Denver Nuggets general manager, Tim Connelly joined VIc Lombardi on Altitude radio and discussed a number of things, none more notable than the fact that he’s heard players around the league are taking note of Nikola Jokic.
This offseason, it’s been encouraging. We’ve had a handful of agents reach out to us and say ‘my guy would like to play with Nikola Jokic.’ I think that speaks well to our future, when guys want to play with someone it’s really encouraging.
He also talked about their strategy this summer and how they won’t overpay for role players:
We will ‘dive’ in for a couple of guys.
There’s two or three guys that we will be very aggressive with. What we don’t want to do is sign guys just to sign guys, overpay for role players. There are a couple of guys that we think will be difference makers for us and we’ll mkae a good pitch to those guys and if that doesn’t work out, we’ll essentially step back a bit and let the market develop.
Apparently Jamal Murray had not one, but TWO hernias that he played through last season:
Most players would not play through those injuries. It severely limited his athleticism, really limited him defensively. He had ha hard time opening up, switching directions. He’s been an absolute monster this offseason. It will be exciting to see what he looks like fully healthy and he’s lived in the gym since the surgery.
The entire interview is packed with little nuggets of information if you’re listening closely. Connelly also talks about the Warriors and how they change the league and change the way teams build their roster. It’s a really great interview, just 10 days ahead of the draft.