I was thinking about who might be backing Aaron Gordon up this year and that led me to thinking what a lineup without Gordon, CB, Cam, etc. might look like since those guys all sustained some injuries last year. I don’t think CB is a guy who will sit to stay fresh, but pretty much everyone else besides Jokic I would expect to miss a little time for load management. What’re yalls thoughts on this?

from The Athletic:

”The local broadcasts will sound different this season. Noah Reed takes over play-by-play duties from Chris Marlowe, with Katy Winge becoming the lead color analyst. Former NBA guard Jason Richardson joins the studio and will serve as a second analyst for select home games. Lauren Gardner returns as a host and reporter, while Vic Lombardi is back as the lead studio host.”

Happy for Winge, she deserves it, but Marlowe and Hastings have been the combo “since Hector was a pup,” as Marlowe would say.

What are your hot takes or unpopular opinions of this season?

Mine are that we'll be 5th-6th seed. Possibly even play-in. Less than 50 wins. I genuinely think our defense is so bad we won't be able to compete with the top seeds.

Jesus Christ, if this is the level of bullshit we can expect this year there’s barely any point in even playing. These refs are the stupidest c*nts I’ve ever seen.

It’s only pre season so who gives af, but still, how stupid.

The last 90 minutes - titled "NBA deep dive". I have not listened, but thought I'd share in case anyone is interested

By bleacher report*, whoops, should’ve been in the title

Not really news to anyone, but lmao

https://br.app.link/E0T236y0h7b

Top 10:

1. Jokic
2. Haliburton
3. Luka
4. Trae
5. Cade
6. LaMelo
7. Shai
8. Brunson
9. Castle
10. LeBron

Murray was 12

Anyone underrated? What do you guys think?

I know it’s the preseason and I’m sure a lot of this is Coach Joerger coming in, but I love how our defense finally doesn’t look like playing 2K on Easy difficulty with these guys on the court.

It feels like everyone tries harder when they’re out there putting in effort on defense, and we look so much less lost out there compared to the past two years. If Spencer plays some D this year, I feel like we can have a formidable defensive lineup when we need an end of game stop.

I have been a DeRozan fan since he was at USC and I’ve had Nuggets season tix for years, but I’m shocked at how much I’m enjoying how this team is looking. I don’t think we’re at a San Antonio/OKC level, but things were looking bleak for a while this offseason.