Is Cam Whitmore the Nuggets X-Factor?

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1:04We'll get you the details from the first practice of training camp, comments from David Adelman, comments from Aaron Gordon, comments from Nicolay Yokech, and Demar Deroz and Wait No, we weren't allowed in the gym for those. But we have lots of stuff to talk about today on Locked On Nuggets. You are locked on nuggets. Your daily Denver Nuggets podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team, every day. Welcome to Locked On Nuggets, your daily Denver Nuggets podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team, every day, thanks for joining us on Matt Moore alongside Ryan Blackburn. We are just back from Boulder, where the Nuggets held day one of training camp in 2006. We have just like the story, right? I have to talk about it because I need to be able to explain why I've covered the team for 15 years and wasn't there for Nicolay Yokech's first availability of practice.

2:08They're in Boulder. We were told to go to a certain spot and wait at a certain spot. We got an email being like, go here, wait here. And at a certain time, by the way. And at a certain time. Yeah. And then about five minutes after that certain time, they go like, where you guys been? Like we've already done this. It was 10 to 15 minutes after, don't worry. Joker and Demar have already gone. So several of us, including your beatwriters, Andy M. Vihar and Locked On Nuggets. And my high sports. And my high sports, and Chris Dempsey, all missed Joker and Demar. So we apologize for not having that. I have not seen or read the quotes from Yokech and Demar. So I will have to go over those later. But it was great to be back in the gym though. It was really great. And I will tell you, I was happy this in our discord locked on Nuggets.supercast.com that DA, I just think Adelman is so much more comfortable when he's in the gym. Like that's where he wants to be.

3:09I don't think he wants to be an impressor. There are guys who are better in press conferences and worse in the locker room. And there are guys who are better in the gym and worse in the podium. And I think DA is very comfortable talking and hanging out in a gym. And that's where he loves to be. He was excited to get to work today. And yesterday was like, let's take a bunch of photos and do a bunch of interviews. And DA doesn't want to do any of that. And I think that probably impacted how yesterday's availability went. Now, do I still think that he needs to shout out about last year? Yes, I do. I think he needs to be like, I really think DA needs to be like last year was a failure. We failed. We failed in profoundly disappointing fashion. We got beat by a team missing Anthony Edwards. We don't take even Chenzo and I just knew at the end, it was bad. We can't let that happen again. But that was last year and this is this year. That's all it needs to do. But I will say that like in his availability today, I thought David Adelman was way better and more interesting too. I would agree with that. I think that your your righty probably got the memo of like, hey, it's all good. Just let's enjoy this. Let's have fun. Let's talk about the actual game and some of the questions that he was asked were pretty

4:12good too. Just kind of getting him on track with a variety of things. We're going to get into a variety of those kinds of notes and quotes, including a surprising thing that I heard about Dave Yeager today that a lot of us heard about Dave Yeager today that I wasn't really expecting. I wasn't really expecting that side of the ball for Dave Yeager. We'll get into that in just a bit for sure. Where do you want to start? So I think there's I think a number of ways to kind of look at this. AG was in a better spot too. Yeah. He's still he was asked by Adam about kind of last year about. I think all right. He was asked more about bringing the kind of energy into the gym and it was Adam trying to work his way into like, hey, so like yesterday you kind of like joke around about how good Jamal is, but like seriously, are you guys mad about and like, AG kind of dismissed the question. And I do think that they're like, I made this note and I was talking to you and better to know about it. And I do kind of think this is like very true. Like for the big three Joker, Jamal and Aaron, that series didn't happen.

5:19Yeah. Like I think Joker's like, I sucked. That was bad. We all sucked. That series sucked. That's all there was to say about it. Matter of fact, Joker. And for Jamal and Aaron, I think it is very much that series didn't happen because we weren't healthy. If we're not healthy, it doesn't count. Doesn't matter. It didn't happen. And I don't agree with that because I'm just like everybody's got injuries. Everybody's got problems. And like, I get it. I get how important you guys are. I get it. But it's one of the reasons why I asked Aaron on media day about facing adversity and how that's the identity of the team for a long time has been resilient. So how do you kind of get that back? And he kind of shut that question down to yesterday in terms of like how that is not necessarily how he sees it in terms of, yeah, I still think there were a very resilient team still thinking we're very like when adversity hits, we still have our backs and we're still like the best in the league and whatnot.

6:20And I just, I don't agree with the overall sentiment, but it does kind of give a window into the way that those three specifically view the situation and then just the identity that the leaders are taking in terms of how they are approaching this year. Okay. Now that we've covered that, I am turning the page. We're left move here. We'll talk about the guy that was shout out by both David Adam and Aaron Gordon as the star standout of today, which was Cam Whitmore. We'll talk about him in the second segment. The other thing that I thought was really important today, I asked Aaron Gordon, hey, have you guys installed anything new on defense? Are you keeping the same scheme? Are there any changes that you guys are going through? And he was like, no, we're just simplifying. And this is like such a big thing that I think is they worked on this last year. And they're working on again this year. They're trying so hard to have prepared material scheme adjustments for various matchups. That what winds up happening is it gets diluted and complicated. And I think that they've just going to learn like, look, we have to have like a base scheme.

7:23And like we have to have very clearly defined rules and not stray from them. And we just need it to be like, this is what we're doing. But one of the things that we talked about last year and that you, you're really harped on was that this is Joker calling out a lot. This is Joker kind of being responsible for if he is up at the level, if he's playing down the floor a little bit. If you're doing some switching on the perimeter, if you're doing a little bit more blitzing and a lot of that responsibility was on Joker. And it kind of, to me, put a lot of onus on the team, just kind of melding to how Joker saw it at that particular time and being ready for just about anything. And maybe that's part of what they're talking about in terms of the, the minimization of that. I want to be very clear. It could be entirely something else. And there's a line here of how much they want to talk about these things. There's also the line of how much they think we'll understand these things because they quite literally think that we're more on that don't understand anything. I know.

8:24I know. I don't, I don't think it's fair at this point. I really do think that for the people that are there every single day, like we, we understand what the differences between drop coverage and switching schemes. Yeah, but like there's more complicated levels of stuff. Of course, of course, they don't have, they don't have to go to that extreme. But I would just say that like, if it is that I would, like I will just say like very clearly, like if, if you are correct in that assessment, if that has, if that has anything to do with the assessment, I just think it needs to be like, look, we're just playing drop man. We're just going to play drop. We're playing drop with the slice close out. That's it. That's great. Like, honestly, I think that that is the way, Matt, and I talked about this last year. I think that that is the way you just have to get Joker to getting to a better place where he's playing better drop coverage. And, and that's going to be the way to save him as much as possible from a physical perspective. If he is understanding some of the nuances of that a little bit better, like, like Brooke Lopez from the his 20s to his early 30s, like had some things that he was doing

9:25well from a defensive perspective, but wasn't the level of drop coverage defender that he was until his mid to late 30s, honestly. So I think that there is room for him to learn, room for him to grow. And as long as everybody's kind of on the same page of how to attack certain things, how to prevent certain things, then they can be better defensively in that specific scheme. Yeah. And like, this doesn't mean them from a playoff perspective. And so this is the challenges. You need to be able to do these things. Like, it is better if you're just like, we're just going to play drop in the regular season. And that's what we're going to do. But you also have to be able to know what you're doing if you have to change it in the playoff. So you have to work hard. Like, that's where it gets hard, right? But I do think like, hey, first things first, get off to a hot start, try and rack up a 15 and four record. Like get the 15 and five after 20 games. Thank you. You're there. Who cares? Like, from there, you could start experimenting. But I think that's a good place to start. I want to talk more about the defense because I got comments from David Adelman about this stuff as well. I think that's important to talk about.

10:25We'll also get into, we'll start talking about the star of today's practice from a non-star perspective, which was, can't wait more. We'll talk about that coming up on Lockdown Nuggets. Today's show is brought to you by Laura. I definitely have coffee up for as a thing that has happened in my life. Most people don't realize how much of their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers collect details about you from public records in the internet, then package and sell that information often without your consent. That can lead to more spam, targeted ads, and even scammers getting access to your information. Laura helps protect your personal information by actively removing your data from data broker sites and keeping it off. And Laura doesn't stop a data removal. It brings several layers of digital protection together in one app, making it easier to protect your information and identity. Changing a password is one thing, but protecting your personal information is a much bigger

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12:28Adam and talk and then get to talk about this as much. I talked about a little bit yesterday on last night's very long show where I gave up my media day thoughts. Great show by the way. Thank you. I thought yours with Cam was great too. We do such great work. Hurray for us. Yeah. So I talked a little bit about how DA mentioned attacking the offensive glass. I think this is a really interesting thing because like Caitlin Cooper who does work over at basketball she wrote who's excellent was talking about how most teams have backed off of offensive rebound because they're trying to get everybody back in transition to slow down that way. And what the nuggets are effectively trying to do is the opposite which is look if we chase offensive rebounds and contest them. It means that they have to secure the ball first before getting the ball up before and that allows us to get into our defensive sets so we're not cross matched because when the nuggets are cross matched they're cooked and when they're in transition they're cooked

13:29because their starters don't have the athleticism. The bench will be better but that's a different matter. One thing I thought that Adam said that was really key here Ryan was he said we want it. We just need to slow the ball down a little bit through either offensive rebounds or attacking at half court to attack the ball handler coming up the floor. He said to allow our IQ to help us. I thought this was like such a smart thing to say about we have all these really smart defenders that see things but we have to be in a position to recognize it first and not be like oh crap there he goes which did happen a lot. I actually really agree with this having watched as much defensive tape as I did this summer. They're not a dumb defensive team. They're just a slow defensive team. To your point like I agree with that and I agree with the sentiments. I'm going to need them to continue to prove that to me that it's still something that they want to do night and night out and that's something that they are dedicated to putting

14:29forward night and night out because for me it is a want to thing in defensive transition and in terms of pick up points in terms of like hey we need to stop the ball defensively in transition. Well you got to go run out to 40 feet in order to do that. It can't happen at 25. It can't happen at 12. Like you have to make sure that you're stopping the ball as far away from the basket as possible and that's hard. That is a very difficult thing to do. If you're playing guys who are conserving energy I'll say in terms of like like is Nicole Yokich can be able to stop the ball defensively in transition probably not. Aaron Gordon probably should be one of those guys. Christian Brown should be one of those guys. Cam Johnson should be one of those guys in Jamal Murray should be one of those guys. But if you ask too much of those guys offensively in a minute's perspective thing, it's just really hard to do that every single night especially if there are injuries and they feel like they're trying to make things up on the other end consistently.

15:31I also am just I will believe it when I see it from an offensive rebounding perspective too because I just don't know how much the hustle is going to be there in terms of getting that because I do think they're just going to get cross matched anyway if they've got a whole bunch of guys that are crashing. On the Yokich point, Walrus says yeah it doesn't have to be a huge shift even Yokich is raising his hand five more possessions a game would help. This is how I feel. And I get a lot of feedback from folks in the discord on this who literally like does it really matter if Joker contests a shot and I'm like a contested shot is always lower percentage than an uncontested every situation. There is never a situation in which a player shoots the same uncontested as contested. Yeah, I think the question is whether a Yokich contest is actually is it worth the EVA in terms of actually doing that and the question the answer is like might not be in the first quarter definitely is in the second third and fourth. Yeah, B ball says show me a good NBA defense and the current NBA without a elite POA defender

16:31there isn't that's a lie. So the elite ones you're absolutely right about, but I will tell you the Chicago Bulls have pulled off multiple years of being top 10 in defense and are billy donna then without Lonzo ball without Alex Caruso because you can scheme it. You can scheme your way to a top 10 spot. It's possible. This Nuggets theme can absolutely be top 10 defensively. You need buy in you need buy in more than anything you need players that are going to be chasing people around and that doesn't and that I want to be very clear that doesn't mean that you're not still a bolder melody with Jamal and Joker. I've said this consistently you can't get like to the elite level, but like you can have a year where it goes your way and you get the top 10, but they only need to be league average. This was a chat. Yeah, like 12th to 15th is just fine. Like if if they were up there, I'd be over the moon. And people all say and why have the defensive numbers dropped since KCP left. KCP leading mattered. I talked a lot about screen navigation. I talked about those things, but guess what also has changed Joker and Jamal are worse. Jamal because of his physical ability and Joker because of his effort. They're just worse.

17:31So confused by that question. Like I think it's pretty evident why. Yeah. Like well, I get the idea, which is like they had a they had an elite perimeter defender. Yeah. And I don't. Aaron, I will also say this. I underestimate stuff that isn't scheme. Okay. So like I asked Aaron this today because to me, it's really interesting. They were great defense when Aaron was on the floor and they were garbage without him. If you basically take Yoke, Jamal and Aaron, it's like, oh, that's a pretty good defense. And then you get Yoke, Jamal without Aaron. And you know, like this is the worst defense you will ever see. Now I asked Aaron about that about like, can you communicate this to the other guys? Because I think you have to be able to play around Jamal and Yoke to be able to tell the other guys, hey, when this happens. You have to do this because Joker's going to do this. You have to keep an eye on this because Jamal will do this. It's just communication stuff. Right position. But Aaron instead very rightfully and correctly was like, I'm six, nine hyper athletic. I'm huge.

18:32It helps. Like he's basically just like, I'm one of the most athletic players on the team. And I'm big and I'm a good defender. That's why our defense gets better. Maybe he's right. I don't see it that way because I don't actually see the contest rate that much from him. Yeah, I also think that Spencer Jones is, he's not quite the same level of athlete, but he's about the same size just in terms of close the level of athlete. Yeah, I mean, okay, we're talking about AG kind of on on half a calf and half a hamstring. And it was still better. It was still much better. Yeah, that's what nuts is like Aaron. Yeah, but by the way, you know, he's that's not now. I do want to know. And this is like, we just keep in the good vibes of health going as long as we can here. David Adelman said that the best guy in the gym was AG because he was moving up and down fluidly. No problems. Burst caught a lob for a dunk. And organizing the offense and making reads. Yeah, bring it off the floor. Like doing everything that you would want Aaron Gordon to do in terms of being the leader and kind of dictating terms and things like that.

19:34That's exactly what you want to hear at this stage of the season. And Aaron went and stretched after our press session. So so Matt could be happy. Anyway, let's get to cam went more. We'll talk about that. We'll talk about Dave Yeager on offense. We'll talk about that stuff that people are interested in. We'll get to that coming up here on locked on nuggets. Mr. Monopoly here. Miss me. Monopoly is back at McDonald's with millions of prizes. A 2027 cheap chair. A carnival cruise vacation. Gifts cars from tour dash and best five. Peel and play in the McDonald's app. Get your bag. No purchase necessary 50 US and DCH 18 plus C plate McD dot com for rules and plant McD dot com slash AMOE for info and playing without purchase by mail by November 2nd. Chantzcargamons November 8th. Gamons November 22nd, 2026. C rules for prize details. Monopoly is a registered trademark of Hasbro. For the first time ever in the US, the best U23 wrestlers in the world descend on Las Vegas

20:35for the 2026 galaxy U23 world wrestling championships at the UNLV Thomas and Mac Center from October 12 to the 18th. Don't miss your opportunity to see team USA's wrestlers battle for gold on the world stage right here in the United States. Tickets are on sale at UNLV tickets dot com. Get 20% off by using code team USA. Check here on locked on nuggets for sure you guys being with us. Matt Moore alongside Ryan Blackburn. Make sure to check out my pickaxe and roll podcast as well as Ryan's covered over my high sports. I'm going to have a write up on the Denver dig later from stuff from the day and this. I literally have not stopped moving for 24 hours. So hopefully I'll get time to sit down and write after all. Okay, so let's talk to him with more AG was asked who stood out today and he was like Cam. And it was not Cam Johnson. It was Cam Whitmore and he was like, he's just so athletic. He's such a presence. He's such a good player.

21:36And then Adelman echoed that and said that he thought Cam had a really great day. And he said he said he's like, my impression was like he can and he was asked like, why, you know, what's to do to have about him is like he can plan the NFL. And then then he asked him what position he was like safety. So you know, look. I'm going to continue to be a little I'm going to be on the skeptical side of Whitmore until we see him in season in rotation playing. And even then there'll be in the back of my mind like, okay, but if it goes too well, is he going to start thinking that he's above whatever his role is? This is just a big thing is he can you can think you're the best player in the gym. Oh, look who joined us. Hello. Hello. So as I got free, I came to hang out with my friends. Oh, man, my guy. I'm out of practice. Talk about Cam Whitmore. Yeah, I can't with more. Who everyone was super high on today.

22:38You can think you're the best guy in the gym. And I think that that's good. I think most guys believe that most guys, I think a lot of guys in the NBA really do believe, hey, you give me the opportunities. I can be the best guy in the gym. And some of that's delusional and some of it's not. So it's opportunity. It's fine. As long as you don't extend yourself to a way where you're making it, as long as the value that you add with your play, isn't interfering with what the team is trying to accomplish. That's it. They could use some hoopers. There's value in hooping. There's value in just being hyper athletic and getting downhill. Um, as long as Whitmore stays and within those lines, he could be and I do think that this, this team isn't necessarily structured in a way. Where it's like, you need to have a very hyper defined identity because the entire offense is read. It's a read offense. This isn't a place at offense. So I think there's probably maneuverability there for can't went more to be able to make an impact. Hey, you know, who's a big athlete on the wing that had a really like in and out of the rotation year last year,

23:44but played well at the right time was Terence Shannon, Jr. Like it just sometimes it just works out. And sometimes like you just need a whole bunch of different guys who can provide that level that and step up in different ways and have the talented that you can showcase and be able to do that. And it does sound like like there was a lot of respect for Cam Whitmore on media day from, from a lot of guys. I think Jamal Murray mentioned it pretty extensively too. So it's interesting to think about. So I've got you, you got to be excited because like you want your, your team, let's get athleticism on the floor. And it does sound. Adam and was like, we are so much more athletic on the second. That's crazy how they're always like two years behind, right? I mean, good and discracies. Remember, we used to out, remember the, what was it? Amidude, what was his first name? Amidude, Diallo for the, I mean, that's Alphas, I think older brother. I want to say Matt, do you know that?

24:44Could you're the one that's checking on his citizenship and financial information and all that for Alphas Diallo? I have looked at only at Alphas from a basketball standpoint with Monica. Okay. Yeah, I do think that that is an important thing. And you know, I'm, I'm anti-smog guys in the NBA. You know, I did talk to Ty Lawson today and I don't think Ty Lawson will qualify as a non-smog guy. I think he actually would be a small guy that were working this league. But I just don't think that when you have a team like Dindra, which are all in Murray, it's never been the thing that they've been good at. Bruce Brown was six, what is he six three and a half, six four, but is claims six four? Right, but he's an Uber athlete. You can work with those guys. Russ six, but three Uber athlete. Were you going to say Ron? No, it's just like the difference with Bruce in terms of the level of athlete that he was in 2023 before the injuries versus 2026. It really does matter in terms of that. And so Cam John or Cam Whitmore being 22 years old, they mentioned it being the youngest guy in the roster.

25:45Yes. I think it's kind of fascinating to think about one of the things I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt on in terms of the two previous stops. Like it's really hard to like carve out a niche in a situation where that front office is tied up and interested in developing other people and are going to be like you're never going to be the focal point of their focus. And he's had to learn that clearly over the course of these last two years. And I will be very curious at three years. I'll be very curious to see what he looks like and how he responds to adversity. Coming from a situation where it's very clear what his role is for this team at the outset and that is to not play. So how do you go over and figure that out and kind of turn that around and be in a different situation. I'll be. This is a possible right. What? How many has a younger brother named Alpha, but it's not Alpha Diallo.

26:46Wait, what? No way. His brother. I thought they were brothers. His brother played ball at Clark Atlanta University. Well, they are brothers to be heard. Go ahead. We're all brothers in some aspect. Some more know this. Yeah. There's just a spectrum. I would agree with that. Where's my Dave Matthews band poster? So like Clark. Yeah, I do not think I think that he has a younger brother named Alpha, who is not Alpha Diallo. We have to get to the bottom of this. This is this is very important information to be able to ask him. But he'll probably be extremely offended when we do. We are going to ask about this. This is like a we did do this. Oh, no, I'll ask I'll ask off. Oh, God, no. We're already they locked us out of the gym today, man. The starter practice per usual or no, like it was even the ability with Joker and Demar without both beat riders.

27:51DMVR and us. Why? And Christemsi. I forgot to check the door. This communication. Well, who was in there? Everybody. Oh, I mean, nuggets, folks. Ryan Green. OK. All right. All right. Dave Yeager. Dave Yeager going to going to help on the offense and somebody, you know, was talking about how like, well, all the coaches kind of help with all phases. They're not really. I don't necessarily know this. Sure. I do think there are definitely emphasis like Jared Dudley is the defensive cool. Like he is the guy that coaches the defense. And everybody helps. But it does sound like Yeager is going to do the offense. And it does sound very much like this was a David Adam and choice, like to bring in Yeager. I was not expecting that. So what? Choice. Choice is an interesting one. You think so. Be choice is a really good movie. There's always a choice. But I will say that. Matt, let me ask you this brother.

28:53I took away a lot. We are you are we are all brothers. Beloved community, you know, M.A.K. talks a lot of stuff. But I put the nurse brothers, you know, I'm not. I'm on the out your brothers, but then there's. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, uh, shout out to, uh, yeah. So anyway, some of this is. I do believe that would David Adam. I mean, look, David Adam and talked about the defense Matt. Christian Brown talked about the defense. And she'll all talked about the defense. No one asked you all to talk about defense because. Didn't need to. Yeah, he didn't need to write. Yeah. Do you think it's an it's it's important and notable though to me that there was an undertone of. They know they need to start out better defensively and they also can't have the lapses they had last year. There there was a communication from their side that they're aware of that. Yes. I think there is very much a. Um, I think they think. That last year they cruised at about a third gear.

29:57Yeah. And that they're like, we've got to get to fourth gear more consistently. Fifth gear is playoffs, but you need to be able to cruise a little bit and fourth. Like you just need to be able to get to like a higher gear here and be able to manage that. I think defensively. I think a lot because. And I think when you look at it, there is kind of this belief, they didn't throw out the defensive scheme, which is what I asked about today. And I think the reason they didn't throw it out is because they're like, I think the players and coaches are like, no, no, this works. Like this works. It just doesn't work as well as we need it. We just didn't execute it well enough. Ryan, give me your thoughts on the eager though. Let's get back to that. Yeah. It was, it was interesting to hear about and it keeps walking around today. We haven't introduced myself. We haven't really talked to him yet, but I'll be curious to see if we get the opportunity to. I think that. It was a lot of personality talk when it came to like with what Adam and was talking about, he they have a really good relationship going back to Sacramento.

30:59Apparently that was like when, when Adam and was interviewing for a job back, and I think it was either 2017 or 2019, he interviewed with Yeager and there was one of the best conversations that he's had in terms of interviews like that. And they're just having a good time clearly have a good relationship with that. So I do think that there was at least a connection there. And something that maybe, maybe this isn't just a hire from on high. Maybe this, this isn't that's maybe this was more of Adam and wanting to bring in somebody that he's comfortable with and wanted to bring, like he probably had some conversations with Yeager during the off season. And it's like, I want to get back into the league and sleep with you. Do you think though that is it really scheme that needs to adjust with them? Could offense and all that stuff. It's cool, but you know, we talked about this a little bit on players' choice. Do you think Yeager is here to kind of. Is he here to help with the like the culture a little bit and whatever that that's

32:01spirit and tenacity is that that's something you think he's here to help cultivate it all? No. Maybe, but probably like it certainly wasn't what was brought up over the course of these last couple of days on an off record. Like certainly that's not that's not the word that we're hearing. That's yeah, for sure. Okay. So kind of interesting. Yeah, I don't, I don't think. I don't think that this team thinks that they had a spirit issue last year. I really like, I don't. I don't know what the disconnect is because it's cause intention. I would say because all of us are kind of like, hey, like this is what we're trying to do. We're trying to very politely be like, hey, so like the Timberwolves reach into your chest and pulled out your beating heart and ate it in front of you. How are you going to respond to that? Hmm. And the team is like, no, we were just hurt and didn't play well, which is a little bit like

33:10sort of it's like, this is Lincoln coming in and being like, the play was a little disappointing. The third act was not great. Yeah, it's a, it's a disconnect there. There is something there that we are, that we saw that we sensed. But then again, we've had conversations and I remember one that you briefly, you brought up with Bennett Durando, who's very close with the team and very connected and he didn't get the sense that they quit and that that was super overwhelming. Like when you get down on the show, that has like a very different feel for the teams. And so it's interesting there. One one final note I want to bring up is about DeRan Holmes. Swipe, you'll be very happy to hear that's the conversation about DeRan Holmes today. He despite him bulking up and despite him looking a lot bigger, is that David Adamin wants to see him play the four. He wants to see if he can learn how to play the four for this team. They know that he can play the five. They know that he's pretty good on that pick and pop option, but he needs to be better in terms

34:12of off-ball actions in terms of playing next to another center. And I thought that you'd be interested in hearing that. Well, yeah, he needs to play next to Joker and next to Bagley. I mean, that's to me as a spider man meme. Like they length length and athleticism at that spot should be helpful for the bench and for the starters. Personally, DeRan Holmes is really something they didn't think he could do last year, though. Like just, well, he did it versus. Small sample, but again, always raptors Cleveland game last year, Celtic game in January, he did do that next to Zeke and obviously Valentin is in stretch, but like I do think that he's most optimized in the NBA setting at this point in time in that spot, Matt. And he's going to have to it's going to be growing growing pants. You know, it's not going to be something. The strength stuff that this is why I want to say I just want to see if he can operate dunker spot. I will say it's going to be like he needs to play next to Joker that goes minutes are so precious. Right, because it helps everybody like you want certain minute you want a lot of minutes with Aaron and you want a lot of minutes with Spencer and you want a lot of minutes with Marvin.

35:16We'll see I did a bench you know, I don't think there's a different. I don't think there's a separation on the bench between four and five. They're going to play switch all and it doesn't really matter. You're just like whichever one is like, oh, this guy like DeRan matches up better with the center. So he'll place he'll guard the center. Oh, he matches up better with the power forward. He'll guard the power forward. That's I think how it's going to go. I have to go. I think I'll pick up my daughter, but because swipe is here Ryan you can finish up the show with him and chat with him. I will see you guys next time on lot on nugget. Thanks for. Thank you. Shout out to the B ball real quick. He says swipe and things anyone who's tall and has long on automatic athletic. No, no, no, no. DeRan is athletic. But the there the way this tier goes for athleticism on this team, which Aaron Gordon is obviously the guy, but he's not what he used to be with these D guy. So that's why I think you guys are. Brazil's after that. If I'm doing a spectrum of athlete vertically for this team. It's going to be Brazil Aaron. And then right after that's going to be baggly. And the right after that's Jerome home. So like go ahead. Yeah.

36:16Well, there. So you're right about it from a vertical athleticism perspective and there is absolutely a factor there. But there's also a strength factor that I do think that DeRan like we can now start calling DeRan. And then we're potentially in that same category of physical athlete as Trevor and Brazil, I think like Brazil is going to be better vertically. I do think that DeRan looks a lot stronger than him. Yeah, for sure. Just just ready to carve out space on the whether it's defensively or offensively fight for boards. Do some of those functional things that are going to be really, really, really valuable. And then kind of taking advantage of that athleticism, taking advantage of that vertical pop. You have to be able to hold your ground. So we'll see if Brazil can do that. We'll see if he gets an opportunity to, but that was a lot of the conversation today was the athletes on the second unit. And I think it's like I talked about it a little bit with you yesterday. I think it's those athletes that are like eight to 15 in the rotation as opposed to like the one to seven kind of kind of group.

37:17But that can still prepare them. That can still help them be a little bit better, more consistent, ready to go. And I'll be looking forward to seeing how that impacts them and whether they're ready for preseason and then kind of getting to the regular season this year. Yeah, I think some of this is for me. I'm, I'm really, and I think let's do this, Ryan, because you know, we have a show on Thursday, but it's not going to take too long because you're not going to do anything tomorrow. Because whatever. Tell me who makes the team this year. What is their 15 going into the year? Well, I saw a comment earlier that Ari was reporting that nuggets are targeting Ryan, and I'm hard again and that they're really circling that. I don't know what that's going to look like. Like I don't see you, Ryan, and I'm hard as a guy that they're just going to put on a two way. And so maybe he does make the team as the 15th man. Maybe there's, there's an opportunity there. But I do think that's, yeah, between, like, I'm not sure if Lonnie Walker is going to be able to make it.

38:20I'm not sure if it if he's going to be. Well, they talked about it yesterday, like the players did. And they will continue to talk to him. I think that like he was the only training camp invite that they actually had speak at the podium. So I do think that he's got an inside track on that. And so I did get the sense from KJ Simpson that he like he was a little bit down in terms of the initial kind of conversation that he had. So I wonder who is better than is. You're out of KJ or Nymhart. I mean, KJ, see you guy has a lot of the same weaknesses in terms of the size profile. But I liked what KJ brought in terms of like some of the feistyness that he brought towards the end of the year. He just didn't get a lot of opportunity. And I've seen Nymhart do it at the NBA level and be successful with it. So I think I'd probably rather have Nymhart. But I don't want to just cut off KJ Simpson like that because I enjoyed watching him play. I mean, we're not none of us want to, but I guess if I'm if I'm trying to predict this team, right?

39:25I think Yokech makes it Murray Christian Aaron camp, right? It's five. Yeah. Then tomorrow. Well, I'm trying to go in order to Mars Spencer. Do you have to Mars Spencer Tyus Julian Strother and then Bagley, right? This five. Yeah. And then after that, it's going to be Zeke's on the squad, Holmes is on the squad. Who am I missing? The allos on the squad. The allo and Brazil. So then Brazil and then Hopkins is two way. Yeah. Hopkins two way, Cam Whitmore two way, Ryan Nymhart two way. So Kim Nymhart Nymhart, Cam and Hopkins. And they would get 50 games basically. Yeah. And like if they do keep it at 14, which wouldn't surprise me one of the things I mentioned, I think I said this yesterday that if they did bring in somebody for that 15th roster spot, like it does cost them like 20 million and luxury tax to do that as well, because of where they are with the the repeater tax and whatnot.

40:26It doesn't like like nuggets fans should want Denver to do that. But what I'm trying to imply is that if they did bring somebody on to be that 15th roster spot, then it means something. And they would mean a lot that they're willing to pay that extra bit and that person's probably going to get a pretty good opportunity. So whether it's Nymhart, whether it's Lonnie Walker, maybe Cam Whitmore graduates from being a two way like Spencer Jones was last year and actually gets a full time roster spot after that. So there's some opportunities there to kind of see how it changes up. But I am excited to like the two guys that I think I have my eyes on out of camp right now are Cam Whitmore and Doron Holmes. I want to see what those guys can do. I'm curious like to me there. What's Cam Whitmore at his like what do you what's your level set? Or could I'm sure you watch cam me and Matt and I had a conversation about Cam in previous iterations Houston, Washington. What is your level set for yourself for Cam Whitmore?

41:26I would say that to me, he is a guy that could play every night. It just depends on what the like the time of year, the circumstance, who's heard at the time, like is there a wing injury that the nuggets are dealing with. What does Julian Strother look like? I think the most likely candidate that if cam Whitmore were to shine, the most likely candidate to then have his minutes restricted at that point would be Julian Strother. Just because you've got an offensive guy, you've got a slasher, you've got somebody who's going to provide some scoring and you need some other guys that can fill roles. So I'll be I'll be curious because like every came into change. I'm going to have somebody that takes away from that. The day will come into 23 draw. Yeah. Yeah, maybe maybe there's a like if you if you lose out on Julian because like we talked about this.

42:26Julian basically said, yeah, I've got to prove it in in my fourth year. I'm not going to get an extension at this point is not what he said verbatim, but it's what I heard. I think that the front office and everybody's going to make him prove it. So I'm not sure how high they are on him specifically, despite the fact that I think pretty highly of him. So I do think that there's a gap there that cam Whitmore could potentially fill. I do think man, cam is more talented than paid Watson, Christian Brown, Julian Strother. So it's not really the talent thing right and can't is huge and like you obviously got a chance to see him. That's not small man. He's 230 pounds and he's six foot, what seven eight. Well, he's like 65 to 30, which makes it even we have an interesting. Right. Even more interesting because like that dude is built like. I mean, I'm we're not going to go into advance Simmons and already got people in trouble. So, uh, no, I think. So you're more, yeah, you're more saying like he's kind of built like a like almost like a thin outside linebacker like.

43:31Yeah, I mean, hey, we'll go with, uh, we'll go with a like one of those hybrid like Durwin James kind of like that's that's who I would compare him to in the end in the NFL. Okay. Yeah, I do think there's a world man where it's like, damn, he has a lot of pop. And Matt, I, I don't love his shooting, but Matt was like, well, if you look at the years previous, he is really he was a good shooter. So if he's an upskit up, he has upside as a shooter, he's a downhill athlete, like a like a serious one. He's a little rim threat. He's also a transition player. And I think he fits Denver scheme defensively as well if he can commit to it. Yeah, there's a, there's, there's a, there's a world where it's like, can't with more in your catch minutes or just like devastating. Like, can't with more an air and Gordon is like, okay, well, this like, hey, man, we have one play that we want you to learn with Joker. And it's how to back cut the split action. That's exactly what they're going for. He's like, wait, I get all these wide open dunks and I get to win mill at every time.

44:34That's super sick. Yeah, I think that's going to be interesting. Lonnie, Lonnie is kind of, I think Lonnie is a, I almost would want to say he might be wanting to get him up on three pointers more than Julian Astralthor will. Because I think so. I think, well, the way that he was playing in Euroleague, that's exactly the kind of style that he's trying to get to. And he was kind of like, I would compare him more to Tim Hardaway, Jr. than I would Lonnie Walker earlier in his career. Yeah. I really want to see what the bench should look like in preseason. That's kind of what I'm curious to see with the rotation. It's off the bench, you know. It's going to be fun, man. But the yellow has to play every night though, doesn't he? Like they basically convinced you know, well, it's come from Euroleague. He basically, I mean, I know he's wanting to prove himself anyway, but like they don't have to do anything. I think that like that's the interesting thing about this. Or the Rosen is the only person who has to play right. I think that the two guys that have to play are derosen and Spencer Jones. Like, I think that Spencer's got to play. I'd be shocked if he didn't. Now, maybe I'm wrong. And maybe that's one of the ways that they actually carve out some more spaces.

45:37And so, I think that's one of the things that I think that Spencer's like, if he's not hitting threes at the same rate, or if they need a little bit more of a Jolt of athleticism or something, then maybe they go with the deron homes at the four and have derosen at the three. Yeah. Yeah. I'm curious about this, man. It's going to be interesting to sure. Bebal shake down says Ryan predict the nuggets defensive rating as a team. 20 seconds. I am on this until they prove me otherwise. They are the 22nd ranked defense in the NBA. But they could be higher, but they've got to commit to it earlier and stay healthy. Well, they were top 10 to start the season last year. So let's say I actually I went through this month by month in October in the five or six games that they played. They were top 10 every single other month, except for February where they were 14th. They were outside of the top 15 every single one. So, well, they're trying to think, but well, just can't do that because I'm trying to think when they four days started getting ravaged with injuries, because that was through the Clippers game, right? But what I'm looking for is is a large enough sample size that you could say, oh, yeah, this.

46:37Yeah, they were a bad defense way more often than an average one last year. Yeah, that's not even a question. So I guess that's why I'm trying to if they if they have personnel available to them in a larger sample, are they the 22nd ranked defense from an execution standpoint with their scheme? Probably not. Like I do think that having more athletes coming off the bench, having a little bit more variety and switchability should be able to get them to a better place. And it's so crazy. You don't have to be a bad defense. That's the funny thing. This is all a decision. Yeah, I know it's this is an active choice. And so I do think that if if Joker raises hand five more times a game and plays a little bit like we were talking about drop cover, Jerler in the show. I do think that they should choose drop coverage and just play a little bit more like simplify things a little bit more there and get Joker to a better place where he's doing that specific role better because then it helps out everybody else. I do think that if they simplify, then there'll be some opportunities there for the team to be surprisingly good defensively.

47:40Am I expecting it? No, because I'm predicting 20 seconds. Yeah, well, it's going to be forward. It's going to be fun. Thanks for popping in, man. Yeah, you know, let's just say hello to my friends. Hell yeah. All right, everybody, that is going to do it for today's episode of Locked on Nuggets. Thank you so much for tuning into the show. Like we talked about earlier, hit that like button hit that subscribe button and make sure to check out the discord locked on nuggets that supercast dot com. A lot of fun there. Everybody have a good day. We should be back with you tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'm going to do a show, but certainly if we don't get to it, then swipe and I will be back with you on Thursday afternoon everybody have a good one. Talk to you guys very soon. On Cowshee, you're trading against peers in a live market, meaning there's no house and as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position for a limited time. Download the Cowshee app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade 10 KAL S H I Cowshee trade on anything 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors.

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