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That's standard basketball stuff, but it's all the other stuff that's going on that I really need to address here. Because the Nuggets team has just been weird. And people have been responding, I should say, to the Nuggets fans who have been bad vibes. Well, it stems directly from the Nuggets being weird, and I'll talk to that right after I tell you about Bed Online. Bed Online is your number one source for all your sports betting needs this season. From baseball, golf, soccer, right up to the top fights in UFC and MMA and boxing. Every stat, every matchup, even live odds and spreads while the games are being played. When the game's over, head on over to their online casino and get in the game of Blackjack or Poker, or online with one of their 150 slots games. Head to the website today and get in on the action. Use promo code "BLEAV" and all caps for your 50% free bet credit on your first deposit up to $250. That is promo code "BLEAV" for your 50% free bet credit on your first deposit up to $250. Bed Online, the game starts here. The post-season press conference was bizarre, and upon reflection, a lot of it has to do with, quite frankly, Calvin Booth not being very good at that. And a lot of the Nuggets' weirdness stems directly from Calvin Booth. It is just how the Nuggets have approached pretty much the last two seasons. Well, not two seasons. The last two off seasons has been just strange. It really begins with the padding on yourself on the back tour that the Nuggets went on after the championship, which is not like, "Look, you want a championship. You deserve it and you will take your victory laps. I am not begrudging that at all from your Denver Nuggets, and it's part of the deal." But the thing started going sideways with that really, and I really highly suggest people read that Kevin O'Connor interview with Calvin Booth that was before last season. How, in hindsight, how many times Calvin put his foot in his mouth and how it was just kind of so matter-of-fact was something that should have been a portent of things to come. Through the season, because he took a shot at Bruce Brown, he didn't need to. He took a shot at Michael Porter Jr. He basically said we're not interested in repeating, and said that he wanted to be a dynasty wrapped up in this, like my philosophy, which is low, first round, second round picks, which are high floor guys who are old rookies, essentially, which isn't a revelation. Everyone who picks late in the draft will have high floor guys. That is where you're picking, you're fundamentally picking in that section of the draft. It's not a revelation, you know, but the Nuggets approach to this, and their philosophy was a lot of chest puffing, and, you know, this is how great we are about doing this. And a lot of that stems from Calvin Booth, who I really do believe would benefit from not being the point man on a lot of these things to the public. You know, when Tim Connolly first came as a general manager, even Masayu Jerry, way back then into 2010, both of them had to go through their growing pains with dealing with the public, because it's not something that's natural. I mean, it's not something that you are going to be facing in everyday life, in dealing with where you are the front man, essentially, of an organization, you're going to be able to have the requisite skill to deal with the public. It's not something that is coming, comes natural to most people. It's just part of the thing that you eventually learned. Masayu learned it, although Masayu was always ultra confident. Tim Connolly really had to learn it. If anyone, if I wish there was some video of Tim Connolly's first press conference in Denver in 2013, that Tim Connolly is not the Tim Connolly that left Denver. Tim really had to learn how, he had some, Tim's an extremely personable person. He's someone who's affable, I guess is the best way. He's a lot like me in that way, we're both very affable people. And Tim was that way, but he wasn't naturally good with the front-facing aspect of being part of an organization. He had to learn it. And like I said, if you see his first press conference, he's very nervous, and he grew into that eventually. You know, Tim, Calvin Booth's been part of this Nuggis organization since 2018. And he has not really had to learn this sort of thing. He was behind Arturis Karanovis first, and then he was the number two behind Tim Connolly before he left. So that part has been part of this, this maturation, this, like Arturis Karanovis. It's a good example of someone who is not great with doing that sort of thing. And obviously Arturis has his own issues there in Chicago. But even during his time in Denver, Arturis was not very easy with the public front-facing aspects of being essentially a spokesperson for an organization, which is what the general manager/team president is. And during his last, I think last year here in Denver, Arturis was taking a lot of the different because Tim was doing some other things too. Arturis was taking a lot of the public aspects of being a general manager/president/vice president, which he was by the time he left. But Arturis never really grew into it, and he's struggling with that in Chicago. Well, it's the same thing with Calvin. But the problem Calvin has had is that he has done, which is something that hadn't happened with Tim Connolly or Arturis Karanovis, he's kind of stepped on his own, you know what, several times with just not even clumsy statements, just matter of fact statements that he thinks are true, but will be very not beneficial to the public perception of the Denver nuggets. Like I said, taking a shot at Bruce Brown, even almost taking a shot at Bruce Brown. It was in that article. It was in Calvin's own way because he's got confidence in his approach, which is, once again, the late first round pick. And he's got ultimate confidence in that, so he talks as a man who's very confident in his approach. But he also has little public facing skill. And the nuggets this offseason have really struggled. And I have a theory, and it's not based on anything that I couldn't substantiate. It's just me interpreting it from the outside. So just for the aggregators out there, this is what I'm saying, is that this is me just looking at it from the outside, looking at the nuggets right now. I do believe losing to Tim Connolly in the second round specifically should have given the nuggets a bit of time to be introspective about the way they approach things. Not in a fundamental way, but just on the edges. And for a little bit of time and that delayed post-season presser, because if you recall, it was a couple days, several days after the playoffs had ended. You would think that there would have been that kind of mindfulness. And as I've described, that post-season press conference is weird, and it is weird. The vibe was strange. They did that seeding with Calvin Booth to Josh Cronke to Michael Malone, and it was like a step down a hill. It was the tallest, smallest arrangement there, which was really odd. But the nuggets went to that presser, and Josh Cronke, who I used to know well, I don't know so well anymore, but it seemed sheepish at times. Michael Malone was a demure. Calvin Booth was his usual monotone matter-of-fact self. And it was very odd to watch it, because I thought, based on that press conference, that the nuggets would be in sort of the more, as I said before, introspective mode. I thought they would have been in a... we need to look inward and see how we can change some things. It doesn't have to be fundamental. But, you know, we only got to the second round, and we're trying to defend the title, and the vibes in the series against the Minnesota Timberwolves were not great. Our best player just gratuitously complimented the Minnesota Timberwolves several times during the series. And made a very specific note to say how much you liked Tim Connolly before the series started. All of this should have been a like, "Okay, let's see how we're approaching this sort of thing, and let's see if we can alter some things." None of that happened. And starting with that draft press conference, not even that, when it was made obvious to the entire league that the nuggets wanted to run homes. And then they had to, what I would say, overpay the Phoenix Suns to go up six plots to get him. The nuggets sort of, because everyone in the league knew that the nuggets were going to take drawn homes, there were teams ahead of them that were projecting that they would take them. There was no subterfuge from the Denver Nuggets. And they had to leap ahead to get to the Phoenix Suns to beat the Minnesota Temerals, who had projected according to their view, the nuggets view, that the Minnesota Temerals, who are right in front of them, were going to take them. So, and then the draft press conference, when it was like Calvin Booth shrugs off the departure of... Contavious couple of Pope in just a bizarre way. Regardless of whether you think he's gone or not and you knew he's gone, it was clumsy. It was just not needed, and it probably created more problems than you needed to be had. And this has been consistent. Even going back to 2022, when behind the scenes, it really wasn't very... The nuggets were making it obvious that basically projecting that they were the real geniuses behind Tim Connolly, and then were validated with the title run in '23, because of Bruce Brown and Contavious called the Pope, largely. And then going into these next two off seasons, it's just been bizarre, it's been unforced errors as far as public perception goes. Regardless of what you think of the nuggets approach and philosophy, which is very Calvin Booth. The Calvin Booth approach, this is his stamp, this isn't the Denver nuggets approach, this is the Calvin Booth approach. He, for better or worse, has planted his flag on low ceiling rookies drafted in the lap back half of the first round. And the nuggets got Dario Sarge, which is probably okay for them, he's an inexater, which is what they needed. They may or may not get Russell Westbrook. There's a lot of confidence put out there that the nuggets will get him. I am not as confident as I was that this will happen. I don't think the Clippers have any incentive to help the nuggets out. So there's just a bunch of stuff happening, but the issue has been weird because the nuggets have been weird. And in the second half of the podcast, I'm going to talk to you about one essential thing that is really weird that has been circling around that my friend Ryan Blackburn has put out there. Then I want to talk about, it's about Jamal Murray and the weirdness surrounding his whatever is going on right now. And we need to discuss this, and Brian Windhorst is the first person to start talking about this last week, and we'll talk about it in the second half of the podcast. But first, I want to talk to you about Blanch Your Family Wine is located between 18th and 19th, and Blake and Wansy in beautiful Lower Downtown. Denver, Colorado, just a couple blocks away from Coorsfield. In the middle of the dairy block, there are always online at bfwcolorado.com. They're on Facebook and Instagram, and they're Blanch Your Family Wines. Go in and try the Pino, it's really good. Try the Petite Pearl, that's really good if you like really sharp red wines. But they also got a Riesling, which is a dry Riesling, it's not one of those really sweet ones, it's a dry Riesling, it's really good. But there's other things that you can try there, and the dairy block is a great atmosphere, and I highly suggest going down just to experience the atmosphere of the dairy block. But if you're not wanting to do that, and you want to do something else, if you're up in Fort Collins, try it up there. It's a different vibe up than Fort Collins, it's right there downtown, you can try that one out, or you can try the one in Golden, or their original location, which is the tasting room in Sonoma County. Once again, they're located between 18th and 19th, and Blake and Wansy in beautiful Lower Downtown, Denver, Colorado, just a couple blocks away from Coorsfield, right in the middle of the dairy block. They're always online at bfwcolorado.com. They're on Facebook and Instagram, and they're Blanch Your Family Wines. When you go in, or you talk to them, tell them Jeff Morton from CSG Podcast, sent you. We all know about the speed of sound, but have you ever thought about the sounds of speeding? If you drive over the speed limit, there are lots of different sounds that you might hear. Drive too fast, and you could hear the sound of your vehicle crashing. The sound of ambulances and first responders desperately trying to free you from the wreckage. You could hear the beeps of a heart monitor. You could hear doctors and nurses in an emergency room as you're being treated for your injuries. You could hear the sound of worried family members in the hospital waiting room, hoping to hear that you're okay. You could even hear the sound of people crying at a funeral. Because if you drive over the speed limit, whether by a lot or by a little, you can do damage that's beyond repair. You could seriously injure yourself, or worse, you could hurt and even kill someone else. When you speed, you put everyone on the road in danger. One way or another, speeding catches up with you. Paid for by NHTSA. eBay Motors is here for the ride. Remember when you first saw the potential, and then through some elbow grease, fresh installs, and a whole lot of love, you transformed 100,000 miles and a body full of rust into a drive that's all your own. With over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die, you can make sure your ride stays running smoothly. Brake kits, LED headlights, exhaust kits, turbochargers, bumpers, whatever your baby needs, eBay Motors has it. And with eBay guaranteed fit, it's guaranteed to fit your ride the first time, every time, or your money back. Plus at these prices, you're burning rubber, not cash. Keep your ride or die alive at ebaymotors.com, eligible items only, exclusion supply, see ebaymotors.com. The Jamal Murray thing is weird, and this is going part and parcel to the, everything has happened with the nuggets the last two seasons. The Jamal Murray thing, he's doing extension, and there was this tweet from Shams that was really vague. It led people to believe a certain thing that wasn't necessarily it, and I am one of them. I had no reason to not believe that a contract had not been extended already. Ryan Blackburn did point out yesterday that there is no nothing final. And they're probably working on the details of this, and according to people who are closer to the nuggets than I am right now, the nuggets are intending on doing something after the Olympics, which is interesting timing. This is a part and parcel to how bizarre things have been with the Denver Nuggets, because there's no reason there should be confusion about a contract extension to this extent. And that's directly on the Denver Nuggets, because the nuggets are too clever, they are too clever by a half. They think they are doing something that they are not. And I don't know who leaked two shams, because notably, as I pointed out on this podcast before, notably, Shams is the only person who tweeted about it. So someone got it, two shams, and it was a very specific number. And that is important to keep in mind as this weirdness with Jamal plays out over the Olympics. The reason I point out the specific number is the only way anyone gets to that is if someone who is directly involved in the negotiations put it out there. And at this point, we don't know who that is. But they did that for a reason. All right, will be it from Jamal's camp, be it from the Nuggets camp, someone put it out there that this was happening. The nuggets could have got ahead of anything that had happened there. They didn't, because the nuggets were trying to be clever again. And if the reporting from Bennett Durando and others are to be accurate, the Nuggets plan was always to present the nuggets. They present Jamal Murray something after the Olympics that leads to you to wonder why they're doing that, which is another kettle of fish altogether. But the process that this has gone through has been bizarre. I have been contacted by multiple, and especially after after Blackburn's tweet yesterday, I was contacted by multiple people. They were asking me and just people, media people, others through the league asking me what the hell's going on. And I had no answer for them because no one knows. Because everyone had assumed that there wasn't a contract on the table that Jamal just needed to sign. Because of the way Shams had worded that tweet. If you read it with the benefit of knowledge of knowing what we know now, it looks different. But at the time, the implication was it was inevitable. I think the Nuggets and Jamal are going to come to an agreement, but this is another step on your own dick thing from the Denver Nuggets. There's no need for it to get to this point. The Nuggets could say we will engage with Jamal Murray after the Olympics, period. And that could have been said during the draft, but they chose not to. If Jamal had known that, if anyone had known that, and there was other things going on at the time, obviously that's a different thing. But the Nuggets chose just not saying anything about it, which is weird because they project, they are not exactly a subtle organization. Everyone knew they wanted Dario Sarge. Everyone knows they want Russell Westbrook. Okay, the Nuggets are not subtle. They do not operate in the shadows. They says a team that doesn't do that anymore. I mean, they weren't great at it when Tim Connolly was in here, but they're certainly worse at it now. Even if that is their intent, they just don't seem to have that ability. And I don't think they intend to be subtle. I do think that they are when someone, the statement came out that the Nuggets made a competitive offer to KCP. It was immediately debunked. I mean, immediately. By several people, including KCP's wife. So there's that going on. But coming back to Jamal, I'm not going to get into the Nuggets motivation of why they're approaching things this way. After the Blackburn tweet, and then he subsequently wrote about it, and I suggest you look that up on my high sports. After that came out, I asked around as much as I could, and this is the God's honest truth. Most of the people I talk to around the league, and there's a bunch of people including media members, people and organizations. I asked about them, and they said, "We have no idea what the Nuggets are doing." And I'm like, "Oh, yeah." But they're not exactly subtle. No, it's not about subterfuge. Just like being general confusion. And this is where the Nuggets are at. And I'm going to wrap up with this thing. I don't think there's any conspiratorial thing happening with the Denver Nuggets. I don't think they operate that way anymore if they even added in. Masai was more on the conspiratorial wavelength. He had an ability to operate on that level. Tim was less like that, but Tim was better with the public. The Nuggets don't have any of those right now. They are a team that projects to everyone what they want, and then they step on themselves constantly with the public. This is not good if you're trying to run an organization. It really is not. And the Nuggets need to get their act together here because the vibes of this offseason are directly due to how bad the Nuggets have been with the public. And that directly, unfortunately, goes to Calvin Booth. Calvin Booth's abilities do not extend towards the public-facing aspect of running a team. Now, say what you want about his philosophy, which will be meted out this year. He's only got one year left on his deal. So, however, this is interpreted by the cronkeys. Anyone in KSC who happens to be managing this sort of thing. That one thing is going to be directly related to the Calvin Booth philosophy. This will prove itself this year if the cronkeys aren't satisfied with it, Calvin will not be back. This is his final year under contract. So, this isn't necessarily about that. It's not about approach. It's not all that. But it's about being fundamentally better at dealing with the people that you have to deal with. It's not just in the Twitter sphere, or whatever it's called now, that this is an issue. It is just a general, the nugget, the perception of the Nuggets is like that it is weird. The weirdness keeps getting weirder, and that sort of thing is not good for an organization. It's not. Nuggets need to get better at this, and if you're going to ask me my solution, it's just probably pick someone who's better at the public-facing parts of the organization and have Calvin do what he's doing in the behind the scenes. But at the post draft pick press conference introducing Doron Holmes, it was Tommy Balcettis. Tommy's been with the organization since Tim came in in 2013. And he proved himself pretty adept at handling that press conference. Maybe he had Tommy out there. But I think it's becoming more and more clear. The more interviews that Calvin Booth does, the more it's very, very just bold face that he's just not very good at that sort of thing. And it is starting to create a perception of the Denver Nuggets that I don't necessarily know that they need to project. Of course, they don't listen to me. I don't, nor should they, I'm just some idiot with a podcast who occasionally writes. But in the grand scheme of things, the Nuggets have an issue with people thinking they're weird. And a lot of that has to do with how bizarrely they've dealt with the public. And how much Calvin has, you know, this has nothing to do with his actual DMing school at skills. It's just that the Nuggets have approached this thing really bizarrely. And it seems like they don't really have this, have this wherewithal to just understand that they need either either make Calvin better at doing this sort of thing or have Tommy out there. Maybe it was a dry run with Tommy when in the post, Doron Holmes press conference. Maybe that's what they've decided that they need to do and maybe that's the thing. But a lot of the Nuggets problems are their own making. They have dealt with the public and the people who are fans of the Denver Nuggets really bizarrely. And that creates a weird vibe and it creates a weird perception of the Denver Nuggets, but yet true or not. And the Nuggets need to adjust there and get better at that. And before that gets too bad. And I think this is something that will benefit them in the future going forward. And hopefully they get there. Thank you all for joining me on the latest broadcast. Actually I'm going to be back on Thursday and my schedule is a little off this week. I'm going to be back on Thursday with another episode. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] 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 focus insights with the collective technical resources of our firm to elevate your performance. Uncover opportunity and move upward at MossAtoms.com. 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King supers, fresh for everyone, fuel restrictions apply.
This has been a weird offseason for the Denver Nuggets. The vibes are strange. On the latest Mortcast Jeff talks about how that directly stems from the Nuggets themselves and how they need to change their front facing approach.
