Denver Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets agreed to a contract extension with head coach Michael Malone, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The full terms are unclear, but Wojnarowski reported the deal will "make him one of the NBA's highest paid coaches."

The Nuggets have a .580 winning percentage (375-272) since hiring Malone in 2015, and he guided them to their first championship last season.

Denver hasn't encountered any sort of title hangover yet, sitting atop the Western Conference with the Dallas Mavericks at 8-2. The team's top stars are all performing at their expected levels as well.

Nikola Jokić is averaging 29.8 points and an NBA-best 13.7 rebounds while shooting 60.6 percent from the field.

Jamal Murray is also knocking down 43.8 percent of his three-pointers, while Michael Porter Jr. is putting up 16.9 points and 8.2 boards per contest.

Success is never guaranteed, but the Nuggets' 2023 championship run may not be the only time they're the last team standing. Jokić, Murray and Porter are all in their respective primes, and the pair of Jokić and Porter are signed through at least 2026-27.

Giving Malone a new contract was a no-brainer based on what he has done so far and what he and Denver might accomplish in the near future.

Malone can also probably thank Monty Williams a little bit for his pay raise.

The Detroit Pistons gave Williams a deal reportedly worth $78.5 million over six years, the biggest in league history, in the offseason. That supercharged the coaching market, with Gregg Popovich reportedly inking a five-year, $80 million pact to extend his stay with the San Antonio Spurs.

One would expect Malone's new salary to be comparable to that of Williams and Popovich.

Denver Nuggets star guard Jamal Murray "will be likely sidelined" for the duration of November as he deals with a right hamstring strain, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Per that report, the Nuggets are "taking a cautious approach to assure that there will be no lingering issues with the hamstring and there's an expectation that Murray will need three to four weeks to properly heal and return to play."

Murray has already missed two games this season with the injury.

"This will be something that will be longer than we would like," head coach Michael Malone told reporters this week. "You have to have the big picture in mind and make sure we're putting him in position to get healthy before he comes back."

In seven games this year Murray has averaged 16.3 points and 7.4 assists while shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from three for the 7-1 Nuggets.

Where he's proven to particularly thrive has been the postseason. Murray averaged 26.1 points and 7.1 assists for the Nuggets in last year's playoffs as the team claimed its first-ever championship, and in three total postseasons has put up 25 points per contest.

Superstar center Nikola Jokić believes the Nuggets will be able to navigate Murray's injury, though he acknowledged how important the veteran point guard is to the team.

"If we miss a guy, we have guys that can step in and get the job done," he told reporters Tuesday. "And our system is good because everyone that we put on the court can play. Jamal is so important to us. He was a huge part in us winning a championship. He is someone who can go and get 30 points. We have guys who can step up. Maybe they won't get 30, but they can fill spots in other ways."

In Murray's absence, Reggie Jackson will remain in the starting lineup as the point guard, while Collin Gillespie and Julian Strawther should see additional minutes.

"It's going to have to be by committee, it can't be just one guy," Malone added. "You have Reggie, you have Collin, you have (rookie) Jalen (Pickett). They are all point guards by definition so obviously you start there. But we have a lot of other guys who have the ability to fill the position, too. ... With Jamal being out for the foreseeable future, we're going to have to have somebody step up and fill that void."

Denver Nuggets point guard Jamal Murray will miss an extended period of time due to a hamstring injury that he suffered in the team's 123-101 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.

Nuggets head coach Michael Malone told reporters that Murray's injury is not a "one or two game injury" and that it's something that will keep him out for "longer than we like", according to Katy Winge of AltitudeTV.

Denver came into Monday night boasting a 6-1 record, putting the team in first place in the Western Conference.

Murray averaged 18.7 points and 8.7 assists per game in six contests before the injury, shooting 43.8 percent from three.

The former first-round pick has recorded 16.9 points and 4.3 assists per game since he was drafted back in 2016, ranking ninth on the franchise's all-time scoring list. His 859 career three-point field goals are the most in Nuggets history.

Murray had dealt with hamstring tightness in training camp, causing him to be a limited participant in several practices prior to the start of the regular season.

However, Malone clarified that the 26-year-old was injured on a particular play and his absence from the rest of the Bulls game not the result of a lingering injury flaring up.

"Specific play," he said, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. "It was in the second quarter, and (Murray) went to push off and just felt something in his hamstring."

Veteran point guard Reggie Jackson will replace Murray in the Nuggets' starting lineup while he recovers.

Jackson has averaged 12.8 points and 4.2 assists per game throughout his 13-year career, spending time with four different teams. He was acquired by Denver in the middle of the 2022-23 season after he was waived by the Charlotte Hornets.

The 33-year-old is averaging 8.4 points each night off the bench this year, shooting 44.4 percent from the field and 36 percent from three.

The NBA's decision to have teams use new court designs for the in-season tournament caused a problem before tipoff of Friday's game between the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets.

Nuggets head coach Michael Malone told reporters the three-point lines had to be repainted because the dimensions were off.

In-Season Tournament court at Ball Arena in Denver. 3 point line dimensions were off and parts of the court had to be re-painted today according to Denver head coach Michael Malone. Mavs at Nuggets in West Group B, regular season and In-Season Tournament game at 9p on BSSW pic.twitter.com/P6iW9pisVZ

— Mark Followill (@MFollowill) November 4, 2023

Mavericks forward Grant Williams noticed the issue during a Friday morning shootaround.

"I'm like, 'There's no way this is supposed to be this far,'" Williams told reporters. "Everything was short. Plus, I could just tell from the perception, either it was the blue court and it's messing with my eyes in the empty arena, or this line is long."

It's not clear how far off the regular dimensions the lines were, but Williams said he "knew right away this wasn't right" because the gap between the corner and out-of-bounds line was noticeable tighter than it normally is.

The regulation three-point line is 23 feet, nine inches from the basket, with the exception of the corners where it is around 22 feet and there is three feet of distance between the line and the sideline.

Mavericks assistant coach Sean Sweeney, who served as acting head coach with Jason Kidd away from the team due to a non-COVID illness, said he could tell the difference in the lines when they returned to arena in the afternoon.

Neither team had any issue making threes on the repainted court. They combined to go 30-of-72 from behind the arc, but the Nuggets got the last laugh with a 125-114 victory to hand Dallas its first loss of the season.

The Denver Nuggets continued their domination of the Los Angeles Lakers with a 119-107 home win to open the 2023-24 season.

As the clock wound down on the win, Denver fans chanted "Who's your daddy?" as a follow-up to some offseason talk that followed after the Nuggets' 4-0 Western Conference Finals sweep over L.A. last year.

“Who’s your daddy?” chant in Denver. pic.twitter.com/gRqwvRC81i

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) October 25, 2023

This string of talk began after Nuggets broadcaster Vic Lombardi called Malone the "Lakers' daddy" during their championship celebration last June:

"He came into this world as the son of a coach, but in these playoffs, he became the Lakers daddy!"

Vic Lombardi on Mike Malone 😅 https://t.co/5MWfVRziFw

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 15, 2023

One month later, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham was asked about that amid an appearance with NBA reporters Marc Stein and Chris Haynes (h/t Jeff Smith of Sports Illustrated) on the #thisleague UNCUT podcast.

Darvin Ham wants all the smoke 😤

(via @ChrisBHaynes, @TheSteinLine) pic.twitter.com/T5cafDyozP

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 13, 2023

"Oh, wow. You're gonna bring up Money Mike, man? The Lakers' daddy? That's what they call him now? The Lakers' daddy?" Ham said.

"God bless his soul," Ham added. "This s--t ain't over. God bless his soul."

This season is far from over, but Round 1 has clearly gone to Denver, who began a title defense about as well as possible with a dominant win over the Lakers.

Breaking news: Nikola Jokić is still an extraordinary basketball player.

The defending NBA Finals MVP picked up where he left off, eviscerating the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night in the opening game of the 2023-24 season and leading the Denver Nuggets to a 119-107 win.

Jokić did it all, as usual, posting yet another triple-double (29 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists) in a career full of them.

Jokic goes to work early with the trademark floater 😤

📺: #KiaTipOff23 | Live on TNT pic.twitter.com/dvXdszMrCP

— NBA (@NBA) October 24, 2023

Jokic muscles in for the tough and-one finish 😤

He's got 14 PTS so far.#KiaTipOff23 | Live on TNT pic.twitter.com/XtSrVtCvA6

— NBA (@NBA) October 25, 2023

25 PTS for Jokic.
7 point lead for the Nuggets.

Q4 is heating up in Denver 🎬#KiaTipOff23 | Live on TNT pic.twitter.com/eWMLkvSyRQ

— NBA (@NBA) October 25, 2023

NIKOLA JOKIC TRIPLE-DOUBLE 🗣️

27 PTS, 13 REB, 11 AST#KiaTipOff23 | Live on TNT pic.twitter.com/xYO38ePpSR

— NBA (@NBA) October 25, 2023

Jamal Murray (21 points, six assists) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (20) had strong outings for Denver as well, while LeBron James (21 points, eight rebounds, five assists) and Anthony Davis (17 points, eight rebounds, 6-of-17 from the field) couldn't keep pace with Jokić.

But who really can?

It was the sort of opening-night performance that already had fans crowing the superstar center as the MVP favorite and singing his praises:

Jokic mvp season loading

— HuppOGeezy (@TheRealHuppOG) October 25, 2023

Jokic is about to win his 3rd MVP and cement his place top 10 all time. Appreciate it while it's happening.

— Daniel Gibson (@DQGibson) October 25, 2023

Jokic is on another level. Mvp season incoming

— Antisocial Extrovert (@1CountOnQua) October 25, 2023

Nikola Jokic could be in the running for MVP this season, I dunno.

— Matt John (@MattJohnNBA) October 25, 2023

It’s ok to not challenge the Jokic best passing big man ever thing. No player his size has ever had an offense run through him like this.

— Russillo (@ryenarussillo) October 25, 2023

Jokic currently giving AD a menu to choose how he wants to be scored on.

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) October 25, 2023

AD literally has no chance to guard Jokic 1 on 1. It’s amazing.

— Jason Timpf (@_JasonLT) October 25, 2023

AD is theoretically going to be in the DPOY race and Jokić can absolutely get a bucket on him any time he wants.

What in the hell do you do with that?

— Dave DuFour 🐲 (@DaveDuFourNBA) October 25, 2023

Game getting tight. Jokić makes it less tight. So clutch.

— Colin Cowherd (@colincowherd) October 25, 2023

Jokic is legit in his prime, I think no one can guard Jokic in the post, can’t double him because he got that elite passing, and can leave him open because he is different

— 🅿️ainSzn (@cjsweet567) October 25, 2023

There was plenty of anticipation leading into this game, given all the offseason sniping between these teams after Denver swept the Lakers in four games in last season's Western Conference Finals.

"[The end of last season] is very motivational," Davis said at the Lakers media day earlier in October. "... I think, me and 'Bron had some conversations like, 'We can't wait.'"

"Anytime you lose, it's motivation to get ready for the next season to try and compete for a championship so that in itself is motivation but also, all the little talking that's been going around all summer—we're ready," he added.

But saying you're ready for Jokić and actually dealing with him... well, those are two very different things. In this burgeoning rivalry, chalk up another win for the Serbian center.

The first championship in Denver Nuggets history deserved quite the ring.

And it certainly delivered.

Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN shared some of the details about the jewelry that was given to the members of the franchise ahead of Tuesday's season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers. The rings include 16 carats of diamonds for the 16 playoff wins it took to win the title, a silhouette of Denver's mountain peak and pickaxes logo, and a diamond-encrusted "Nuggets" in front of the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

As if that wasn't enough, there are 89 red rubies to represent the 89 points the Nuggets held the Miami Heat to during their championship-clinching Game 5.

In all its glory 💍 pic.twitter.com/mMTMuXEpIt

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) October 24, 2023

No gem left unturned 💎 pic.twitter.com/J69sseEFqJ

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) October 24, 2023

It was designed by Jason Arasheben, who is the CEO of the jewelry house Jason of Beverly Hills and designed rings for the Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Vegas Golden Knights and Las Vegas Aces in the past.

"But the Nuggets' ring comes with two unique features, both firsts for Arasheben," Youngmisuk wrote.

"It has a lever at the top that shifts from 1967, the year the Nuggets were formed in the ABA, to 2023, simultaneously changing the color of the background from white diamonds to blue sapphires. A retractable compartment on the left side of the ring unveils the 2023 Nuggets championship banner raised at Tuesday's ceremony."

The unique ring represents a postseason of dominance for the Nuggets.

Nikola Jokic: NBA Champion 💍 pic.twitter.com/h1GU473CHT

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) October 24, 2023

They defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games in the first round, eliminated the Phoenix Suns in six games in the second round and then swept the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals

That Lakers sweep may be the best memory for the fanbase, but the journey wasn't complete until Denver defeated the Heat in five games in the Finals.

Now Nikola Jokić and his teammates will be tasked with defending their crown at the start of the new season, but they got to celebrate one more time before starting a new journey.

Looking to continue developing their center rotation behind Nikola Jokić, the Denver Nuggets agreed to a four-year, $32 million contract extension with Zeke Nnaji on Saturday, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Nnaji, 22, was selected by Denver in the first-round of the 2020 NBA Draft out of Arizona and has had a very limited role thus far in his career. Wojnarowski reported that the Nuggets have loved his development and that he is expected to take on a larger role with the reigning champs this season.

There is a player option included in Nnaji's deal.

Nnaji has been buried on the depth chart for the majority of his time in the NBA, playing just 13.7 minutes per game last season while getting a career-high five starts. He has never averaged more than 6.6 points and 3.6 rebounds.

However, with the departure of Thomas Bryant this offseason and DeAndre Jordan not getting any younger, Nnaji now finds himself as Jokić's backup entering the regular season and could wind up being crucial to any success the Nuggets may be looking to have.

Nnaji was a star in his lone season at Arizona, averaging 16.1 points per game and 8.4 rebounds. Denver will be hoping to see flashes of that production throughout the year.

The youngster has shown some promise in the Nuggets' preseason run with a couple of impressive performances. He scored in double-digits on three different occasions and was active on the boards, grabbing at least five rebounds in every game but one.

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić is both a bona fide NBA legend and one of the game's more unique superstars in that basketball clearly isn't the centerpiece of his universe.

That would seemingly preclude him from becoming an NBA head coach someday, although at least one general manager gave him a vote in the NBA.com GM survey in response to the question: "Which active player will make the best head coach someday?"

New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum and ESPN's Cassidy Hubbarth responded to the survey (and the Jokić answer in particular) on the latest edition of the CJ McCollum Show.

McCollum had these remarks amid a back-and-forth with Hubbarth.

"Joker would never be a coach. Doesn't watch basketball at all. Can't imagine him watching film, like on an off-day to watch film...it's interesting to see his name on this list. It's like, can you be a good coach if you don't watch film? He's a basketball savant.".

McCollum obviously didn't mean any ill will toward Jokić, who he clearly respects. He also endorsed the big man for MVP back in March, saying in part:

"The way Jokić controls the game, it's unlike anything you've ever seen," McCollum said to ESPN's Zach Lowe on the CJ McCollum Show (h/t HoopsHype).

"He's taking six shots through most of the game and still dominating. That shows value to me… He's super skilled, super talented, and he makes them go. What does that team look like without him?"

But NBA coaching probably isn't in his future. Understandably, Jokić loves his home country of Serbia and expressed his desire to head back home immediately after the NBA Finals win.

He also has a fervent interest in racehorses, finding great success on the track and even scouting during a break in recent practice action.

"I'm scouting horses."

Joker is locked in 🤣🐎

(via @NBA) pic.twitter.com/7ulk9nHlGQ

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 17, 2023

Jokić's future probably doesn't include NBA coaching, but his present is focused on preparing for an NBA title defense, which begins Oct. 24 against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Denver Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth suggested Tuesday that comments he made regarding current Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. and former Nuggets guard Bones Hyland were not supposed to be part of an article published by The Ringer on Monday.

In a piece written by Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer, Booth was quoted as saying: "I knew you couldn't have two guys that couldn't guard, and we couldn't have two guys that were young and kind of more 'me guys.' Mike makes $30 million. He's one of the best shooters in the NBA. So, Bones, there's no place for you."

Per Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports, Booth explained himself during an appearance on ESPN2 and praised both Porter and Hyland:

"Under no circumstances would I make or approve those kind of comments for public consumption. It's not my character as a person or executive, and I think it's an unfair characterization of Michael and Bones. I think Bones is a great kid, has a bright future ahead of him, a charismatic player in our game.

"And obviously Michael is a core piece of our program with his character and offensive and defensive prowess. So I think that was unfair for those things to be put out there, and hopefully it doesn't happen in the future."

One of the biggest in-season moves Denver made during its run to a championship during the 2022-23 campaign was trading Hyland to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of a four-team deal in February, which landed the Nuggets center Thomas Bryant from the Los Angeles Lakers.

Hyland was the No. 26 overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft, and the former VCU standout has shown flashes of brilliance during his young career.

He averaged 10.1 points, 2.8 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game as a rookie, and followed that up last season with 12.1 points, 3.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds per contest in 42 games for the Nuggets last season before the trade.

MPJ barely played collegiately at Missouri due to injuries, and he missed his entire rookie season in the NBA with a back ailment, but the Nuggets took a chance on his talent with the 14th overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft nonetheless.

Durability has been an issue, as Porter has missed 20 or more games in each of his five NBA seasons, but the decision has largely paid off.

Porter broke out with a career-high 19.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, and last season he played in and started a career-high 62 games, and averaged 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 three-pointers made.

He was also a major factor during Denver's playoff run, starting 20 games and averaging 13.4 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.3 three-pointers made per contest.

Porter may not have been at the same level as two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić or star guard Jamal Murray in terms of his overall impact on the team last season, but he still played a pivotal role in a championship-winning performance.

As for Hyland, he is back with the Clippers this season, and he has a chance to develop into one of the best bench scorers in the entire league.