It is proving to be a big day for the “Free Bol Bol” crowd on social media.
The Denver Nuggets big man caused a stir this week by hinting on Twitter that he wants to be traded. Bol “liked” a tweet from a fan imploring Denver to trade him instead of having the 21-year-old “riding the bench for three years straight.” Take a look.
Bol, the son of late NBA legend Manute Bol, has since “unliked” the tweet.
Due to injury concerns, Bol fell to the No. 44 pick in 2019 and had his draft rights acquired by the Nuggets. But Bol has gotten virtually no playing time since then, seeing just 6.3 minutes per game over 40 total appearances in his three seasons with Denver. This year has been particularly bad so far for Bol, who has taken the floor just once for three minutes in garbage time.
The Nuggets have generally done a good job developing young players. Stars Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Michael Porter Jr. are all homegrown. But Bol is simply not getting enough minutes in Denver. He is 7-foot-2 with both three-point shooting and ball-handling ability, so many would like to see Bol get more of a chance to capitalize on his ridiculous upside. It sounds like Bol himself wants the same as well.
Photo: Mar 28, 2021; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Bol Bol (10) warms up before the game against the Atlanta Hawks at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
After his trade to the Denver Nuggets last season, veteran forward Aaron Gordon appears to have found a home.
According to Dan Singer of the Denver Post, there is “mutual optimism” that Gordon and the Nuggets will agree to a contract extension. The deal could be finalized as early as this week.
Gordon is entering the final year of the four-year, $80 million deal he signed with the Orlando Magic. While eligible for a four-year, $88 million extension, the new deal is more likely to be for two to three years with an annual value of about $20 million.
Gordon turned out to be a good fit for Denver after the team acquired him at the trade deadline. The 25-year-old’s offensive numbers did suffer, as he averaged only 10.2 points per game. However, he was often tasked with guarding the opponent’s top threat, making him a vital part of the lineup.
After Gordon vented his frustrations with Magic management, you’d figure he’d be careful about a long-term commitment to a team. He’s clearly confident the Nuggets will keep contending for at least the next few seasons.
A Phoenix Suns fan who called his shot in about as aggressive a manner as possible went viral after the team completed its sweep of the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.
During Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal series, a Suns fan got into a shoving match with two Nuggets fans. Things took a more serious turn when one of the Denver fans threw a couple of swings at the Suns fan. The Phoenix supporter then proceeded to pummel the guy who hit him. After he was done dominating both Nuggets fans, the Suns fan shouted “Suns in 4!”
Well, he was right. Phoenix finished off Denver with a 125-118 win in Game 4 on Sunday, and the “Suns in 4” guy went viral.
No one really emerges as a winner when grown men fight over sports teams, but it’s hard to imagine anyone looking worse than those two Nuggets fans.
Tempers flared a bit on the court between the Suns and Nuggets (video here), but Phoenix dominated the series. The Suns will now await the winner of the Jazz-Clippers series, which Utah leads 2-1.
The Denver Nuggets’ chances of making a deep postseason run took a huge hit on Tuesday, as Jamal Murray will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.
Murray limped off the court during Monday’s game against the Golden State Warriors late in the fourth quarter. There was initially some optimism that the injury might not be serious after he refused a wheelchair, but unfortunately an MRI has confirmed the bad news. You can see a video of the play here.
The Nuggets entered Tuesday with a record of 34-20 and in fourth place in the Western Conference. Murray has averaged 21.2 points, 4.8 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game. He had been dealing with right knee soreness prior to Monday, which led him to miss the previous four games.
Austin Rivers may just end up with the team that helped get his dad fired.
Mike Singer of The Denver Post reported Monday that the Denver Nuggets are interested in signing the veteran guard. The report adds that fellow free agents Troy Daniels and Gerald Green are also on Denver’s radar.
The Nuggets recently traded for high-flying forward Aaron Gordon. That left a void in their backcourt, as it cost them valuable depth pieces in Gary Harris and RJ Hampton. Singer notes that Denver does intend to add another player before the postseason, possibly on a 10-day contract.
The 28-year-old Rivers began this season with the New York Knicks. But he fell out of the rotation after the team acquired Derrick Rose. Rivers was then traded to Oklahoma City in a three-team deal at the deadline and promptly got waived by the Thunder. But he brings plenty of playoff experience to the table, having gone on runs with the LA Clippers and the Houston Rockets.
We know that Rivers loves to troll his father Doc. Signing with the team that Doc blew a 3-1 lead to last year would be another great unintentional troll.
Aaron Gordon has been at the center of trade rumors for what feels like years now, and the Orlando Magic star is finally on the move.
The Magic have traded Gordon to the Denver Nuggets, according to multiple reports. Gary Harris, RJ Hampton and a first-round pick are headed to Orlando in the deal.
Gordon had been frustrated with the Magic and explained earlier this week why he wanted to be traded. It became obvious that Orlando was going to give him his wish after All-Star Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier were also traded earlier on Thursday.
Gordon, 25, was the fourth overall pick by the Magic in the 2014 NBA Draft. He is averaging 14.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game this season.
The Nuggets entered Thursday with a record of 26-18 and in fifth place in the Western Conference. They also acquired veteran center JaVale McGee at the deadline, so they seem intent on trying to contend this season.
The Denver Nuggets committed a major blunder at the end of their loss to the Washington Wizards on Thursday night, and Jamal Murray took responsibility for his role in the mental lapse.
The Nuggets were trailing 112-110 with about five seconds remaining and had a 3-on-1 fast break opportunity. Rather than cut to the basket for what probably would have been an easy game-tying lineup, Facundo Campazzo and Michael Porter Jr. stopped at the three-point line. Murray kicked the ball to Campazzo, who missed the shot. You can see the video here.
Porter Jr. admitted he could have cut to the basket, but he defended the mentality of wanting to hit the game-winning shot.
“I looked at the play afterwards. One of us could’ve easily cut. Honestly, I could’ve cut and got a dunk,” Porter said, via Mike Singer of the Denver Post. “But we were just thinking, one of us is going to get a three. If the shot goes in, no one’s talking about it.”
Nuggets coach Michael Malone did a good job of summing up the blunder after the game. Porter is right that no one would have criticized the play if Campazzo hit the game-winner, but he didn’t. Taking a low-percentage shot was not the right decision in that situation.
The Denver Nuggets blew their game against the Washington Wizards on Thursday night with a mental fart at the end.
Denver was down by two points 112-110 with around five seconds left and the clock ticking down. Jamal Murray had the ball for a 3-on-1. Even though the lone Wizards defender went out to Murray, the other two Nuggets players hung out by the three-point line, even though they would have had a wide open layup to tie the game. Take a look at the video:
Nuggets have a 3 on 1 fast break down 2 in the final seconds and **FART NOISE** pic.twitter.com/sq7RUZU458
That was not heads-up basketball. Facundo Campazzo ended up taking and missing a 3-pointer at the buzzer. You have to wonder what Michael Porter Jr. was thinking. He had a clear open path to the basket and decided to hang out at the 3-point line next to Campazzo. What a blown opportunity.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone called it a “wasted opportunity.”
Michael Malone: “We need a layup. It was a 3-on-1 break. …. Wasted opportunity there.”
Murray said he expected Porter to cut to the basket. He also said he should have shot the ball instead of passing it.
Jamal Murray put this game on him. He said he should’ve shot it or given Facu a better pass. Also said he expected Porter to cut to the basket. But he came back to the ball was in his hands, and he should’ve shot it.
The Sacramento Kings beat the Denver Nuggets 124-122 in overtime on Wednesday night on a wild final play.
The Nuggets had the ball with 6.5 seconds left and inbounded to Nikola Jokic, who had the ball stolen from him. The Kings threw the ball ahead to Harrison Barnes, who went in for the winning dunk. Barnes missed the dunk, but luckily Buddy Hield was there for the tip-in at the buzzer.
The Los Angeles Clippers will be answering questions about their collapse against the Denver Nuggets for a while. One of their players is taking a rather defiant approach in doing so.
Marcus Morris looked back on the Clippers blowing a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals. He said the manner of defeat hurt, because in his eyes, the Nuggets weren’t the better team.
“It hurt being up 3-1. It’s not about losing, it’s about how we lost,” Morris said, via Farbod Esnaashari of SINow. “At the end of the day, that team wasn’t better than us, we all knew that.”
On paper, Morris is probably right. The Clippers had more talent. But preparedness was an issue based on these comments from one of Morris’ teammates. Mentality matters, and the Nuggets were better in that regard. We’ll see how Morris and his teammates address that going forward.
