Every possession has become a negotiation.
That is what the NBA’s Western Conference Finals have become. The Thunder players excel as floppers, spending more time on the floor than Swiffer. They bait officials into calling fouls.
And it extends to defense for both the Thunder and Spurs.
They grab. They pull. They push. They know the refs won’t call fouls on everything, so they see what they can get away with every time.
Why bring this up? This is what the Nuggets face in their pursuit of a championship, and why their postseason failure represents a trend, unlike the Avs’ aberration.
Even after getting swept, the Avs could return to the Stanley Cup Final with a new coach and a plugged-in power play.
The Nuggets? They are in a galaxy far, far away from the NBA Star Wars between the Thunder and Spurs.
As I have said, taking a step back to move forward makes the most sense. There is no reason to run it back, other than to sell merch and continue the home sellout streak.
Rumors and proposals are starting to percolate, revealing the steep incline the Nuggets face to remain a championship contender.
ESPN reported this week that the . The latter requires a pause for laughter.
Braun has one of the league’s worst contracts — $21.6 million per season over the next five years — an extension I advocated for and watched become an immovable glacier because of an ankle injury.
Braun, 25, backslid in an alarming way, never regaining his footing after getting hurt and suffering setbacks. He averaged 12 points last season, shot a career-low 30.1 % from 3, and was passing up layups in the playoffs, while he was insisting he was the team’s leader even when he was nowhere near a shutdown defender.
Other than that.
The only path forward is to see if Braun can regain his shine with a productive offseason and improved health.
The Nuggets would be selling at an all-time low. And where would he go? Who would take him? Shedding the contract would involve connecting Braun to a deal involving Jamal Murray or Aaron Gordon. Same goes for Zeke Nnaji, obviously.
The easiest play is the cleanest. Trade Johnson, who has an expiring contract. He represents a functional piece for a contender and could bring back desperately-needed draft capital. Then attempt to move Gordon to re-sign Peyton Watson.
The Nuggets will not be better next season, but they will be better positioned to regroup in 2029 for one last spending spree in the final years of Nikola Jokic’s contract.
Hard Labor: MLB owners proposed a salary cap in collective bargaining talks, showing the difficult road ahead. The owners want to fundamentally change the sport by tying a cap ($245.3 million) and a floor ($171.2 million) to competitive balance. In case you are wondering, the Rockies current payroll sits $54 million below the floor.
The MLBPA does not want to restrict players’ earning power and believes competitive balance can be tied to front-office competence, not spending limits, when looking at teams like Tampa Bay, Milwaukee, and Cleveland. Let’s be real, most owners are motivated more by franchise valuation than winning. A cap creates cost certainty. End of story. The difference is that the players are unlikely to have the public on their side in these talks because of payroll disparity—see the Dodgers. Baseball is on a heater, benefitting from pace of play changes and the ABS system, and does not have Cal Ripken’s consecutive-games-played streak or the fake muscled-fueled home run chase of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to save the game if another season is lost. Deadlines spur action. Next February will determine how serious the sides are at avoiding a lengthy lockout that costs games.
Final thought: Elimination games feature raw emotions. But Nathan MacKinnon not talking after Tuesday’s loss was unprofessional and inexcusable for one of the NHL’s best players.
