected seventh overall in the 2021 Draft and played a supporting role in Golden State’s championship win during his rookie season. Expectations were high, but it soon became evident that he wasn’t part of Kerr’s long-term plans. To his credit, Kuminga didn’t shy away from calling the Warriors out in front of the media. It appears the relationship between the two is now beyond repair. A move away, and soon, would be best for both parties, especially for the Warriors, who are looking to clear salary space to make additions ahead of the 2025–26 campaign.
According to some, throw out the idea that the Edmonton Oilers should pursue Max Pacioretty. A veteran forward who has earned over $63 million over the course of his NHL career has yet to sign an NHL contract and was recently mentioned in a post by David Staples as a possible fit. In a recent post, the Journal noted, “All of the top NHL unrestricted free agents have already signed contracts, but there’s one big name player still available that makes good sense for the Edmonton Oilers to pursue.” Responses have been varied, with a few quite vocal about the Oilers not following Staples’ advice. “In what world does this make sense?????” writes a commenter on a recent post for The Hockey Writers. Another commenter wrote, “Pacioretty is a good journeyman player but he is injury prone now, late in his career. Oilers might be lucky to get 40 games out of him. They should look elsewhere instead of taking a chance on Patches.” Tyler Yaremchuk of Oilers Nation chimed in and said, “He scored five goals in 37 games last year with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Can’t stay healthy, very old, very slow.” Yaremchuk then went on a rant, listing several Oilers forwards who would be better than Pacioretty. What About Pacioretty on a PTO? Is there any reason that a team that is looking to get younger and faster, and move out depth pieces that were older and less productive than expected, would revert back to last summer’s strategy? It seems like an odd choice on the surface. Something would have to happen that would make giving Pacioretty a look risk-free. That means only a PTO. Even at that point, should he agree, it would require him to be willing to sign a two-way contract for the league minimum.
Fabrizio Romano confirmed that Sporting CP have agreed the signing of Almeria striker Luis Suarez, who was a transfer target for Sunderland. The journalist explained that the Portuguese club will pay €25m for the 27-year-old Colombian forward, and Almeria will keep a 10% sell-on clause. This way, Sunderland misses out on another of their market targets to strengthen their attack, so they will have to look for other alternatives. This operation is a consequence of a 'domino effect', generated by the almost official, according to Romano, purchase of Viktor Gyokeres (27) by Arsenal. Fabrizio Romano drops huge €25m update on Sunderland transfer target "Sporting CP have agreed deal to sign Luis Javier Suarez from Almeria, here we go!," Romano began writing. "Deal confirmed as exclusively revealed in June. €25m fee package plus 10% sell-on clause," added the journalist, through his Twitter (X) account. This isn't the only complication for Regis Le Bris' team in this transfer window, as another attacking target, Gonzalo Garcia (21), appears to be finally extending his contract with Real Madrid, according to AS reports. "Now Gonzalo threatens Endrick's status and is negotiating a professional contract with Madrid," they explained in the cited outlet, after the mentioned 18-year-old Brazilian forward got injured again. Additionally, the failed signing of Sassuolo's Armand Lauriente (26) also joins the list of 'failures' by the Lads board this summer, specifically in their objective to strengthen the attack. Therefore, we cannot rule out that in the coming days, new rumors will emerge linking other offensive players with Sunderland, because it's clear that Le Bris wants to add talent in that area. Other forwards previously linked with the Black Cats are Nantes' Matthis Abline (22) and OGC Nice's Evann Guessand (24), although there haven't been recent updates. Read More:
As he headed back to his office after the third practice of Green Bay Packers training camp, coach Matt LaFleur probably wasn’t very happy. With new starting center Elgton Jenkins missing practice, shotgun snaps were sometimes an adventure – though not to the extent of Thursday’s practice. There were too many turnovers. And there was too much contact for a noncontact practice. First, the contact. Cornerback Nate Hobbs was the primary culprit. Early in practice, Hobbs knocked receiver Dontayvion Wicks to the ground after a catch. Later, Wicks was open over the middle but was hit in the back by Hobbs, which forced an incompletion but earned Hobbs a conversation with LaFleur. “It happened twice today, but it’s all good,” Wicks said. “We’re football players at the end of the day. We’re going to have to take some hits but it’s cool. I’m good. … “Coach always stresses team first, so he always talks about keeping each other up. That’s the main thing in practice, especially with no pads on. But some stuff happened. It happens. I’ve just got to control emotions and go onto the next play.” For the most part, the offense played relatively clean football during the first two practices. However, on Friday: - Running back Josh Jacobs ran for a first down but had the ball punched out; it appeared Hobbs forced the fumble. Receiver Romeo Doubs was there for the recovery. - On the first play of a 2-minute drill, Malik Willis telegraphed a pass into the flat, which Kalen King almost intercepted. - One play later, Willis was intercepted, though that was due to incidental contact between receiver Julian Hicks and cornerback Carrington Valentine in which Hicks hit the turf and Valentine grabbed the pass. - On the second play of a 2-minute drill, Jordan Love’s pass into the flat was almost intercepted by Xavier McKinney. - On third down in the red zone of a 2-minute drill, with the offense only needing a field goal, Sean Clifford was almost intercepted in the end zone by cornerback Tyron Herring. - During a third-down period, Tucker Kraft caught a pass, split two defenders and picked up the first down, but Javon Bullard forced a fumble that was recovered by McKinney. - During the same third-down period, Willis threw one right to safety Zayne Anderson for an interception on the second-to-last play of the day. Physical mistakes will happen. The hits in a no-pads practice perhaps bothered LaFleur more than anything. As he said before the first practice, “When you don’t have pads on, I told the guys, if we lose one person, that hurts our football team. So, they’ve got to respect each other enough to be able to compete but within the guidelines of how you play football without pads. So, I think that’s always the challenge.” Jordan Love’s Day For a third consecutive day, Jordan Love’s completion percentage was significantly over 50 percent. On Friday, he was 12-of-17. The first two plays of the day showed the full arsenal. First, on play action, he rifled one to the left to Dontayvion Wicks for a gain of about 20. Next, he showed finesse and touch by dropping one over the linebackers to Romeo Doubs, who made a leaping catch for a gain of about 15. Love and the No. 1 offense got two shots in starters vs. starters 2-minute drills. On the first, Xavier McKinney almost made a tremendous interception when he jumped a pass to the flat to Tucker Kraft on second down and Love couldn’t run through the pressure of Kenny Clark and Lukas Van Ness for a sack. While that drive stalled, his second drive found the end zone. Starting once again from the 35 with 1:20 on the clock and one timeout, Love on third-and-5 connected with Kraft in the flat. McKinney quickly made the stop and the ball was initially ruled short of the first down before Kraft was credited for a 5-yard catch. After a checkdown to Emanuel Wilson gained 6, Keisean Nixon was beaten by a step but recovered to break up an underthrown deep shot to Romeo Doubs. That set up a third-and-4 from the defense’s 49 and set the stage for the next segment in the story. Play of the Day: Touchdown to Dontayvion Wicks Jordan Love took the snap and took a couple steps to his left before firing a bomb to Dontayvion Wicks, who was running deep and to the right. With Xavier McKinney the closest defender, Wicks caught the ball near the goal line for a 49-yard touchdown. “We had to get down the field to win the competition,” Wicks said. “We called a play and I knew I had the post. I had a man on me. I released, ran full speed. I knew X was over the top, so I stemmed out a little bit and broke flat across. It was a runaway and J-Love gave me the ball, and I ran under it and that was all from there.” It was the first big win of the summer for the No. 1 offense. “It’s a lot of competition out there, a lot of good guys to go against,” Wicks said. “They always say iron sharpens iron, so going against them guys out there makes it easier for when you get in the game and going against some of the top players in the league. It gives you confidence. “It’s a real confidence boost doing it in practice and preparing for the games. We ain’t got a game till five weeks from here. We’re just trying to get better every day and stack the wins and stacking the chemistry. It’s always good to get some opportunities in practice and capitalizing on them. I think it gets you right and helps with that confidence and boosting that confidence for the games.” Player of the Day: Brandon McManus Kicker Brandon McManus turned 34 on Friday, and he celebrated with a superb display of field-goal kicking. The first 2-minute drive belonged to the No. 2s, which the defense won. The ball was moved forward to the defense’s 33-yard line for McManus to kick a 51-yard field goal, which he converted. After Jordan Love’s first 2-minute drive ended in a sack, the ball again was moved to the 33 for a 51-yard field goal. McManus kicked the ball and audibly reacted as if he had missed. The kick split the uprights, though. Next, Sean Clifford led the No. 3s into scoring position to set up McManus for a 33-yard field goal. After Jordan Love’s touchdown bomb to Wicks, McManus lined up for a 56-yard field goal. He made that one, too, with a few yards to spare. Next up was a field-goal period, with McManus converting from 40, 42 and 44 yards to run his training camp tally to 13-of-13. Packers Injury Updates New injuries: LG Aaron Banks (back), WR Savion Williams (concussion). “Just had a little back issue,” coach Matt LaFleur said of Banks. “Everything checked out all right. I would say it's going to be very day to day.” Old injuries: LB Quay Walker (ankle), receiver Christian Watson (knee), linebacker Collin Oliver (hamstring), running back Amar Johnson (hamstring) and offensive lineman John Williams (back) and center Elgton Jenkins (back). “My hopes are high, for sure,” Watson said. “Honestly, I’ve just been pushing as hard as I can and letting the training staff pull me back from doing stuff. But yeah, every time I’ve gotten to a new block, just getting through it really quick and feeling really good. I haven’t had any setbacks, so I’m just praying that continues.” Returning from injuries: Nobody. Packers Practice Highlights - On his first snap of the day, backup quarterback Malik Willis faked the handoff and ran to the right on a designed keeper. Picking up overpowering blocks by receiver Malik Heath and running back Chris Brooks, Heath sprinted to a significant gain. It will be interesting to see if the Packers have a package of plays for Willis. - On the next play, Willis completed a pass into the flat to Matthew Golden, though Brenton Cox might have had a sack in a live situation. - Speaking of Golden, a jet sweep didn’t go anywhere, due in part to Nate Hobbs’ work against the blockers, but an end-around did, as he took the handoff from Willis, turned on the jets and broke free up the left side. - Rookie seventh-round cornerback Micah Robinson had his first noteworthy play. Sean Clifford booted to his right and hit receiver Sam Brown, but Robinson was there instantly to limit the play to a minimal gain. - During the twos-vs.-twos 2-minute, Willis completed a pass to Mecole Hardman for 10 yards on the first play. After a 7-yard completion to Julian Hicks, Willis went deep to Hicks. Hicks might have gotten his feet tangled up with cornerback Carrington Valentine, who grabbed his second interception of the summer. - During the threes-vs.-threes 2-minute, Sean Clifford got the offense into scoring position. The big play came on the second snap, when Robinson was flagged for pass interference. The penalty was for 29 yards, which was where the ball landed and not where the penalty occurred. Regardless, completions to Cornelius Johnson and Sam Brown were stopped for short gains by Bo Melton and Jamon Johnson, respectively. On third-and-2, Clifford connected with Hicks for 8 yards and a first down to the 15 with 24 seconds remaining. The defense held, though. Clifford had to throw it away on first down and his deep corner route to tight end Ben Sims was caught just out of bounds. On third-and-10, rookie corner Tyron Herring dropped an interception in the end zone. Brandon McManus booted a 33-yard field goal. - Undrafted rookie safety Jonathan Baldwin had his first two noteworthy plays. Early in practice, he stopped a toss to running back Jalen White. Later, during a third-down period, he made a leaping pass breakup. - Keisean Nixon has had a superb start to camp. Romeo Doubs beat him for a sliding catch on a pass from Jordan Love; it was probably the only completion he’s allowed in three days. - For the second consecutive day, center Trey Hill was removed from the lineup for a moment because of a bad snap. - Practice ended with the offense facing second-and-11 (give or take) before a pre-scripted third-and-long. Love was 3-of-3 passing in this period. On third-and-9, Tucker Kraft took a short pass for a first down but Javon Bullard forced a fumble. Next, Love completed a checkdown to Josh Jacobs before hitting Kraft at the sideline on third-and-6 for the first down. Also in that period, Valentine broke up Malik Willis’ 50/50 ball to Matthew Golden on third-and-9, Baldwin broke up Sean Clifford’s pass to Hicks on third-and-8, Zayne Andeson dropped an interception on a pass to Golden on third-and-7 and Herring broke up Taylor Elgersma’s pass to Sam Brown on third-and-7. Added together, the defense won 5-of-6. Packers Lineup Notes - With Elgton Jenkins and Aaron Banks dealing with back injuries, Green Bay’s No. 1 line consisted of Rasheed Walker at left tackle, Jordan Morgan at left guard, Sean Rhyan at center, Jacob Monk at right guard and Zach Tom at right tackle. Monk played some center; Rhyan played some right guard. - The No. 2 line frequently was Anthony Belton at left tackle, Donovan Jennings at left guard, Trey Hill at center, Travis Glover at right guard and Kadeem Telfort at right tackle. - Through three days, the preferred secondary remains Nate Hobbs and Keisean Nixon at cornerback, Javon Bullard in the slot, and Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams at safety. - Kalen King, a seventh-round pick last year who spent all of his rookie season on the practice squad, did get a bit of time with the No. 1 defense as the slot mixed in with Nixon, Hobbs, McKinney and Williams. - Sticking with the secondary, this frequently was the No. 2 group: Carrington Valentine and Kamal Hadden at corner, King in the slot, and Zayne Anderson and Kitan Oladapo at safety. Packers Training Camp Schedule After Tuesday’s workouts and three consecutive days of practice, the players will not practice on Saturday. The Packers will get back to work on Sunday and Monday, with both practices starting at 10:30 a.m. Monday’s practice will be in full pads. Quote of the Day Friday marked Mark Murphy’s final practice as team president and CEO. The moment practice ended, Murphy walked off the field, just as he’d done hundreds of times during his tenure. As he reached Armed Forces Drive, he was surrounded by fans saying thank you, good-bye and asking for autographs. What sticks out about Murphy to coach Matt LaFleur? “For me personally, just the opportunity, and the support that he's given us to allow us to do not only our job, but look at all the resources that the organization has invested back into this team. It's pretty incredible. I've never been a part of anything like this. I mean, the facilities are first class. I would say, how we travel, how we just conduct and operate on a daily basis, has been nothing short of first class.”