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Brendan Vogt: David Adelman on Christian Braun, who is doubtful to play tonight: “I don’t think he’ll play…just want to make sure that his explosion - his comfort level is where it should be. Cam Johnson is the same way.”
Bennett Durando: Nuggets’ plan is for Nikola Jokic to start tonight despite minutes restriction. David Adelman really wanted to temper expectations for Jokic in his pregame presser.
David Adelman couldn’t make sense of what he was watching, but he could make out the neighborhood. Minneapolis was his first NBA home. He knew the city well. Just not in this ravaged state. “That’s a great community of people,” the first-year head coach of the Nuggets said. “I lived there for five years. And it was just so weird to see exactly where it was in the city, because I knew exactly where it was. And from the drone shot, it looked like a war zone. And that’s the country we live in.”
“It’s not about politics,” Adelman said. “It’s about human beings just taking care of each other, even if you don’t agree with each other. So yeah, extremely hard to watch. … I just hope we can figure it out. It’s supposed to be a bipartisan country. Hopefully, we can do that, come together. Whatever your main political views are, let’s not shoot each other.”
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Several coaches have commented on Flagg's relentless effort regardless of circumstances. "When he doesn't play well, I still really like watching him play because of the way he plays," Nuggets coach David Adelman said. "The intensity, I think that takes you a long way because you're going to go through ups and downs when you're young. He's really impressive." Flagg's blend of size, skill and feel for the game is unique, but it's his competitive character that earns the most praise from people around the league. "It's very rare that you get a guy that is that skilled and he plays the hardest of anybody on both sides of the floor," an East scout said. "That's a winning player."
Dave McMenamin: Nuggets coach David Adelman says Murray and Hardaway are probable tonight. Gordon sounds more like a gametime decision. No Joker, Valanciunas or Braun.
Vinny Benedetto: Followed up with David Adelman on Christian Braun’s status to see if CB reaggravated his left ankle sprain or if he came back and realized he wasn’t where he needed to be. DA’s answer:
Followed up with David Adelman on Christian Braun’s status to see if CB reaggravated his left ankle sprain or if he came back and realized he wasn’t where he needed to be. DA’s answer: pic.twitter.com/4RgqNxj2Jc
— Vinny Benedetto (@VBenedetto) January 18, 2026
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Adam Mares: David Adelman says Christian Braun participated in parts of practice today, as did Big Val. But added “we’re gonna be patient with CB.”
Nonetheless, Watson’s green light has been a worthy exercise for the Nuggets. As the rest of their lineup regains health, the Nuggets will be faced with a balancing act — to scale back Watson’s role an appropriate amount while also integrating his on-ball skillset to the offense in ways that it hadn’t been previously. “I think it’s just part of the NBA. We have not had that conversation,” coach David Adelman said in New Orleans. “I think what will happen is, as guys come back and the minutes go up and the restrictions are off certain people, we’ll have to feel out who we are as a team again. And that’ll be, we know we have something new with Peyton that he’s been able to do. And then you just add it to the package of guys that have come off the bench, are in the rotation. And I have to look back at these games and see what actually works. A lot of this stuff was patchwork as we went. Out-of-timeout plays. Just trying to get them in spots where they can be successful. And we’ve found some things."
Bennett Durando: David Adelman on Trey Murphy III: "One of the more underrated players in the West. He has given us buckets for years. I feel like his highlight dunks are against us. Now he gets a reverse 360 layup. ... I wish he would get traded to the East.”
Bennett Durando: Several injured Nuggets players, including Christian Braun, didn't come to New Orleans with the team. David Adelman: "We have guys back home. We have staff back home. It felt like nobody was on the bus. It's just been a really interesting time."
