It is whine o’clock somewhere.
This was the impression left by the Los Angeles Lakers after the Denver Nuggets vanquished them in the first round of the playoffs. The Lakers teased with greatness, avoided a sweep with resilience, but more than anything complained about everything. Even their own head coach.
“We have stretches where we just don’t know what we are doing on both ends of the floor,” star Anthony Davis said in a direct salvo at Darvin Ham following the Game 2 loss.
The Lakers fired Ham after two seasons as it became increasingly clear he’d lost the respect of Davis and LeBron James.
Now, the Lakers are targeting UConn coach Dan Hurley. Not a podcaster and former player like J.J. Redick, but the Nick Saban of college basketball.
Uh-oh, Nuggets. What was already an important offseason must take on an added sense of urgency as the uphill climb back to the top of the mountain has increased from a 5 percent to 7 percent grade.
The Lakers might actually figure it out, becoming a bigger threat in an already laughably strong Western Conference. It reminds me of when the Dodgers were owned by glorified parking lot attendant Frank McCourt from 2004 to 2012. There was always the suspicion if the Dodgers ever got a suitable leader they would morph into a monster. Since Guggenheim Baseball Management took over in 2013, the Dodgers have reached the playoffs 11 consecutive seasons, won 10 division titles and the 2020 World Series.
Yes, insert your Rockies joke here.
Hurley won’t own the Lakers, but if he accepts the job he will run the Lakers. According to ESPN, the Lakers are prepared to offer Hurley a massive contract to take over the organization, putting into place his culture and vision for player development (likely including drafting Bronny James).
Hurley is a human Red Bull. He waves his arms, claps his hands, and screams until he is rouge in the face. Whether this type of intensity is sustainable with grown men over 82 games is a fair question. But Hurley is to Redick — the current second choice — what French vanilla is to Milli Vanilli. The Lakers will be better if he takes the job, and they achieve continuity (they’ve had seven coaches since 2011) and success (they boast a .519 winning percentage since the COVID crown in 2020).
Which raises the question: How will the Nuggets improve? Denver often demonstrates the patience of a Tibetan monk. The Nuggets are not expected to trade Christian Braun, Peyton Watson or, most notably, Michael Porter Jr. Porter is the biggest chip if the team wants to shake the snow globe. Shipping him out likely means keeping Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and filling two needs with the contract space opened by Porter’s departure. It is unlikely. But, it would signal valuing depth and shooting in the aggregate over the unique potential of a 6-foot-10 offensive force coming off his best season — second-round playoff disappearance notwithstanding.
The Nuggets have followed the philosophy of wanting to win not only now, but from now on. General manager Calvin Booth elected not to add at the trade deadline, preferring not to disrupt team chemistry. Nuggets coach Michael Malone is quick to remind us that during their dynasty the San Antonio Spurs never won back-to-back titles. However, the Spurs were not competing in this Western Conference. Doing nothing means falling behind.
It is no longer cool to say the Nuggets lost to the Timberwolves because they were embarrassed by the Mavericks, who, if you embrace recency bias, possess the new best player in the world in Luka Doncic.
The Nuggets need a better ball-handler to back up Jamal Murray. They require a rim protector and a true backup center to ease the minutes and defensive burden on Nikola Jokic. It would be nice to land a 3-point threat if they trade Reggie Jackson and Nnaji and lose Caldwell-Pope to free agency. And Malone is going to have to allocate more minutes to the development of Braun and Watson to grow their role in the postseason.
A start? Adding Gordon Hayward and drafting DaRon Holmes. Also, the Nuggets need Murray’s best season — an all-star selection, and improved health in the playoffs — from start to finish.
The 2023 Nuggets will walk together forever. Replicating that magic is the goal but requires more work.
It feels like a lifetime ago that the Broncos won Super Bowl 50 and arrogantly assumed they could win with any quarterback because of their gnarly defense. They haven’t been to the playoffs since. The Nuggets are in a much better position, but they cannot take their situation for granted.
UConn is likely coming to Los Angeles. Nuggets, UCan’t stand pat.
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