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So naturally, when they announced they'd be raising their prices due to inflation, we decided to deflate our prices due to not hating you. That's right, we're cutting the price of Mint Unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Try at mintmobile.com/switch. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] What is up everybody? Thank you all for joining me on the latest more cast part of the CSG network. I am, of course, your host, Jeff Morton. We just today had the, what do you call it, the end of season press conference that was only three people, I have a hard time defining these things because it's a lot different from when I was there every day covering the team. They used to bring out the players, they used to be able to talk to the players and used to be able to, in fact, when I first started used to be able to go in the locker room as they were emptying their lockers and talk to them. And now we just get Michael Malone, Calvin Booth and Josh Cronkey, but I'm going to talk about their press conference today. And I'm going to talk about what they said and how there was some acknowledgement that they need to be aligned, some differences that were notable and some acknowledgement that it's not about them, it's about Nicole Oakich. But I'll get to that in a second. But first I want to talk to you about Bet online. Bet online is your number one source for the NBA, NHL playoffs this season. Every stat, every matchup and even live odds while the games are being played. When the game's over, head on over to our online casino and Bet get in on the game of Blackjack or poker, unwind with one of our 150 slots games. Now this is really truly like one of those one-stop-shop things. I keep saying this every time I read about Bet online, but it's true, it's everything. And not every place is going to have everything available. 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I may be a little controversial with that one, but I'll get that and probably at the very end of the podcast. The first reaction I have is what happened at the very beginning was Michael Malone talking about needing to be unified. The word of the week has been aligned through various people and articles and one that I wrote. And DenverStiffs.com. But he's a word unified, he can be unified. And Calvin Booth did admit there are times that they haven't been, which is obvious to everyone who has watched the Nuggets this year. But Michael Malone did point out two things I want to go into, and he's going to be the first section then I'll go into Calvin Booth. He pointed out how he basically acknowledged that he did drive the guys too much. He played the starters too much and I think what's another thing that is obviously obvious to everyone. But I have never seen in the nine years I've been covering Michael Malone, I've never seen his kind of almost a chased acknowledgement that he, I wouldn't call it sheepish, but he was like, he was admitting that he played a part in how the starters basically completely ran out of gas. And if we're honest with ourselves, the starters ran out of gas in both game six and in game seven. Paper over it because they had two days off in between game six and game seven, but there was a definite drop in energy from game six. And it's not coincidental that it's that they just hit a brick wall. And a lot of that had to do with what they did from the all-star break to the playoff games. And specifically, and Sandy's club pointed this out today, playing the Lakers, that was a grueling series for the Nuggets. Because the Nuggets obviously didn't come in with a lot of energy. And to be honest with you, it tells you something about the Lakers that the Nuggets were able to kind of half energy their way through that playoff series and win in five games. So if I was the Los Angeles Lakers, I would be very, very, very worried about my future considering that happened. But more than that, the Nuggets, they won three games in the middle of the series and they came into game six and just looked like they were hit by a truck. They had nothing. And that carried over into the second half of game seven. They just didn't look like they had it in the tank. And that has, there was a lot of systemic things that go into that, but a lot of it had to do with Michael Malone chasing the number one seed. And in the pursuit of that number one seed, overplaying his starters, which is something that we're seeing in the Western Conference right now, how the seeding hasn't really mattered. And this has been something that has been true for a long time now. The seeding has not mattered. Be it from the Lakers as an eight seed, making it to the, or the seven seed, I think in last year, making it to the, or you know, they're eight, making it to the Western Conference Finals, be it this year where it's a three seed and a five seed in the Western Conference Finals. Obviously, home court hasn't managed, hasn't been the thing that has been the deciding factor here, it has been the team that is probably the healthiest, which is really what the nuggets were last year. They were the healthiest team and they were the freshest team coming into it. So obviously there was a lot that led to this point. And the second thing I want to talk about with Michael Malone is him acknowledging Michael Porter Jr. I do think that rightfully so, the fans who have talked about MPJ are doing so in a, we need to do something kind of way. And I think the heart's in the right way in place. I think there is some scapegoatism going on when basically everyone, including Jamal, who was largely atrocious for most of that series, kind of avoids scapegoating. It's MPJ for some reason that gets the lion's share. But Michael Malone pointed out that it was MPJ that was the, one of the reasons that the nuggets were able to beat the Lakers. The only person other than the Coley Oakich, who was able to muster up the red was it energy to really go in and do what it takes to beat the Lakers in five games other than Jamal Murray's two last second shots. And if we are honest with each other, Jamal had a terrible playoffs. I mean, he had his two game winners, but he had a terrible playoffs. And I think there is a lot that goes into the nuggets and what they are able to do through this, the playoffs and what they were able to accomplish through the year was papered over by the fact that they were playing their starters more minutes than anyone, anyone but one team this year. And if you are thibbit-dowing your team, there is going to be a problem in the playoffs. There is a reason Tom Thibbito's teams don't progress very far because they are worn out. Starters play a lot and that's what happened to the nuggets this year. And I think there was an acknowledgement from Calvin Booth that he played a perfector in this. And coming to MPJ, MPJ played 81 games this year and he pointed that out. He was very complimentary of them like a quarter of June. I mean, there could be reasons for that, but I think in his heart was in the right place. Because of the probably, I would say, overwrought complaints that Mike's been getting, but it's natural that this would happen. To be honest with you, I will go back to my last podcast. I think he's the only piece that you could even think about moving to even get anything back because Jamal, I think, is damaged at this point, extremely damaged. And to believe it or not, I don't think MPJ's as damaged as Jamal is right now who is coming into contract extension talks, which is part of the thing. He also talked about KCP and keeping him and all that stuff. There's a lot that went into this pressure today. I want to talk about Calvin Booth for a sec. I do not, and I want to stress this to people, I do not really know Calvin Booth. I have met him many times. He has been with the organization since 2018. I have known him since then, but I don't know him well. The people over in other media outlets know him significantly better than I do. I know Tommy Bell said it's pretty well, but I don't really know Cal. But I do think that from what I have seen from these press conferences, he's very fond of his draft picks. And I think that comes across, and when he talks about Julian Strouther, and he talks about Christian Brown, and it's the new GM thing. They really like their guys. But the thing is, I'm really curious to see how the Nuggets approach this year, because at someone pointed out on Twitter, David Walker pointed this out on Twitter and wanted to give him a shout out. The Nuggets was very specifically Calvin Booth said he didn't want to do avoid having one year rental guys, basically veterans on veteran minimums come in and who leave when they get a better contract. David Walker pointed out where they got Bruce Brown on a steal and you want a championship. And I think that kind of gets lost in the shuffle here. I don't know if that's any of that's ever available, but there is this notion that you need to keep the pipeline up with all these rookies. And I said this on Sandy and Sean's show today on Mile High Sports. You can only keep adding rookies so much to a veteran roster. There's a finite amount of time that Nicola Yolkich has. And I don't know if you can keep plugging in more and more and more rookies into this and still maintain a competitive thing. People have brought up the Derek Lively thing with Dallas Mavericks. I mean, Derek Lively was surrounded by veterans and the Dallas Mavericks also made a huge trade in the middle of the season to amplify Luca Donchich. I mean, there's a lot of factors in Derek Lively and I think that is the Christian Brown lesson. He was surrounded by veterans. It wasn't just him out there with Peyton Watson, with Colin Gillespie, with Julian Strother, a bench unit that is completely young, trying to win a championship. The coaches are going to have struggled with that and I think Calvin has struggled with that. I think he likes his draft picks. I like he likes his approach, but he is very fond of them. And I think he is struggling with adapting to this. I think he understands that this you need to be able to maximize Nicola Yolkich. And he's very wedded to the draft pick approach, which makes them not making a move at the deadline even more head scratching because obviously it was clear by the deadline that this thing wasn't working and the young guys weren't playing and in order to heighten your depth, you need to do something. But at the same time, what are the nuggets going to trade as someone would rightfully point out. They're having a hard time signing Contabies Caldwell Pope right now. So I get that. Someone who is screaming at their podcast catcher right now at me, I understand what you're saying. I get it. I'm just saying. Okay. So in second half of the podcast, I'm going to talk about Josh Cronky and his commitment to Nicola Yolkich, which was really the top line thing that he said today, other than the stuff about the CBA. And I'm going to talk to you a little bit about the Western Commerce finals, which we saw game one last night and I kind of want to have a conversation about the Minnesota Timberwolves and maybe there's some forest for the tree stuff going on there. So anyway, we'll get to that in the second half of the podcast. Passion drive and patience. The formula for winning championships is also what keeps your rider die alive. eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to peak performance. Superchargers, roof racks, exhaust kits, LED headlights and more. Whether you're into speed, power or style, eBay Motors has you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one rider die, you're always find exactly what you're looking for. And with eBay guaranteed fit, your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money back because with eBay Motors, you're burning rubber, not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want. It's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins. Keep your rider die alive at ebaymotors.com. Eligible items only, exclusions apply, see ebaymotors.com. Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. At Mint Mobile, we like to do the opposite of what Big Wireless does. They charge you a lot, we charge you a little. So naturally, when they announced they'd be raising their prices due to inflation, we decided to deflate our prices due to not hating you. That's right, we're cutting the price of Mint Unlimited from $30 a month to just $15 a month. Go to try at mintmobile.com/switch. $45 up front for three months plus taxes and fees, promoting for new customers for limited time. Unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month slows. Full turns at mintmobile.com. As a proud military-friendly school, National University can help you find your calling. With more than 190 degrees, certificates, and credentials to choose from, and support for military spouses like you, it's no surprise that 25 percent of NU students are service members, veterans, spouses, and dependents, earning a degree is a commitment. At NU, you're never alone. Our dedicated military support teams and advisors are with you every step of the way. Learn more at nu.edu. What's next? At Moss Adams, that question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading, accounting, consulting, and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry-focused insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance, uncover opportunity, and move upward at MossAtoms.com. So Josh Karky talked about. There was a lot of things they would tell you. There was a lot of business-oriented stuff they talked with Josh about in the presser. You know, the CBA, the changes. Everything that has gone on. And Josh did talk about how these contracts that the NU get signed to Nicole Yokich, Jamal Murray, and MPJ were signed under a different CBA. Now there's a little fudging going on there. There was a person involved and who knows what's going on with negotiations and stuff like that with the CBA, and that's Josh Karky. He knows what's going on. He knows what's coming down the pike. The NBA is not very good at surprising. Everything they do, they telegraph, so everyone knew. And so let's not be surprised. No one was surprised by what was happening with the CBA. The NBA, under Adam Silver, wants parity. And it's manufactured parity due to contract restrictions. It is what it is. It's the way the NBA is. Now we're going to have a six different champion in the last six years. So obviously this is part of the deal, and there's a lot of onerous restrictions, specifically in the second apron. If you go into the super tax area, and obviously there's just the NBA is trying to discourage you from doing a Golden State Warriors thing, which where they were just throwing money at a roster and keeping it together. So sorry, just got a drink. So Josh Karky talked about that. I mean, there was a lot of discussion about that. They also talked about keeping KCP and things along that lines. But he also did speak about it being hard, but they need to basically have a commitment to Nicole O'Kitch and do everything they could possibly do for Nicole O'Kitch. And if you, anyone read my article that I wrote on Devrestose.com. I talked about how the Nuggets needed to reorient themselves to our Nicole O'Kitch. I do think they kind of got away with it this year, away from it. They got away from Nicole O'Kitch. They got away from maximizing their superstar. And I think there was some, I'm not going to say completely because I'm not sure about Calvin Booth. And some of that is probably due to the way Calvin Booth talks. He's very dry. So sometimes you don't get a real sense of things, but I think there was some sense that they let Nicole O'Kitch down this last year, particularly with how he was played and how he was playing, you know, being made to play a lot of minutes down the stretch. And he was definitely no player in that starting unit, aside from Michael Porter Jr., to be honest with you, was really looking fresh in that Lakers series. And they all looked dog tired against the Minnesota Timberwolves. And those things were part of parcel to this whole thing. But Josh Cronkey admitting this was big because even up till last year, there wasn't this, we got to do everything because we have a superstar and there's a finite amount of time that we have with them. You know, I point this out in my article, I keep mentioning that, I'm sorry. I don't write that often, so I got to keep flogging this thing. I pointed out that the nuggets had completely lost the plot when it comes to maximizing Nicole O'Kitch. A lot of the things that were done today were due to the sake of either getting regular season wins or trying to develop a back end of the roster. You know, I pointed this out on Sandy and Shawn's show today, that there is 18 roster spots, three roster spots go to two-way contracts that were never going to play. And then there's another six that went through to first and second year players. That is a lot. That is a lot. And then as I pointed out in the first part of the podcast, they got two more draft picks this year. Like you're reaching critical mass with this, you're reaching critical mass with the amount of rookies you're going to be able to sustain on a roster without just becoming a mediocre developing team than once it's rookies to develop. Honestly, you're really reaching critical mass, even though you have Nicole O'Kitch on it. And I don't know what the nuggets are going to do. Because it was pointed out by many, many different people, the nuggets are kind of stuck. You know, and I don't like to put it that simply, but the nuggets are kind of stuck because of not going to say the contracts they signed, but due to the model that everyone else was following at the time and things changed. So you're not going to be able. Now there's some differences coming down the pike. And I'm going to talk about this in the next podcast in a couple of days. Look for this on Saturday. I'm going to kind of devote all the Saturday podcasts to business stuff, NBA business stuff. So you got to look that forward to look forward to that. And on Saturday, I'm going to be talking about the new media deal that's coming down the pike. A lot of the hand ringing going on about inside the NBA, which is no one's fault, but Turner. And I'm going to talk about this effect on the NBA's salary cap, which is going to spike 10% basically. And that's not going to be consistent, but it's going to be around that every year. For 10 years, and this sort of thing is going to have a fundamental change about the way we view contracts. I'm going to get to that later. But Josh Cronkey, even though he did acknowledge all the difficulties, he did say we have to maintain a great beat. We have to be aggressive because we owe it to Nicole, you'll get you can't do another year where you kind of just say, we're going to we're going to punt. And that was one of Calvin Booth's fundamental problems. And I think sometimes I don't think he means it in the ways that it comes across in print. I think as much as I do, like I said, I'm not, I don't know Calvin Booth as well as say the people over at D and we are. I will say he does struggle to communicate and I do don't think he intended for it to be a wet fart when he said that it's not about repeating. I think he meant to say we need to be more sustainable in a new CBA. And it just came across like, well, you know, we're so smart, we're going to be able to do this blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that was the ringer interview he did in before the season started. But Josh Kranke saying that they owe it to Nicole Yokech was I think the probably should be the top line takeaway of this because that's the first time the nuggets have really acknowledged that especially the nuggets brass has acknowledged that it's not about them. It's about Nicole Yokech and I've been saying this consistently and over and over since the season ended. They lost sight of who matters and the person who matters is your superstar. This is the freakin NBA. It doesn't matter what CBA changes you put in. It's the straw that stirs the drink is your superstar and as much as people don't like that sort of thing, it's the gods on the strip. Not that Nicole Yokech would put his thumb on the scale like Janus has done in the last couple years. He is the guy that matters. He is the guy that you need to maximize. And I do think this last year the nuggets kind of got away from that and it manifested itself to what they had at the end of the year. So kudos to Josh Cronkey for acknowledging that and I hope that becomes a pattern going forward. Before I get away, I want to talk to mention the Western Conference Finals. The while the game was going on, I texted a couple of friends and I said, "Is it Dallas in five or six?" And they were like, "What?" I said, "Dallas in five or six?" And they said, "Well, the wolves are up in this game." I said, "It doesn't matter. You see how they're playing." Sometimes you can just tell. And what I saw from this wolves team is two things and I think that we kind of don't acknowledge for the nuggets when we're coming into games like this and series like this. I think the nuggets were too tired to beat a Dallas Mavericks team. I think it doesn't matter who came out because either the nuggets are exhausted from everything that led up to that point or the Minnesota Timberwolves who were in a knockdown drag out seven game series. Plus the Minnesota Timberwolves, and someone else pointed out this day, I wish I could credit them, but I don't remember who said it, said that the Minnesota Timberwolves were belted to beat the Denver nuggets are not necessarily certain they were built to beat other high-level teams who are playing well. And I think that sort of thing was evident to me last night. The Minnesota Timberwolves were struggling to stop the one-two punch of Nikole of Luca Doncic and Kyrie Irving because they presented a completely different challenge. The defense of the Timberwolves is wholly designed to stop one ball handler. And by that I mean they have Jade McDaniel's on your basically full court pressureing your one ball handler. And the nuggets got around that by having Aaron Gordon bring the ball at the court and went in their last series, but I was only sustainable for so long. The nuggets needed to have the knock out punch in game six in that scenario, but it was always going to come back to bite them because really truly they needed the Wolves defense is geared towards a cutting off the point of attack with a point guard and having everything else be funneled into Rudy Gore-Bett. Go bare. It really reminds me of the different nuggets of the mid-90s, to be honest with you, with the way that they attacked the perimeter and left funneled everything into Yokech. So that being said, the Dallas Mavericks have two Kyrie Irving, Luca Doncic. And having two guys like that in your starting lineup, unlike Yokech who does everything deliberately and doesn't generally try to bring the ball up by himself, is really is about having two guys who are guards, essentially, having that ability to both A score and B distribute. And what you saw from the Minnesota Timberwolves is despite having a close game, they weren't exactly sure of how to stop it because they're geared up to stop the Denver nuggets. And I think that really clearly was something that I don't know if they're going to have enough because quite frankly, their offense, as I said this over and over, the Minnesota Timberwolves offense is pretty bad. If they're, I mean, last night they had Jaden McDaniel's Go Kevin Durant mode, I don't know if that's going to happen again. I really do not. If that's, I mean, he's the last two games he said a lot of threes, honestly, he's not that kind of player. And you cannot depend on Jaden McDaniel's doing that sort of thing. And they're going to have to depend on Carl Anthony Towns, basically being able to overcome being Carl Anthony Towns and becoming that one A type of player. And I just don't know if the Timberwolves have that. I do not know if they are going to be able to do that because their offense is so limited. It really depends on Anthony Edwards, who's had, if we look back on it, folks, it was three out of the last four games. He's not even scored 20 points. And he has generally run out of gas. And if he's not driving their engine, that team struggles, we may see Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics finals to tell you folks that I think we may be heading towards that. So anyway, all right. Thank y'all for joining me on the latest more cast. I'm going to be back on Saturday to talk about the new media deal and the consequences of therein around that. I hope you stay tuned for that. All right. Thank y'all for joining me on the latest more cast. I'm going to be back in a couple of days with another episode. Bye. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] As a proud military-friendly school, National University can help you find your calling. With more than 190 degrees, certificates, and credentials to choose from, and support for military spouses like you, it's no surprise that 25% of NU students are service members, veterans, spouses, and dependents. Earning a degree is a commitment, but at NU, you're never alone. Our dedicated military support teams and advisors are with you every step of the way. Learn more at NU.edu. What's next? At Moss Adams, that question inspires us to help people and their businesses strategically define and claim their future. As one of America's leading accounting, consulting, and wealth management firms, our collaborative approach creates solutions for your unique business needs. We leverage industry-focused insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance, uncover opportunity, and move upward. At MossAtoms.com. Why wear a seatbelt? The math speaks for itself. You have a one in 40 chance of being in a crash this year, but wearing a seatbelt reduces your risk of serious harm by 50%. In a rollover crash, more than three out of five deaths are from those who weren't wearing theirs. Seatbelts save lives, over 370,000 in fact. Most passengers killed in crashes weren't buckled up. Nobody is above the laws of physics, buckle up, and shift in a safe. A message from the Colorado Department of Transportation.
The Denver Nuggets held their all-too-soon end of season press conference with Josh Kroenke, Calvin Booth and head coach Michael Malone on Thursday. Jeff breaks down some highlights on the latest Mortcast.
