(upbeat music) - It's the Lockdown Podcast Network. Your team every day. - Finally, there's a Russell in Denver. Nuggets country, let's ride. You are Lockdown Nuggets, your daily Denver Nuggets podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. - Welcome to Lockdown Nuggets, your daily Denver Nuggets podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thanks for joining us, Megan is your first listen. We appreciate you guys joining us every day, Monday through Friday, checking us out the show, whether you're listening on podcasts where take a second, leave us a five star review, send the show to a friend, promote the show for us, help us spread the good word of Lockdown Nuggets, or if you're joining us at YouTube.com/LockdownNuggets where you can join folks in the live chat hanging out with us on the daily, as we do all these shows live, it's a great way for you to join a community of Nuggets fans, just like yourself on today's show. We'll talk about Russell Westbrook, who's gonna be a Denver Nugget. Finally, finally, finally, the Clippers who went ahead and did a deal with the Utah Jazz and the result of that's gonna be Russell Westbrook joining the Nuggets, we'll talk about that, we'll talk about why Nicola Yolkich wanted Russell Westbrook on this team, not only on court, but because of everything that he brings to the table. We'll talk about whether this is a short term or a big term solution, and we'll talk about just exactly how much of an impact this is gonna have. This will be the Russell Westbrook show. My name is Matt Moore, I'm the senior NBA writer for the Action Network, and co-host here on Lockdown Nugget, you can also catch me on Lockdown NBA on Tuesday. Swipe us off today 'cause it's his birthday, it's his cake day. So hit him up on his YouTube page or on Twitter and let him know that you appreciate everything he brings to our community. Today's show is brought to you, bye, game time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase, terms apply. Okay, lots of folks hanging out with us here in the chat, we'll get into all of your questions and stuff like that. I do not have any answers on why Jalen Pickett left the Summer League game after the second quarter with a 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 line. It may have just been time to go ahead and shut him down for whatever reason. We'll talk about that briefly at the end of the show, but the lead today, the Los Angeles Clippers agreed to a deal sending Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz. Russell once again be bought out by the Utah Jazz. It's nice to the Jazz to facilitate this for us. He's now a two-time member of the Utah Jazz officially on his career sheet with this by having never played a game. So the answer for this is like a friend of mine, a casual friend that doesn't really follow the NBA. I was like, wait, I thought he was going to the Jazz. And I was like, well, he is. But he's gonna be a nugget, yes. But the nuggets are not in Utah, so that's right. And I was like, this is pretty common practice. And just for those of you that might be new, pretty common practice, the guy contract you wanna get rid of, you're up against a cap or a tax. You find a team that's not up against a cap or the tax. You trade in the player along with a pick. And in this case, you get Chris Dunn back 'cause the Jazz wanted to move off of him. And then you buy him out. And so Westbrook will get to be waived. And then the Denver Nuggets will select him off of waivers. So when we talked about how this stuff always, like it just doesn't, whenever it's like, oh, this is gonna happen. Like Russ wants to play with Denver. They're expecting to get him. This stuff just kind of happens that way. And it's very rare that that doesn't go down. And here's another case of that happening. So I'll be very interested to see, do they do a presser for him? Does he come to Denver and do like a whole intro presser? I don't know if I'll be around for it 'cause it might be next week and I'm gonna be on vacation. But if not, the guys, I'm sure will have coverage of that press conference here on the show. Look, I think the way that I wrote about this at the action network, do not think of Russell Westbrook as a Contavia's Caldwell Pope replacement. And to be honest, he's not even really Reggie Jackson replacement. The better way to kind of think of it is that Russell Westbrook is a two years removed or a year removed Bruce Brown replacement. That that's the closest role, right? Bruce is a better shooter. I think Bruce has probably had his apex probably a little bit better, depending on matchup, a little bit better defender than Russ, even though Russ has gotten really good in the later stages of his career. But that same kind of straight up and down north south, get the ball, push pace, get to the rim. That Bruce Brown brought in the playoffs. Russell Westbrook can accommodate that pretty well. The shooting is gonna be frustrating at you at times. Like there will be nights when you're gonna be really frustrated with the amount of jumpers that Russell Westbrook takes. And with how bad he is on those jumpers. Like there will just be a lot of nights where you're just gonna be like, God, the shots are just so killer. They've bugged every single franchise that he's been on, going back to Oklahoma City. He's never been good at him. He always takes him. And I will say this, like he wants that he, if Russ can find a way to actually add that jumper in the later stages of his career, much the same way that Jason Kidd added a three point shot in the last couple of years of his career, after not being a great three point shooter, it fundamentally changes everything about Russ. But the odds are that's not gonna happen, that Russ is not gonna be able to do that. That said, there's a lot of ways in which Russ raises the floor for this team, where there will not be situations in the regular season, in which he is unplayable. I think there will be a lot of playoff situations which he's unplayable. If you sell him a roster, we'll talk about that later. But Russ will pretty much raise the floor just by like competent can, you know, we'll make sure everybody's in line. We'll make sure the offense is where it needs to be. And we'll be aggressive, getting to the rim, getting past the initial point of attack, forcing help. In the minutes in which he plays with Nicola Yokich, which I'm expecting, I have no reason to suspect that Michael Malone is gonna go away from the Jamal Murray stagger. I just don't have any, that's entirely possible that they just handcuffed Jamal and Nicola, which I've said they need to do for some time. But assuming that doesn't happen, and even so, they can't play all their minutes together, there will be times where Yokich shares a floor with Westbrook and those will be really interesting because one of the things I noted in my article is, I think we could talk about when Yokich has the ball and Russell Westbrook's off ball. And he can be a great cutter with his athleticism, timing and feel for the ball. And Yokich can get the most out of him that way. But what's interesting when Russ does have the ball when Yokich is on the court, there are ways in which that means that Yokich may not have to actually have the ball every single possession, which he needed to have whenever it was ready Jackson. So Russ can just run a basic pick and roll with Nicola, and Nicola doesn't necessarily have to be heavily involved in multiple two, three, four actions on every single possession because Russ does know how to generate some looks on his own and kick the ball out, et cetera, and get to the rim. The other thing I think is, I did kind of think about this, the best that Russ has ever played with the center was Stephen Adams, who is not a Vica Zubotch, Daniel Gafford, Clint Capella type big, where it's just like set a pick, roll to the rim, try and get a lob. Adams is much more of runs, DHOs. Adams is a better passer. Adams is a great screener. Now, I'm not trying to compare Stephen Adams and Nicola Yokich because Yokich is way better in every single aspect of the game. But I do think it's interesting that Russ had more success when he had a competent, versatile, more savvy front cart partner to work with rather than some of these other situations in which he's had pretty replacement level of at least of archetype bigs. Like I think Vica Zubotch is a good player, so is Clint Capella, but having those guys, they're very much just like set a pick, roll to the rim, try and dunk the lob. Yokich isn't that. And so maybe there's actually a level to this of which they actually are able to get along a little bit better. And those sequences, you know, work a little bit better. The Russ Jamal Yokich lineup, so I'm gonna be very interested in because it provides you an opportunity for Jamal maybe to work a little bit more off fall and get to his three-point shot a little bit more and not just have to spam two-man action, which got to be a little bit of a problem last year. John says Adams is better at setting picks. He sets harder picks. I'm not sure that he is better than that call. I think they're about pretty even at setting picks. Nelson says if Russ comes in humble, he'll be an all-star again before Murray with Yokich. That is not true. Russell Westbrook is 36 years old, Nelson. He's 36. It has been four seasons since he was an all-star. Russell Westbrook will not be an all-star this season. That will not happen. Get that out of your head right now. There's a lot of ways in which Jamal can benefit from this relationship. Not only with the on-court stuff, but the off-court stuff, but I think it's gonna take an openness from Jamal Murray, which I'm very curious to see if that happens. And that's also part of why I think it's so interesting that Nicola Yokich wanted Russell Westbrook on this team. We'll talk about that up next, plus what it means that Nicola Yokich did go ahead and make this not requests, but made it known that he would like Russell Westbrook to be added to the squad. What does that mean for this addition and the rest of the dynamic? We'll talk about that up next here on "Locked on Nuggets." Today's show is brought to you by Game Time. Download the Game Time app right now. It's a great time for you to get out and see baseball games this summer, and the best way is for you to use Game Time. Game Time's an authorized ticket marketplace of Major League Baseball, which makes getting tickets faster and easier. Prices on the Game Time app actually go down the closer it gets to first pitch. So you can get these last-minute deals, all in prices, views from your seat, and their lowest price guarantee. Game Time takes the guesswork out of buy in Major League Baseball tickets. You can save up to 60% off buying last-minute tickets for sports, concerts, comedy, theater, et cetera. Lots of great comedy shows in Denver as well. I'd like to go get a seat for you in Game Time. 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That's right, you could put it towards some memorabilia, you've had your eye on, or treat yourself to a premium sports network. You earn and discover doubles. See terms at discover.com/creditcard. - Back here on "Locked on Nuggets," thanks for joining us. Appreciate you guys being with us here on a Thursday. Glad to be with you. Sorry that show is late, we had scheduling stuff come up and I've had a lot of stuff going on. Tomorrow, swipe over with you and he'll give you his thoughts on Russell Westbrook. Make sure that you pepper the comment section with questions about how he feels about Chris Dunn going to the Clippers. That was his guy, he really wanted. Nelson says, "Someone remind Matt "that being an All-Stare are still a popularity game." Okay, Nelson, but there's no reason for him to be less more popular now than he was with the Los Angeles Lakers. Get out of here, Nelson, come on now. I think that there's a really interesting dynamic here with Jamal Murray. Hurricane says, "Matt loves all the old guys "except for Russ for Shane." It's not that I don't, look, I loved Russell Westbrook when he was with the Thunder. I thought his first, gosh, five, seven years, seven years were just so phenomenal. He was so underrated. I used to write about him as a serious MVP candidate next to Durant because there were a lot of seasons where I thought he was giving more than KD did. He was phenomenal and I do like veterans and I do think this is an upgrade and I do think it's fine. I just think that that's the whole deal is like it's a 36-year-old backup point guard who is better than their last one. It's fine, it's a pretty good deal. It's totally fine. There will be some stuff that comes with it and that a lot of that has to do with, you know, Russ's attitude. So I do wanna make sure that I'm very clear about the attitude part of this. Russ is not boogie. He is not boogie cousins. One of the things that frustrated me a lot about his Laker tenure and how he got scapegoated by certain individuals and agencies that are associated with the Lakers is that Russell Westbrook is universally lauded as a teammate and a person to be around in every stop he's had except the Lakers when it comes to anything that isn't media. So I will make comments about this because it's part of his public persona, but it doesn't matter. Like it's way more important. The Russell Westbrook is like kind and respectful and a loving and like warm presence and a positive force for the people that deal with him on a day-to-day basis for hours than it is that he does not like spending time with the media for 15 minutes every couple of days. It's way more important. Everyone at OKC loves the guy. Like they just, they speak volumes about how great of a leader he is and how positive he is and how supportive he is. The teammates, the staff members, that he's just like a really great guy to be around. Houston, same deal, the Washington Wizards, same deal, the Clippers, same deal. Now he's constantly moved on because Russ only knows how to really play one way and he's never really adapted and that's reduced his ability to be an impactful player. But I gotta like really stress this, that Russ has a bad reputation for barking with fans and for his interactions in the media. But as far as like how he treats people on the team, it's nothing but positive. I've always heard that. But at the same time, Russ isn't a hyper-competitive as confident as you're going to find individual and he's going to be aggressive in all phases. And he's going to go at the Nuggets from day one in practice and he's going to go at Jamal and he's going to challenge Jamal and he'll challenge Joker and he'll challenge Aaron and he'll challenge Michael Malone. And the Nuggets have not really had that dynamic in the Yokochera. Paul Millsap was a quiet guy. He was a quiet veteran that did the job. They drafted Michael Porter Jr. who has a lot of thoughts on a lot of subjects that he shares on various platforms but isn't like a barking dominant alpha type personality. Aaron Gordon got here and wanted to play, find synergy and play good basketball next to Nacola. And like as always, the team will always take on the personality of the best player and that's Nacola and Nacola is just not one for dramatics, histrionics or for like super aggressive alpha male show boating. Like that's not how he goes through life. I think he's pretty tough dude but that doesn't mean that he's like showing it all the time. Russ is very emphatic and he's going to challenge you and he's going to bark and he's going to do all these types of things. And there's a lot of ways in which I think you can argue the Nuggets could use that and it could be a real positive. I don't think you can say like they really need that because they want a title without it. So I don't think that you could say they need it but it's going to be an interesting dynamic because it can make you better. It can also breed a lot of conflict. If he and Malone butt heads and either one's willing to shift and they're not willing to like find a common ground or work together, that might be a problem. If Russ is constantly challenging Jamal and that doesn't sit well with Jamal as like the franchise cornerstone guy in a con, not a contract here. He'll be have gotten the extension by then. We don't know how that's going to go. I'm not saying it's going to go badly because it could go really great but it's something to really watch. Like this is just like an unknown variable that quite honestly I haven't covered in the Yokochira. I know I haven't covered a personality like this in my entire time with the Nuggets. There has never been a player here since I've been here with that kind of mindset and approach and attitude. Now again, Russ is 36 and he's at a very different point in his career, but I think it's like really going to be interesting to see how that kind of plays out. A lot of questions in the comments about Jamal not signing yet. Again, every expectation is that he's going to get back from the Olympics, they're going to hammer out whatever details they're going to hammer out and they're going to get a contract signed. I don't expect there to be any changes. If there is one, then we'll talk about it then. But the news right now is mostly that like he's, he's going to sign the extension. They're going to figure it out. Now if Jamal is just like, I know stipulations, no conditions, full five years, fully guaranteed, full Supermax, no limitations, no bonus structures, nothing, no partial guarantees, no team option, just the full five and a player option in the fourth year. If those are the case, like that's how it's going to be, I think eventually they'll probably get there, but it might make things might take a little bit more time for the Nuggets to finally cave and get there. But that's to me, I think the Nuggets have already signaled that they're going to resign them. So I don't think there's any question that's going to happen regardless of how people feel about it right now in this particular moment. KM24 says, I feel like they don't want to give Jamal a guaranteed contract because of his performance, these playoffs, they're trying to protect their investment. I don't know that, I don't know that you can look at last year, which was essentially an extension contract year for Jamal and say, well, he's better when you make him prove it. Like he just showed that wasn't true. So maybe giving him the money, he gives him that assurance and then he plays better. And if you go like, well, that can't be true, well, who's that true for? Jalen Brown, like Jalen Brown is a perfect example of this where they gave Jalen Brown the money and then Jalen Brown was better than ever. So I think that's part of the equation here. Chris says, I think Westbrook has grown a lot over the years. I think, look, I think in some ways, I think you're right. I think every player kind of mellows, they get their mid 30s and they start to see the end of their career. And when you have to go to the bench, it's a little bit humbling. Like there's growth, like we all grow through our 20s and 30s and 40s and 50s. Like that's pretty natural. I would just say that there's not a lot of evidence that Russ has like adapted his game to be the best version that he can be in this era. There's still a lot of why not to him. Like that was his whole ethos was why not? Because the whole idea was, why can't I play the game on my terms? Why can't I be this type of person? Why can't I wear these outfits? Why can't I be a superstar who's not good with the media? Like everything was always on Russ's terms. And when you build your entire ethos like that, and that's what led to you being an MVP and consider it a top five player in the league, it's really hard to let go of that idea even as you hit your mid 30s. But if there's a little bit of give on his part, I think that they can be a really good fit here in Denver because this will be the best system I think he's ever played in. I don't think there's been a better offensive system than he's played in here in terms of getting everybody involved. There were great offenses in Houston, but it was built around Hardman. And the Clippers had a lot of firepower, but it was mostly ISO ball with Kawai and PG and Hardin. This is the first time that Russell Westbrook's been part of a team like this. And that's what's going to be really fascinating, I think, to see about it. On the other side, I want to talk about is this like a full season solve? Is this a multi season solve? How long do we kind of expect the Russell Westbrook experience in Denver to last? We'll talk about that up next here on Lockdown Nuggets. Hi, I'm Jake from Lockdown. There's a lot to say when buying a new home or car, but really the first words you want to say are like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. And trust me, as someone named Jake, that is a fact. That's the phrase that will help you feel good knowing that you have people who could help you find the right coverage for the things you want to protect. Insurance doesn't need to be complicated with a State Farm agent. With so many coverage options, it feels good knowing you can find what fits you because your situation is unique. And State Farm is there to help you feel supported with the coverage you need for your car, your home, and even boats, motorcycles, RVs, and other things that matter to you. And when you need ways to get help, don't yell or be angry because State Farm gives you options there too. Any person or on the phone with your local agent or on State Farm.com, or their award-winning app, State Farm lets you do things your way. So when you need help protecting the things that matter most, remember to say like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Final segment here on Lockdown Nuggets, thanks for joining us. Appreciate you guys being with us here on a Thursday night. Really, every time I say that, I really do mean it. I know that I say it every time I'm always talking about thanks for being here. Thanks so much, blah, blah, blah. Like, I'm very grateful for each and every one of you that choose to listen to the show. And also, I appreciate you listening when your favorite person's not on, whether it's Adam or Swipeh. I appreciate that kind of just, whoever the reason is for you loving the show. I appreciate it sincerely. So let's talk about Russell Westbrook as like, how long this is gonna go. I don't think this is a DeAndre Jordan situation where it's like by Christmas, we know it's not working. If it is, then the Nuggets are in real trouble and I don't know what they do. Like panic trades are not really doable with where they have assets assigned right now. Especially given that like the second rounders are now on guaranteed contracts are now looking like non just dead cap space. That's not great after the summer league. That said, even if Russ is a moderate success, because I do, I'm always baffled that people don't really remember things. Like they were pretty recent in just like the latest season. Reggie was really good in November. He was really good in October and November. Like Adam was talking about Reggie Jackson, Six Man. That was a thing. Like I remember those shows. Like that was a real thing that happened. And like, yeah, he played well and they didn't. And he faded and then they moved on. And that's pretty common story in the league. So one of the questions I do kind of have is just like, okay, what if Russ works really well early? But then by the deadline, it's apparent, you know, he's fine, but it's not enough. And you need an upgrade. Is this going to be like a long term solve? Is this like the solve? Maybe it's Julian Strathor. Maybe that's the answer here, you know? Maybe Jalen Pickett surprises everybody in training camp. It just comes in and is a totally different player than he's been in summer league. But the most likely scenario is that like Russ is the guy. And I think that whenever you're in a position of this has to work, you need to probably think about like, what if it doesn't? But again, not to say that it doesn't because I think it's very possible that this is like a great combination and a really awesome story. And that one of the biggest stories of the season is like, look at Russ, how Russell Westbrook reignited his career next in the Kully Yokojim Dever. Like look at how amazing that story is. They got the best out of Russ and Russ brought the best out of them. And it was like a special kind of electric chemistry. But also Russ is 36. And I think it's reasonable to ask whether this is a long term or a short term kind of combination of all things. So I'm just gonna be very interested to see whether this holds to the entire season. If there are mid-season moves, because I continue to believe like, look, I just think that it's likely you're gonna add guys and the roster will be slightly different. Now last year it didn't happen. But the nuggets were just like, nope, got it guys, we're good. You know, and Ryan Blackburn to his credit was like screaming from the heavens and he'd get another guy. Then he'd go out and get the long run and they didn't. So now we'll see whether or not Russ is like that guy. If he's the answer, then that solves one of your problems and maybe you can address another issue that you've got. 'Cause you are gonna have challenges, even if the team is as good as last year, if they're on pace for 57 wins, you're still gonna have challenges that you're gonna have to overcome mid-season. You're gonna have to look at the roster and be like, can we get better for a playoff run? That ultimately, I'll say this is like a very big thing to kind of consider here. I think Russ can work great in the regular season. I think he can be an innings eater and set a tone and, you know, spark something and it can be great. Play-offs are rough. And the nuggets have a lot of guys now that opponents are going to dare to shoot. And we're talking about this on Twitter today and there are folks that believe wholeheartedly that Christian Brown is gonna be a sharpshooter this season, that he's gonna be Ray Allen. And that's fine. You get to have that optimism. I'm not here to douse your optimism, right? I have to talk about things in the most realistic terms of what I expect, but it doesn't mean that the most optimistic outcomes happen all the time in the NBA, all the time. But from the surface level, there's gonna be at least in the beginning a lot of times when if you have Russell Westbrook and Christian Brown and Peyton Watson on the floor, teams are gonna absolutely shrink the paint. They are gonna just absolutely jam the paint and dare Denver to hit threes with questionable three-point shooters. And that's why like defense and transition is gonna be important for that second unit again, because they don't have facilitation to really be able to generate and leverage the defense if they don't have enough spacing around them. Julian Strathier can change that equation. A stagger of potentially Michael Porter Jr. can change that equation, moving Jamal Murray off ball can potentially change that equation. But these are all parts of a solution, not holistic ones because you're still gonna have those challenges. Even if they were to stagger MPJ with a second unit, you would still have a lot of times where MPJ would not be on the floor for those bench minutes. Like Malone's not gonna like stop playing five bench guys entirely. He can play them less than he did last season, right? But you will, in the course of a game, you're gonna get to a lot of different rotations. And there will probably be a couple of minutes where you have at least four bench guys on the floor. And I have a lot of concerns about what that shooting is gonna look like. If Sarwich doesn't take a tick up, that's bad. If Peyton Watson's shot doesn't look better, that's bad. Even if Christian Brown's shooting is improved, I don't think you can just be like, "We'll just plug him in with a second unit and it'll work." He's not that level shooter. So I think that's me is like, I think part of the equation. Premium Water asked if I was in a fight. No, I have kids, so I have a slight eye infection. Premium also says, "We need one more guy and we'll be fine." You're gonna be fine anyway. You have Nicole Yokech, you have Jamal Murray, you have Aaron Gordon, you have Michael Porter Jr. You have a really good roster. You have a really good team. I'm just trying to stress this, that you can have concerns about Denver's upside potential peak ceiling, all of these things, and still feel like they're gonna be fine. Like that's just part of the equation. So that to me, I think is part of it. John Converman says Matt's acting like the nuggets don't have the most coveted assets known as Zeke Najee, Jalen Pickett, and the rights to Richard Jefferson. True story. By the way, nuggets wrapped up Summer League tonight. Another good game from Trey Alexander, he played really well in the game versus the Pacers. The Pacers were so bad, they were so bad. Jalen Pickett left in the second quarter. I'm gonna imagine there's probably some sort of injury that kind of cramped up, but we'll see if there's any sort of official news on him, and we'll try and get to those conversations if there's any sort of thing to happen. Chase says PY has a good relationship with Russ, not surprised at that. California guys tend to have those kind of dynamics sticking together. Matthew Bryant says, "Melona's never really butted heads with guys who play poorly if they're playing hard at the same time." So I'm not talking about if he's playing badly. That's not the equation here, Matthew Bryant. The formula here is that Russ is just gonna challenge everybody. He's one of the most competitive lunatic dudes in the league. So I would just be on the lookout for how that dynamic plays out, 'cause Malone's hyper-competitive as well. And sometimes those guys vibe, sometimes they don't. We'll see how that kind of shakes out. OK, that's gonna do it for lockdown nuggets. Appreciate you guys being with us here on a Thursday. So I'll be able to move you tomorrow to get your his thoughts on Russell Westbrook. Adam will give his thoughts on the show on Friday's edition. You can catch that more. We'll cover all the latest in Endeavour nuggets news. Appreciate you guys being with us. Hope you guys enjoy the new Denver Nuggets Russell Westbrook experience. And we'll see you guys again next time on lockdown nuggets. [MUSIC PLAYING] A PRIME MEMBERS, you can listen to this lock-down podcast ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. music app today.
