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Because this is how the great minds work over in the Grading The Week offices, the scrum between Kroenke Sports & Entertainment and Comcast always reminded us a little of this old Bugs Bunny routine.
In this particular gag, our man Bugs is getting Yosemite Sam all worked up again. The long-eared galoot draws a line in the sand and dares Sam to cross it. Sam does. He does it again. Sam crosses it again. Bugs keeps drawing lines and backpedaling out of town, through the desert southwest, and eventually up a slope. Eventually, Bugs draws a line that will clearly leave Sam’s right foot dangling over a cliff and send him careening from great cartoon heights into a deep gorge below. Sam crosses the line anyway and, sure enough, falls.
Six years ago, KSE said that it was balking at Comcast’s attempts to move it to a separate, premium sports-related tier and away from the basic cable package to which it had so long been stationed.
Five years ago, same line. Same complaint. Four years ago, same line. Same complaint.
Then three years. Then two.
This past Tuesday, Altitude held a news conference to triumphantly announce its return to Xfinity customers — on a separate, premium, sports-related tier. Sam crossed that line after all.
KSE-Comcast dispute finally ending — A-minus
Now it’s not a letter-perfect comparison, and any deal that makes the best two teams in town — the Nuggets and Avalanche — available to a majority of Front Range television homes is better than no deal.
Although, did we mention that all sides also announced, as part of the agreement, that the said separate, premium sports-related tier, was increasing in price in April from $9.99 per month to $15.95? Just in time for the playoffs.
The RSN model is fading, yet the over-the-air ratings for the Nuggets and Avs were reportedly solid enough to keep Comcast at the bargaining table. These are good things. But to the scorekeepers in the GTW crew, there was only one winner in the Altitude-vs-Comcast standoff, ultimately — and it was the latter. By a nose.
Sadly, the victory was largely symbolic. Because there was a heck of a lot of losers. Denver fans, some of whom missed one of the greatest seasons in Nuggets history (’22-23) and the Avs’ first title-winning team (’21-22) in roughly two decades, were chief among them.
Necas vs. Mikko — B
Meanwhile, when it comes to the biggest trade of the winter, the deal that sent Avalanche star Mikko Rantanen to Carolina, the only fair judgment will come after the Stanley Cup Playoffs for both Colorado and the Hurricanes. That said, Team GTW can’t deny that the cat-quick, 26-year-old Necas has come out of the gate faster than the Moose in his new digs. From Jan. 31-Feb. 7, the new Avs forward piled up four goals and an assist in five games — and the burgundy and blue won four of those five heading into the 4 Nations break. Rantanen, meanwhile, put up a goal and two points over his first six games since joining Carolina. And the ‘Canes, as of Saturday morning, were 2-4 since the trade. Time will tell, but maybe there’s something to this whole “Nathan MacKinnon Effect” after all.
Calvin Booth — D
The trade deadline came. The trade deadline went. Zeke Nnaji and Dario Saric are still here. The Nuggets general manager threw his bench under the bus. He threw their contracts under the bus. But how come he didn’t find room under said bus for the guy who gave out those deals to begin with? Booth caught lightning in a bottle in helping the Nuggets win their first NBA championship two years ago. Too bad he never found a cork.
https://www.denverpost.com/2025/02/08/altitude-comcast-standoff-kse-lost/

The basketball skill that Denver misses most about Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was a subject of banter between him and DeAndre Jordan when they encountered each other as teammates for the first time.
They work out at the same Los Angeles area gym during the summers. When they showed up in 2022, they were both new Nuggets — Caldwell-Pope via trade, Jordan via free agency.
“He brought it up to me,” Jordan remembered, grinning. “Us being competitors throughout the course of our careers, and me illegally screening him a ton.”
Jordan appreciates nothing more than verbal jousting, and Caldwell-Pope was always game. In teaming up, they discovered a stronger rapport that persists today, seven months after Caldwell-Pope signed with the Orlando Magic and moved on from Denver.
“That’s my brother for life,” Jordan said. “Our families grew close. Our children play and our wives are close. We are forever connected now.”
“He came out every night and he did his job,” said Peyton Watson, one of the young players who saw Caldwell-Pope as a mentor. “That’s something I took from him.”
The kinship Jordan felt with Caldwell-Pope is shared throughout Denver’s locker room, which welcomed him back with warm greetings Thursday night after the Nuggets defeated the Magic. Known for his indefatigable mastery of screen navigation, general defensive acumen and wise locker room presence, “KCP” became three of the most significant initials in franchise history despite only a two-year stay.
He was the player who dribbled out the clock in Game 5 of the 2023 NBA Finals, cementing the franchise’s first championship.
“The fans out here are great,” Caldwell-Pope reminisced before his Ball Arena return. “I came here, put in a lot of hard work and got a lot of fan love as well.”
Those fans saluted him with a standing ovation Thursday, accompanied by a jumbotron tribute video despite Jordan’s tongue-in-cheek insistence that Caldwell-Pope should be treated with hostility. “(Bleep) KCP,” he told The Denver Post when initially asked for comment.

But when confronted by their old friend in the heat of competition, the Nuggets couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces. Denver power forward Aaron Gordon and Caldwell-Pope both started laughing when Gordon caught the ball in the post during the third quarter, defended by the smaller guard. In Orlando last month, when the Nuggets first matched up against him, Caldwell-Pope struggled to keep a straight face after Jordan dunked on him and screamed over-dramatically.
The 36-year-old big man was following through on a pregame promise.
“I told him I was gonna try to dunk on his (butt),” Jordan said. “He was like, ‘Hell nah. You’ll never get me.’ And I got him. McKenzie, his wife, had some choice words for me after the game.”
“I called him afterward,” Caldwell-Pope said. “I was like, ‘I let you have that dunk.’ ”
The Magic’s season has ventured into troubled waters recently. They’ve lost 12 of 15, sliding from fourth to eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Caldwell-Pope’s three-year, $66 million contract has been the focus of much retrospective examination back in Denver, where the Nuggets declined to fully match Orlando’s offer last summer. Confronted by the second luxury tax apron, they chose to sacrifice depth and wager on the development of Christian Braun.
“I left it up to my agent,” Caldwell-Pope said, referring to Klutch Sports Group founder Rich Paul. “I let him handle that situation, and here we are. I don’t get much details. Just, do I want to go here? Do I want to go there? Other than that, he for me did a tremendous job to get me here, and I’m excited to be here in this organization.”
Braun has outpaced expectations. He contributed 16 points, eight boards, four assists and three steals in the win against Orlando. In the last 13 games, he’s averaging 18.1 points and 5.8 rebounds, shooting 62% from the field and 41.7% from 3-point range. He recently passed Giannis Antetokounmpo for the league lead in fast break points per game.
Caldwell-Pope’s production has dropped with the offensively challenged Magic. His 10.6 points per 36 minutes are a career-low; his 31.4% outside shooting clip is the lowest in nine years.
Do the individual stats justify Denver’s decision? There are other nuances to consider. Caldwell-Pope still represents one less reliable player in the rotation. And the Nuggets have regressed from eighth to 17th in defensive rating without their former lead defensive guard. Caldwell-Pope was intuitive and alert. He was quick and crafty when fighting over screens, even bending whistles to his will. Jordan knows this all too well. It’s a trait Braun is still developing.
“He was really good at screen navigation,” Braun told The Post. “He got away with a lot of stuff. Obviously, he’s an older player, but he was really good at drawing offensive fouls, running into screens, falling down. We know that if he got screened pretty hard, the next one he was gonna get an illegal screen (call).”
Still, Caldwell-Pope is getting paid 3-and-D money on his new deal, and his 3-pointer hasn’t been falling. Would $22 million per year have been worth it for the Nuggets to retain his defensive talent?
Caldwell-Pope’s former teammates aren’t worried about litigating that. His brief return was used as a moment for nostalgia and appreciation. Even Braun, whose opportunity has increased since the veteran’s departure, looks back on KCP’s time in Denver with fondness.
“If he saw (you do something wrong), he would tell you, ‘Hey, do this.’ But he wasn’t ever a guy that was going to yell at you or try to embarrass you or single you out,” Braun said. “He was going to come to you and grab you in a timeout, come to you and grab you off the court. … He was always willing to teach.”
From a personal life standpoint, Caldwell-Pope loves his new home. He and his wife are raising four children, the youngest of whom they welcomed three months after the Nuggets won the 2023 title.
“Great weather,” Caldwell-Pope said, laughing. “Just being in Orlando, kind of picked up my golf game a little bit more. Enjoying the city. It’s nice and warm. My family loves it. We love being there.”
When he and Jordan saw each other at the gym last summer, Jordan jeered his friend and talked trash.
“I was telling him he was a traitor,” the veteran center said, shrugging. “He came in with his Orlando gear on.”
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https://www.denverpost.com/2025/02/07/kentavious-caldwell-pope-magic-contract-nuggets-denver/

Before their season tipped off last September, Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth candidly estimated that “we have nine real guys” on the roster.
After the NBA trade deadline came and went quietly in Denver, Booth was asked to reassess that statement.
“It’s really difficult to determine our starting lineup, right? We have six or seven starters, and we have a drop-off after that,” he said Thursday at Ball Arena. “And I think that’s not an insult to anybody, to Julian (Strawther) or any of the other guys on the roster. But I just think that’s where we’re at. I think those six or seven guys have played that well.”
The Nuggets (33-19) ended the night in third place in the West and only 2.5 games back of Memphis for second, no small feat in a conference brimming with depth. Thirteen of 15 teams are competitive as the All-Star break nears.
Denver cannot say the same for its depth, which has dwindled over the last two years since the franchise won its first championship. The six players Booth had in mind were self-explanatory: Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun and Russell Westbrook. Peyton Watson is likely the seventh.
If the Nuggets hope to challenge Oklahoma City and other contenders for a spot in the NBA Finals, they’ll need to overcome the “drop-off” from within after they were one of four teams that didn’t make a move at the trade deadline.
“I think we liked everything that was happening in our rotation,” the 48-year-old GM said, “so we weren’t close to doing anything with anybody in our rotation.”
Booth’s focus is on lineup size when he evaluates the rest of the West. During his post-deadline media session, he made references to the newly bolstered frontcourts in Sacramento (Domantas Sabonis, Jonas Valanciunas), Los Angeles (LeBron James, Mark Williams) and Dallas (Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, Derek Lively II). He alluded to the center tandem in Minnesota that thwarted the Nuggets last season. And he confessed that Denver’s backup center position is “a concern,” particularly if Gordon remains hampered by injuries.
“I think DeAndre (Jordan) has done an admirable job, but he’s long in the tooth,” Booth said. “… The league goes in cycles. It’s getting bigger. I think having positional integrity and being able to play people at their proper positions and being big at the five is something that I think is important. Obviously, when we have Joker in there, we’re like that. And DeAndre, again, he has that size, but it’d be nice to have a legitimate bigger, younger guy.”
The Nuggets weren’t able to find that on the trade market — at least not for a price that satisfied their counterparts. Denver’s movable contracts were limited, in part because of multiple unsuccessful attempts to secure the very frontcourt depth Booth is determined to obtain. Dario Saric is getting paid the taxpayer mid-level exception ($5.2 million with a 2025 player option) while sitting on the bench.
More notably, Zeke Nnaji is the team’s fifth-highest-paid player despite remaining mostly out of the rotation. He’s under contract for three more years.
“You look at our salary sheets, and there are only so many contracts outside of our main guys that can go out. So it’s pretty easy to figure what guys were gonna go out if we did a trade,” Booth said when asked how the team is navigating Nnaji’s future. “I think he’s been playing great lately. If we had made a move, he probably would have been elsewhere. But he’s here today, and hopefully, he keeps on showing what he can do.”
The 24-year-old has issued a statement of intent while replacing an injured Watson as Denver’s backup power forward recently, guarding the likes of Zion Williamson, Paolo Banchero and Miles Bridges effectively during the team’s five-game win streak. By playing the four next to Jokic or Jordan, Nnaji has fulfilled a role Booth has envisioned for him, keeping with the executive’s broader philosophy about frontcourt size and “positional integrity.”
Still, even if his recent play opens up more opportunity, it will take time for Nnaji to reestablish his value as a trade chip or rotation piece. For now, he remains one example of how the Nuggets have backed themselves into a roster-building corner. Trying to trade him this season was a tough sell. Movable draft capital (aside from pick swaps) was also sparse, forcing Booth to be picky about if and when to pull the trigger on a trade.
“When I took over the job, I had to put together or we had to put together organizationally a team that we felt like could compete,” he said. “And that started out by using some of our future assets to get draft picks to take Peyton Watson, to take Julian. So I think from the start of my tenure here, we haven’t been the bank. We’ve been the person going to the bank and asking for a mortgage. I think we’d like to get out of that cycle, but also, we realize that Joker’s time is now.”
As long as Jokic continues to play at an MVP level, the Nuggets will remain firmly in the mix of title contenders. How they shape themselves around him will determine whether Ball Arena hosts a second banner ceremony.
They have the sixth-best record in the NBA, but they are 2-7 against the five teams above them.
Booth’s perceived drop-off from seven to eight in the lineup doesn’t fall directly to Jordan or Nnaji. It starts in the backcourt with Strawther, a promising second-year guard who’s still developing in an everyday role.
“I think Julian’s had moments that are good, moments that are bad,” Booth said. “I think defensively, it’s going to be a challenge for him in the playoffs right now. And so hopefully if he’s getting playoff minutes, he’s humming offensively, which hasn’t always been there.”
It’s a lot to ask of a 22-year-old. And if Strawther can’t hang as a defender, Booth and the Nuggets will be asking a lot of a seven-man rotation with spacing limitations and no true backup center.
A fractured version of that rotation has Denver surging right now despite multiple injuries — evidence of the talent and cohesion needed for a deep playoff run. But Booth understands the roster is built for that run like a house of cards. If any reinforcements are out there, they are beyond the horizon line now, waiting to join Jokic in a future season.
“We’re going to need health,” Booth said, “as we’re constructed right now.”
https://www.denverpost.com/2025/02/07/nuggets-trade-deadline-calvin-booth-roster/

In lacing up a lively history of the slam dunk, Mike Sileski digs into the social and racial implications of sports' most exciting play.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2025-02-07/slam-dunk-history

Despite scoring 42 points in the first quarter, the Clippers fade in the second half and can't mount a comeback in a 119-112 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
https://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/story/2025-02-06/clippers-lose-indiana-pacers-third-straight-loss

Despite scoring 42 points in the first quarter, the Clippers fade in the second half and can't mount a comeback in a 119-112 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
https://www.latimes.com/sports/clippers/story/2025-02-06/clippers-lose-indiana-pacers-third-straight-loss

Coach Michael Malone wants Michael Porter Jr. to shoot early and often.
So he did.
Porter scored 30 points on 11-of-16 shooting in the Nuggets’ 112-90 victory over the offensively-challenged Orlando Magic on Thursday night at Ball Arena.
“He’s one of the best shooters in the league and has one of the prettiest jump shots I’ve ever seen,” Malone said before the game. “He’s an artist out there, and when he’s open, we want him to let it fly.”
It was Porter’s third straight 30-point game — the first time in his career he’s scored 30 in three straight. He scored 36 against New Orleans on Monday night and tied a career-high with 39 against New Orleans on Wednesday night. He went off again on Thursday. Porter was 5 of 8 on 3-pointers and hauled in seven rebounds.
Nikola Jokic (28 points, 10 rebounds, 12 assists) notched his NBA-best 24th triple-double of the season.
The Nuggets’ overall numbers are looking pretty right now. They have won five games in a row, matching their season high. They are 8-3 in their last 11 games and improved to 10-1 in the second of back-to-back games. Denver routed New Orleans, 144-119, on Wednesday night at Ball.
The Nuggets moved into third place in the Western Conference after spending more than a month in fourth.
“We started off the season 11-10, and since then, we are 21-9,” Malone said before Thursday night’s game. “We’ve been playing a lot better basketball and a lot more consistent basketball. Obviously, we are far from being where we want to be, but throughout the season, guys have shown what they are capable of.”

The Nuggets played without starting point guard Jamal Murray, who sat out due to inflammation in his left knee. Given their recent schedule, the team decided getting Murray off his feet was wise. The team has been playing without guard Russell Westbrook, who’s been sidelined by a hamstring injury.
With Murray out, Jokic and Porter formed a dynamic duo, and it was clear Porter’s teammates were looking to feed him the ball.
“It’s been so much fun to watch Michael having these breakout games,” Malone said. “I said it a few days ago, ‘We don’t win a championship (in 2023) without Michael Porter Jr.’ He’s been such an important, integral part of our team and what we are trying to accomplish.”
RELATED: Nuggets Podcast: Denver stands pat, Lakers get Luka and insanity reigns at NBA trade deadline
Denver, playing its third game in four nights, looked a bit heavy-legged early on and its offense was ragged for much of the first half. But its defense was rugged, holding the Magic to 40% shooting (including just 3 of 13 on 3-pointers) and Denver took a 59-50 lead.
Christian Braun’s hustle sparked a second-quarter run. He hit the deck to corral a loose ball, and the sequence finished with Porter hitting a tough, running jumper in the lane to give the Nuggets a 34-32 lead with 7:07 left.
Then Porter and Jokic took over. The duo combined for 42 of Denver’s 59 first-half points. Porter scored 16 points in the second, including two dunks and two 3-pointers. Jokic, whose 13 points constituted much of the Nuggets’ first-quarter offense, popped in 10 more in the second when he drained two 3-pointers.
The Nuggets’ next game is Saturday night at Phoenix.
Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.
https://www.denverpost.com/2025/02/06/nuggets-magic-score-michael-porter-jr-artist/

In the latest edition of the Nuggets Ink podcast, beat writer Bennett Durando and sports editor Matt Schubert reconvene after the NBA trade deadline comes to a close. Among the topics discussed:
- For the second year in a row, Calvin Booth opted to stand pat at the NBA trade deadline. Is the inaction an indication the Nuggets general manager is happy with his roster? Or did he lack options to upgrade a team looking to win a second title in three seasons?
- Peyton Watson is out for a month after what at first blush appeared to be an innocuous injury. How worried should the team be about his availability for the playoffs?
- Head coach Michael Malone opted to keep Russell Westbrook in the starting lineup and send Christian Braun to be bench after Aaron Gordon rejoined the starting five. How motivated is Braun in the wake of the demotion? And did Malone make the right call?
- With trade season now officially complete, the fellas hand out grades for the most significant deals, including the shocking blockbuster that sent Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Subscribe to the podcast
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Producer: AAron Ontiveroz
Music: “The Last Dragons” by Schama Noel
Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.
https://www.denverpost.com/2025/02/06/nuggets-nba-trade-deadline-lakers-luka/

Rob Pelinka and the Lakers have done more than just figure out what comes next in post-LeBron James era — they have built a championship-caliber foundation.
https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/story/2025-02-06/lakers-trade-deadline-deals-luka-doncic-championship

One year removed from the most boring NBA trade deadline in recent memory, the league over-compensated.
The first six days of February were thrilling, bewildering, astonishing and heartbreaking. While the Nuggets remained idle, the roster movement around the rest of the NBA was significant.
Here are our winners and losers of trade season.
Winner: Lakers exceptionalism
Shield your eyes, Nuggets fans. Even small-market king Giannis Antetokounmpo has bought in. “You know what I want? I want Luka to the Lakers. I want Jokic to the Knicks,” the Milwaukee Bucks superstar said in jest after the Mavericks traded Luka Doncic to Los Angeles.
“I want all the Europeans to go to all the big markets to see something incredible. This is what I want. This is my dream.”
The tradition of NBA superstars being rerouted to Hollywood is inevitable. Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Pau Gasol, LeBron James and Anthony Davis have company. History will always repeat itself. This is the prevailing lesson of the 2025 trade deadline. If you’re thinking that surely the Lakers can’t keep getting away with this, know that they always will.
Loser: Nico Harrison’s aggressive legacy
Thrown out the window faster than you can say “defense wins championships.” That was the Dallas general manager’s first on-the-record comment after trading Doncic for Davis. The Mavericks proceeded to give up 91 points in the first half of their next game. Sure, Davis wasn’t available to suit up yet. Sure, they were missing other key players. The irony was palpable nonetheless.
Here’s the thing: Harrison’s last two trade deadlines were outstanding. I called the Mavs losers a year ago, an opinion that I’ll gladly admit aged poorly. P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford turned out to be the final pieces of a starting lineup destined for the NBA Finals. Kyrie Irving has been a revelation since Dallas traded for him in 2023 — a move as risky as it was splashy. Harrison was ridiculed for that one at the time, too.
But each of those transactions orbited Doncic. They’re all nullified now. Harrison was able to build a contender despite trading Kristaps Porzingis and letting Jalen Brunson walk in free agency for one reason. Now that centerpiece has slipped through the Mavs’ fingers as well. Maybe Harrison will prove me wrong once again, but I feel pretty comfortable betting on a spite-driven Luka.
Winners: Jimmy Butler. And Pat Riley. And Golden State.
Kumbaya! Butler gets his money, gets out of Miami and gets to play with a top-10 player of all time.
Riley gets rewarded for holding out until the last 24 hours of trade season, despite Butler’s best efforts to force the issue since December. Miami’s return for Butler managed to transcend his torpedoed value. The top-10 protected first-round pick this year should convey. And Wiggins provides a starting small forward replacement on an expiring contract, saving the Heat from being tied up in any long-term money. That was the fear that started this whole saga, after all. Miami was understandably reluctant to extend Butler at his age (35) and asking price, given the current CBA landscape.
Shouldn’t the Warriors have been equally skeptical, then? Maybe, but at least Butler’s reported two-year, $121 million extension is a more reasonable roll of the dice for them. Golden State gets a second star to pair with Steph Curry for the twilight of his career. When Curry is off the court, the Warriors’ offense is 12.3 points per 100 possessions worse than it is when Curry’s playing. That’s the third-most dramatic on/off scoring difference in the league, behind Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Butler is no longer burdened with being his team’s first option, but there’s room for him to dictate the offense during those crucial non-Steph minutes.
The contract is risky (think Paul George in Philadelphia), but the trade itself didn’t cost Golden State anything drastic. This made sense on all sides.
Loser: Phoenix’s locker room
The Suns spent more than a month openly pining for Butler, alienating Bradley Beal in the process. Most teams wanted no part of Beal’s contract, and Beal was unwilling to waive his no-trade clause — backing the Suns into an inescapable corner.
Then they changed course at the last minute and invited trade offers for Kevin Durant instead, only for Durant to reportedly dissuade Golden State from pursuing a reunion.
And so owner Mat Ishbia was out of options as the trade deadline passed, left with two disgruntled stars, the most expensive roster in the NBA and a future long since mortgaged. The Suns were tied for 10th in the West entering Thursday’s slate of games.
At least they were able to get rid of Jusuf Nurkic.
Winner: De’Aaron Fox
The biggest individual winner of this trade deadline, and it’s not close. Fox has immediately catapulted himself from a guy who received third-team All-NBA honors once to someone who could feasibly end up in the Hall of Fame — by virtue of being Victor Wembanyama’s partner.
I’m not even sure Fox is the best possible long-term point guard match for the French phenom. That’s why Fox is the winner here, rather than the Spurs as a team. Attaching yourself to a generational talent like Wembanyama early is a brilliant stroke of business.
And on top of that, Fox gets to be closer to home. He went to high school in Houston.
Loser: Your built-up emotional investment in your favorite team
I feel for Mavericks fans, some of whom literally showed up to American Airlines Center with a casket to mourn the loss of Doncic. I feel for Bucks fans, who lost a bonafide local hero in Khris Middleton on Wednesday. (And for what? Kyle Kuzma.) Middleton spent most of 12 seasons in Milwaukee, partnering with Antetokounmpo to lift a franchise from a 15-win season to a Larry O’Brien Trophy. His jersey number belongs in the rafters.
I feel for all the perennially tortured Kings fans out there, who spent eight years getting to know Fox before he asked out and got his wish. I still feel bad for the Karl-Anthony Towns loyalists in Minnesota, if we’re counting that 6-month-old deal as part of this wacky trade cycle.
“Nobody is safe in the league,” a solemn Nikola Jokic said this week, “and it probably should be that way.”
Maybe from a roster-building perspective. Not so much for the fans who lead with their hearts. Even if some of these trades age like wine, they’re all kind of a bummer.
Winner: Charlotte Hornets
A brief and hearty shoutout to Charlotte for getting back Dalton Knecht in the Mark Williams trade to the Lakers. The rookie sharpshooter from the Denver area should be in Dallas right now.
Loser: Super Bowl LIX
Who’s playing, again? Move aside, NFL. After months of chatter about declining NBA television ratings, basketball stole your biggest week.
https://www.denverpost.com/2025/02/06/nba-trade-deadline-winners-losers-mavericks-luka-doncic/
