NBA Media Days: What Nuggets, Thunder and different execs are saying getting into 2024-25 season

It will probably generally be tough to search out attention-grabbing issues throughout the NBA’s media days. The media conferences, as enjoyable as they are often, have additionally develop into weapons of mass deflection. Executives, coaches and gamers have develop into excellent at saying little or no.

However each from time to time there are attention-grabbing nuggets that trickle out!

Final week, a number of groups held media days with their lead basketball executives and possibly, simply possibly, we realized one thing.

Essentially the most attention-grabbing one might need been in Denver. No, not simply due to Nikola Jokić. He arrived for coaching camp carrying his ordinary disinterest and a brand new beard. As he enters his Tenth 12 months within the league, he has not modified.

Whereas Jokić may be the closest the NBA will get to an actual life Andy Kaufman bit, Calvin Sales space’s media session proved extra substantive.

The Nuggets failed of their effort to repeat as champions final season. Their playoff run was brief and calamitous. They managed to each fall behind huge to the Minnesota Timberwolves within the convention semifinals and blow a 15-point halftime lead in a Sport 7 on their very own residence courtroom. The lesson Sales space took from it was simply how tough it’s to go back-to-back.

Sales space stated Nuggets officers spoke to Los Angeles Rams officers about how onerous that’s. The Rams gained the Tremendous Bowl in 2022 and are additionally owned by Stan Kroenke. Denver, he stated, bumped into points early within the 12 months that sapped them.

“Repeating is the toughest factor to do in sports activities,” Sales space stated. “It brings on a variety of completely different pressures and tensions. And, I feel, fatigue, fairly frankly, from the beginning of the season. I don’t assume the In-Season Event helped that. It introduced out lots of people’s aggressive spirits. I feel we used a variety of power within the first a part of the season attempting to win video games. I feel it was a terrific expertise for us and we simply have an excellent higher appreciation of how onerous it’s to win, each earlier than and after.”

Now, the Nuggets will attempt to win this season, unencumbered by a prolonged playoff run.

The offseason introduced one other blow to them. For a second-straight summer time, they misplaced a key perimeter participant as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope went to the Orlando Magic in free company. They’ve been shedding a combat towards roster attrition, introduced on by CBA mechanics and likewise their very own unwillingness to enter the second apron this offseason to maintain Caldwell-Pope.

The Nuggets will attempt to exchange him the identical means they did with Bruce Brown — by trying internally. Peyton Watson confirmed indicators of development final season. Christian Braun is getting into his third 12 months. Denver traded up six spots within the again finish of the primary spherical for DaRon Holmes however obtained knocked again when he tore his Achilles tendon throughout NBA Summer season League.

Sales space stated the franchise is able the place it’s obligated to attempt to win and develop on the identical time. However participant growth might be messy, and veterans deliver extra certainty than youth, and the Nuggets try to maximise the remainder of Jokić’s prime and win as a lot as they’ll.

“In a greatest case state of affairs, I feel Nikola has like a first-rate 10-year competition window, and in case you rely the primary 12 months of that when Jamal (Murray) obtained damage, I feel we’re about midway by it,” Sales space stated. “We in all probability have about 5 extra single pictures. All these pictures rely. If we hit one among them, it’s nice. The sooner we hit it, the extra we will produce other conversations about different issues. It’s going to be extremely onerous to win one other one.”

It will likely be attention-grabbing to see how Denver tries to win one other title. Apart from the questions on the way it will exchange Caldwell-Pope and which of its younger gamers will emerge, there are also questions concerning the staff’s 3-point taking pictures.

Final season, the Nuggets took the fewest 3s per recreation of any NBA staff and had been thirtieth in proportion of their pictures that got here from 3, in line with Cleansing the Glass, although they’d the Tenth-best 3-point proportion. Caldwell-Pope was a 40 p.c 3-point shooter over the past 5 years.

Sales space admitted it is a matter the staff wants to watch. Then he went deeper on the rationale the franchise runs by on this.

“As a philosophical query, in case you’re higher than any person — like Nikola Jokić is healthier than everyone on the earth — why do the identical factor they’ll do and make it random?” he stated. “If we shoot the identical variety of 3s because the worst staff within the league they usually make greater than us that night time, they could beat us. Nikola Jokić mustn’t lose video games like that.

“I feel a part of that equation is that now we have the very best participant on the earth and the best way he performs the sport and manages the sport is in a means the place we don’t get a variety of 3-point pictures. He’s the very best floater shooter within the league, among the finest midrange shooters within the league, Michael Porter Jr. shot 55 p.c on midrange pictures final 12 months. It’s a extra complicated dialog than simply ‘we don’t have sufficient taking pictures and what do we have to do to deal with it?’”

The maths labored for the Nuggets two seasons in the past, and it didn’t final 12 months. We’ll see the way it goes in 2024-25.

Sam Presti talks growth

Thunder GM Sam Presti is at all times successful on media day. Yearly, he holds two lengthy media conferences, one earlier than the season and one after it. He approaches the occasions like a jam band and Presti takes the stage for some time. This 12 months, he went for about 90 minutes, and that was a brief efficiency. His media convention after the 2023-24 season went for two-and-a-half hours!

Presti had no scarcity of attention-grabbing insights and quotes this time.

“Social media is a sport,” he stated. “However scrolling is a way of life.”

Put that on a T-shirt.

One attention-grabbing factor he targeted on was how growth would possibly work. And whereas he cautioned it may not occur, he did assume the principles which have ruled growth prior to now may not apply subsequent time round.

Sam Presti was requested concerning the thought of growth at present. I feel it is value listening to his response.

“The concept of working off a algorithm that had been used when Hen and Magic had been rookies… I do not assume that is going to fulfill the scent take a look at for his (Adam Silver) administration pic.twitter.com/RCnbG9QiRw

— Andrew Schlecht (@AndrewKSchlecht) September 26, 2024

“The factor to notice concerning the guidelines are that a variety of the growth guidelines relative to the personnel stuff had been written in like 1980,” Presti stated. “They haven’t been modified since 1980. One factor that we find out about Adam Silver since he’s been the commissioner — and I feel he’s accomplished an unbelievable job of this — is he has modernized the league in each single doable means. I feel we’re essentially the most refined league in a variety of alternative ways. I feel the thought of working off a algorithm that had been used when (Larry) Hen and Magic (Johnson) had been rookies, I don’t assume that’s going to fulfill the scent take a look at for his administration. I additionally assume, once more, we’ve come a good distance and the world has modified since that time period.

“One factor the league is admittedly targeted on, if there’s a staff or groups which might be well-managed, you’re not going to randomly be deprived. So I feel if that ever comes about, I’m positive there will probably be loads of focus and work to ensure that there may be parity of alternative and, finally, equity about these guidelines.

“Additionally, team-building is a lot completely different than it was at that time and time. However these guidelines made it by ’80 to 2004 and I’m positive each step of the best way Adam has checked out each sq. inch of the league to ensure that it’s honest, but it surely’s additionally trendy, and I’m positive he’ll do this once more. However that will additionally by no means come to go as a result of I don’t know in the event that they’ll ever determine to do this.”

Jordi Fernández and the new-look Nets

The Brooklyn Nets held their govt media day final week on the eve of what is going to be an attention-grabbing season. Mikal Bridges is gone. Ben Simmons is getting into the final 12 months of his contract, and will probably be prepared to begin coaching camp. Jordi Fernández is about to run his first coaching camp as an NBA head coach. A younger and largely unproven roster should show it with him.

“I’m not guaranteeing something to anyone,” Fernández stated. “No minutes. No beginning spots. No rotation. Nothing. And I need everyone to work, present up, get one p.c higher every single day, and compete.”

Simply as attention-grabbing will probably be how the Nets method this season and past. They’re on the daybreak of their rebuild and will probably be one of many first groups to begin one underneath the brand new CBA. They’ll have 4 first-round picks within the 2025 draft, and apart from an entire lot of visits to Stuff Yer Face in New Brunswick, N.J., nothing appears assured for the group.

The Nets have accomplished a rebuild underneath basic supervisor Sean Marks earlier than and got here out of that faster than anticipated and with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Will they method it otherwise this time due to the brand new CBA, which places a bigger premium on picks and younger gamers and pleasant contracts?

“It’s a terrific query, as a result of it does look completely different,” Marks stated. “The panorama of the league now could be no person has gone by this earlier than. So 30 groups have inherited this new CBA, and we’re all attempting to determine how we’re going to react to it. There’ll be a primary responder, there’ll be a final responder, and there’ll be people who find themselves late to it.

“We’ve by no means had a chance like this earlier than, and that’s what excites each Jordi and I and the remainder of the group right here, is when you will have, whether or not it’s the draft property or the room arising and the younger gamers and the gamers now we have on this roster to assist construct and see what it seems like over the course of subsequent 12 months.

“That’s thrilling to me as a result of we’ve already obtained a bit little bit of a nucleus. We’ve obtained some items. I couldn’t even inform you how we’re going to make use of them. I feel staying versatile with what now we have goes to be actually essential as we construct this all through this 12 months.”

JJ Redick calls himself a “sicko”

JJ Redick is at all times a great quote, particularly as he defined his hiring standards for the Lakers teaching workers.

“One factor that was a non-negotiable was that everybody we employed was a sicko,” he stated. “A basketball sicko. And we’ve accomplished that. You need to really feel alive and you’re keen on basketball, come to one among our coaches conferences.”

Brad Stevens on the Celtics championship window

The Boston Celtics are on the market, in case you haven’t heard. Celtics president Brad Stevens stated that hasn’t triggered any issues for the basketball operations division.

The CBA is a degree of concern for the Celtics, too (drink), although maybe extra acutely than most. They’ve the third-highest payroll within the league this season — effectively above the second apron — and undertaking $200 million payrolls for years to come back.

That comes with some roster-building limits, not to mention the tax charges future Celtics possession should pay. That would shorten a franchise’s window of competition. Whether or not it does for the defending champions is one other matter.

“I feel you at all times really feel a way of urgency to win and put your self within the combine and we’ve been fortunate to be sustainably within the combine,” Stevens stated. “So, I’ll say with the brand new CBA and the basketball penalties which might be related to it and the upper-tax brackets that may be related to it, particularly with the repeater tax, I feel these are all issues that now we have to clearly be tremendous conscious of to proceed to attempt to put the very best product we will on the ground. And, sure, there are some actual challenges that may include that. Clearly we’re in an age and stage and group that we expect has an opportunity to be within the combine. We’d prefer to benefit from that whereas we will.”

(Picture of Sam Presti: Zach Beeker / NBAE by way of Getty Photos)