The Denver Nuggets have been a decent NBA team in the West. Despite falling below the .500 mark last season (40-42) and just barely getting a playoff spot the Nuggets are still very hopeful since they still have a very young and solid lineup. This upcoming season, Denver will have to play without their leading scorer last year in Danilo Gallinari as he is now playing for the Los Angeles Clippers. But with their young lineup intact and Nikola Jokic quickly becoming a star, the Nuggets are looking to make a playoff run next season.
Denver exercises 4th-year option on Lyles and Mudiay
NBA.com has reported that the Denver Nuggets have picked up the fourth-year options on Trey Lyles and Emmanuel Mudiay for next season. The Nuggets are concentrating on committing to their young core line-up to gradually improve until they can become a big threat in the western conference for the years to come.
Trey Lyles entered the NBA in the offseason of 2015 where he was drafted by the Utah Jazz with the 12th overall pick, DesertNews reported. Lyles played two seasons in Utah, averaging 6.1 points, 0.3 blocks, 0.3 steals, 0.8 assists, and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 40 percent from the field, 34.3 percent from beyond the arc, and 70.9 percent from the charity stripe.
A couple of months back Lyles was traded to the Denver Nuggets for draft rights of Donovan Mitchell.
According to UpClosed, Emmanuel Mudiay began his professional basketball career in 2014 where he played for the Guangdong Southern Tigers in China. He played a total of 12 games in China averaging 18 points, 5.9 assists, and 6.3 rebounds.
The year after he entered the NBA when he was drafted by the Denver Nuggets with the seventh overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. Mudiay has had a decent career so far despite his shooting struggles, He has career averages of 12 points, 0.4 blocks, 0.9 steals, 4.8 assists, and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 36.9 percent from the field, 31.8 percent from beyond the arc, and 31.8 percent from the charity stripe.
ESPN adds Paul Pierce as studio analyst
Ben Cafardo of NBA ESPN has reported that Paul Pierce has joined the ESPN family as a studio analyst on NBA Countdown and The Jump. Paul Pierce said that despite retiring, he will always love basketball and every time he is invited as a guest on ESPN he always enjoys it. He thinks that after playing basketball it is a natural evolution that he will still be involved in the basketball community even after he retires.
