Christopher Dempsey

I can’t remember the last time I’ve been this bullish about the potential of a Nuggets team this early in a season. Actually, I think that is never. This team is as legit a contending team as there is. I truly believe it will be the best Nuggets team ever. #NuggetsSky

NO is a super high volume ball screen team, and they got just 0.778 points per possession on screening action. That is bad. Which is good for Denver. And they held NO to 44 points in the paint on 55 percent shooting. That is also well done by the Nuggets. We’ll break down more of this soon…

I have to say, even though the Nuggets have scored at least 122 points in every game this season, I’ve been as impressed with their defensive improvement and buy-in as the offense. Except for a few-minute span at the end of the 2nd quarter tonight, the Nuggets locked down New Orleans.

And, ho hum, Nikola Jokic with ANOTHER triple double: 25 points (on 9/10 shooting) with 19 rebounds and 10 assists.

He’s simply a living legend.

Also essential to the victory was the play of Tim Hardaway Jr. He was brilliant with 20 points off the bench, including 4 3-pointers, and played his typical solid defense as well.

Jamal Murray wants to be an All-Star, and he’s no doubt having an All-Star start to this season. Dominated tonight with 43 points on 16/29 shooting. He had 23 points in the 3rd, 32 in the second half overall, and the Nuggets walked out of Minnesota with a 127-114 win. #NuggetsSky

The Minnesota Timberwolves say star guard Anthony Edwards will be re-evaluated in a week after an MRI revealed a right hamstring strain. This means the Nuggets will not face him tonight when they take on the Timberwolves in Minnesota. #NuggetsSky

We’re starting to see more of this type of multiple-effort, great defense out of the Nuggets. They are remaking themselves on this side of the court and there are some good early returns as they look to be more consistent and disruptive. They had 14 steals in Saturday’s game vs. Phoenix. #NuggetsSky

Love this opening night matchup tonight for the Nuggets. Golden State was a transformed team after acquiring Jimmy Butler at the trade deadline, going 23-7 to end the season. And the addition of Al Horford this season has them highly regarded. Just a great test to kick things off. #NuggetsSky

Tim Hardaway Jr. is much more than just a 3-point shooter #NuggetsSky

Love the shooting that Julian Strawther has put on the court this preseason. Came into tonight’s game shooting 57 percent from the 3-point line, and is 2/5 from the arc already tonight. #NuggetsSky

This was the best action the Nuggets ran last night and shows you just how quickly they can use their two bigs — Jokic & Valanciunas — to put the opponent in a real bind. Great, great stuff. #NuggetsSky

Not hyperbole here: That might have been the best half of preseason basketball I've ever seen.
This Nuggets team has so many ways to score, it's amazing. I will also say the Clippers are definitely legit with all of their new additions as well.

This Nuggets preseason game feels like a regular season game. A ton of intensity on the court

F) Adelman on playing both Jokic & Valanciunas together: “Those two guys will play together at certain points.”

Also, Cam Johnson said his goal is to play more than 75 games this season. He played in 57 last season…Peyton Watson has worked on his jump shot and “I’m excited to take that next jump.”

D) Bruce Brown’s outlook on the team: “The vibe is great. The vibe is at an all time high. We all know what we want to do at the end of the day.”

E) Jamal Murray on having a chance to really prepare his body for the upcoming season: “I just feel a lot better than I did last summer.”

B) Jonas Valanciunas stressing he’s happy to be a Nugget: I’m here, I”m happy to be here. And I’m going to dive in to win more games than ever.”

C) Head coach David Adelman’s outlook on his team: “This conference is unreal and we know that. And we’re part of it. We’re a problem.”

The press conference portion of Nuggets Media Day lasted 3 hours this morning. Here are the things that resonated with me most.

A) Nikola Jokic reaffirming his commitment to the Nuggets, saying “My plan is to be with the Nuggets forever,” when asked about a contract extension after the season.

Nikola Jokic on not signing an extension this year, and the possibility of doing that next summer. “My plan is to be with the Nuggets forever” #Nuggets

At the risk of…whatever, given the fact I am and have always been in the media. There are too many in-game interviews for all of these sports. Sheesh! Let these coaches and athletes do their jobs. And talk to them afterward.

- Longest road trip is 7 games in 12 days from Dec. 27-Jan. 1, 2026. Very compact amount of time for that many road games. Depth will be tested.
- 26 games on national TV
- The longest homestands are 4 games. There are three such instances.

What’s catching my eye about this season’s slate…
- 3 of first 5 games on the road
- A stretch of 10 of 14 on the road from Nov. 11-Dec. 7
- 16 sets of back to backs — including three that are consecutive sets of back-to-backs. I’ve never seen that before

Here is the Nuggets schedule for the 2025-26 season! Things get started Oct. 23 at Golden State

Here is the Nuggets preseason schedule. They'll play just 1 exhibition game at home
#NuggetsSky

In case Nuggets fans had not seen this. This should put the Jonas Valanciunas saga to bed. #NuggetsSky

The Nuggets just made official their trade for Jonas Valanciunas, capping off a stellar transaction season. #NuggetsSky

Tamar Bates settled in and played well in the 2nd half.

Defensively, you’re starting to see what the Nuggets want to be. Disruptive in taking away the paint, but also getting out to the 3-point line.

Quick takeaways from tonight’s Nuggets summer league opener:

Daron Holmes looks great, and has a LOT in his offensive bag. 3-point shooting; driving closeouts; creating off the dribble. Really well done and looks healthy.

Hunter Tyson had a good start, now is searching for consistency

YouTube video by Curious Mike Thank you Denver/How I Found Out I Got Traded — Michael Porter Jr.

If you haven't seen Michael Porter Jr's very classy farewell video to the Nuggets here is the YouTube link to it. It is about 12 minutes and well worth your time #NuggetsSky

youtu.be/nKO8vdbuQHE?...

The MPJ trade is now official #NuggetsSky