Game Day (Preseason): Nuggets (0-0) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 10/10/23

[Split T]

KBD and Bol both did a lot of good things but with some bad plays mixed in. I hope to see very little of Little.

Ya Little has been kinda disappointing so far

[Split T]

My updated protection of the roster(1-19):

Tier 1(Locked in starters):
1. Book
2. KD
3. Beal
Tier 2(Likely Starters)
4. Nurkic
5. Okogie
Tier 3(Locked in rotation players)
6. Grayson Allen
7. Eric Gordon
Tier 4(Likely rotation players)
8. Drew Eubanks
9. Yuta Watanabe
Tier 5(Last rotation spot options)
10. Chimieze Metu
11. Keita Bates-Diop
12. Jordan Goodwin
13. Bol Bol
14. Nassir Little
Tier 6(Last roster spot/2-way/cut candidates)
15. Damian Lee
16. Keon Johnson
17. Ish Wainright
18. Saban Lee
19. Udoka Azubuike

[Superbone]

Saben Lee sucks. Go away.

His stats look decent but the eye test wasn't great, and that -23 stands out like a sore thumb when looking at the rest of the lineup.

With the game on the line he tried to do it all and got stuffed at the rim.

[djy2j]

Not a fan of how good the Nuggets rookies look. Smh. I need Denver to take a good step back.

It would be nice if we could have a rookie. Some year. Just once.

Should have one next draft, as we are not allowed to trade the pick.

[djy2j]

Saben Lee sucks. Go away.

His stats look decent but the eye test wasn't great, and that -23 stands out like a sore thumb when looking at the rest of the lineup.

Was shocked at the - 23 as I thought he looked capable out there

[djy2j]

Keon intrigues me…not as someone to get minutes or even necessarily a roster spot, but I do think he has some potential as an athletic defensive guard. I hope we can at least keep him on a 2-way

I believe he is on an actual rookie guaranteed deal so he cannot be a 2 way. Hoping they find a team to give a second round pick (I'm looking at you OKC). But probably not. Im not sure I've seen anything to justify an actual roster spot here.

[djy2j]

Its fun to root for Bol Bol but man is he bad. Also, I really don't think center is the best fit. Way to frail. He's probably best as a spot up shooter until he gets some understanding of the game. He doesn't lack confidence. He literally jumps at everything and is out of position on D atleast once every possession. Another issues is he thinks he has handles but loses the ball almost every time he makes a move to the rim. Quite an enigma because he's got some natural ability.

[Sunsfanatic76]

Saban Lee looks like he might fill the Landry Shamet role for an oft mediocre player that gets more playing time than he should. We really need to find a better value guard option somewhere.

[JeremyG]

Not a fan of how good the Nuggets rookies look. Smh. I need Denver to take a good step back.

It would be nice if we could have a rookie. Some year. Just once.

Should have one next draft, as we are not allowed to trade the pick.

Not allowed to trade it…until after we make the pick.

[Drewsprocket]

Saben Lee sucks. Go away.

His stats look decent but the eye test wasn't great, and that -23 stands out like a sore thumb when looking at the rest of the lineup.

With the game on the line he tried to do it all and got stuffed at the rim.

Lee and Bol Bol junk up the offense and make it harder for better players to show their stuff (KBD and Little). I hope we get Goodwin back soon.

[Superbone]

I don’t see Lee getting any playing time during the regular season. I’d be surprised if he cracks the rotation.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Its fun to root for Bol Bol but man is he bad. Also, I really don't think center is the best fit. Way to frail. He's probably best as a spot up shooter until he gets some understanding of the game. He doesn't lack confidence. He literally jumps at everything and is out of position on D atleast once every possession. Another issues is he thinks he has handles but loses the ball almost every time he makes a move to the rim. Quite an enigma because he's got some natural ability.

Should’ve stopped after the first point. He fucking sucks and I don’t even want to see him on the Suns in preseason. One of the lowest IQ NBA players I’ve ever seen.

[Shabazz]

Its fun to root for Bol Bol but man is he bad. Also, I really don't think center is the best fit. Way to frail. He's probably best as a spot up shooter until he gets some understanding of the game. He doesn't lack confidence. He literally jumps at everything and is out of position on D atleast once every possession. Another issues is he thinks he has handles but loses the ball almost every time he makes a move to the rim. Quite an enigma because he's got some natural ability.

Should’ve stopped after the first point. He fucking sucks and I don’t even want to see him on the Suns in preseason. One of the lowest IQ NBA players I’ve ever seen.

I'm not sure what the point of signing him was. One year deal with no option afterwards. I'd much rather have 4 years of Rookie scale Toumani and we could have, had we not signed Bol and inlcuded Ish in the Nurkic deal instead.

Maybe he surprises, but that signing felt like an attempt to divert fan attention from the fact that we just salary dumped Cam Payne.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I think it’s just a KD connection and that’s as deep as it gets.

[Shabazz]

[ShelC]

Postgame Quotes and Videos

Spoiler: show/hide

[ShelC]

Tough game to evaluate because our Big 3 wasn't out there to draw the defense away from anyone. Generally, I thought our offense was sloppy with a lot of TOs and deflected passes which is to be expected. A lot of drive and kick which Denver was prepared for, hardly any pullups. Allen got it going and was tough getting in the lane and taking it to the basket but was part of the TO problem with 5. Just felt like Denver was collapsing hard on him and waiting for the kickout. He's a competent ballhandler and smart enough to play the right play so he could be part of a bigger backcourt with Book sharing PG duties.

Okogie showed his all around game but we know on offense it's all about consistency with him. He won't get as many opportunities to handle or score the ball playing with the main guys so he'll have to make the most of what he does get.

Lee looks the part and is likely a guy who's much better in less minutes where he can play to his strengths getting others involved. He was getting into the lane well enough but couldn't really do anything when he got there. He kind of feels like a Vogel type of player but hopefully we don't force minutes with him.

Nurk was Nurk, tough inside and very versatile on offense. Loved the 8 FTs. Metu's 3 looks really good but otherwise he's kind of just out there. Wish he worked inside a bit more with his athleticism, seems like he just floats. KBD and Little are still kind of eh. Need to see them with the main guys but I think that last forward spot is still up for grabs and may be split between all 3 at points during the season. Yuta seems to have his spot in the rotation.

Generally the defense kind of sucked, which was a bit surprising considering that's Vogel's strength. Even with the backups it seemed like we were just giving up 3s, especially in the corner and leaving our feet defensively so that's gotta get cleaned up. We had no answer for Strawther which is kind of annoying since you'd think someone would step up defensively. Good run for the backups tho, they need the minutes to learn how to play together.

[Split T]

Keon intrigues me…not as someone to get minutes or even necessarily a roster spot, but I do think he has some potential as an athletic defensive guard. I hope we can at least keep him on a 2-way

I believe he is on an actual rookie guaranteed deal so he cannot be a 2 way. Hoping they find a team to give a second round pick (I'm looking at you OKC). But probably not. Im not sure I've seen anything to justify an actual roster spot here.

Ya we’d have to cut him and hope he doesn’t get claimed off waivers. Then hope he signs a 2-way with us. I don’t know what his market is.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Its fun to root for Bol Bol but man is he bad. Also, I really don't think center is the best fit. Way to frail. He's probably best as a spot up shooter until he gets some understanding of the game. He doesn't lack confidence. He literally jumps at everything and is out of position on D atleast once every possession. Another issues is he thinks he has handles but loses the ball almost every time he makes a move to the rim. Quite an enigma because he's got some natural ability.

Should’ve stopped after the first point. He fucking sucks and I don’t even want to see him on the Suns in preseason. One of the lowest IQ NBA players I’ve ever seen.

OK, I've seen him have far worse games than this one when I actually sat through it. His body language completely changed after hitting the weird stepback 3. Still way too many dumb decisions but at least he didn't embarrass himself on every possession in this game.

[Mori Chu]

KBD and Little have been most disappointing to me so far. I really thought KBD would challenge for a starting spot. So far he hasn't fit in well and looks out of sorts. Little was also a guy who looked great in the highlight reels on YouTube, but he hasn't shown much for us yet.