Jamal Murray Rumors

“When it comes to the last couple weeks for you, what went into the assembly of this roster?” David Adelman: “Yeah, I mean it was a lot of conversations with Ben and John and Josh. I think we were trying to find pieces that fit — not just names that people knew. We feel like all these guys do complement the group that’s been here, the group that’s accomplished so much over all these years in Denver. And I can tell you right now just from my messaging with Aaron Gordon, Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic — those guys are excited. And that brings something new for us. They feel like a new gym is going to be there. And for those guys who have been around for so long, sometimes you need that. You need a little bit of change, and this change is a good change.”

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At this stage of his career, Edgecombe might be better suited playing off the ball. But a Western Conference scout doesn’t have a problem with his desire to be a point guard. The scout noted that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Alex Caruso, and Cason Wallace shared point-guard duties for the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers. He thinks Edgecombe can play that role. The scout also pointed out that Jamal Murray is a point guard for the Denver Nuggets, and that De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper will share ballhandling duties for the San Antonio Spurs.

inquirer.com

LeBron James: "And then (the Thunder) come off the bench with one of my favorite teammates of all time, Alex Caruso, who is like the dog. He's the ultimate Swiss Army knife. We've literally seen him guard Giannis. We've seen him guard the Joker. You know, we've seen him guard Ant, we've seen him guard Julius Randle, we've seen him guard Jamal Murray throughout this whole postseason."

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Pierce said the Nuggets should acquire six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan from the Kings in a trade that would bring Michael Porter Jr. to Sacramento. Pierce seems to think the core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and DeRozan could help the Nuggets contend for another championship following back-to-back second-round playoff exits. “For the next five years, if you got the best player, you got to put some pieces,” said Pierce, a 10-time All-Star who was named NBA Finals MVP after leading the Celtics to a championship in 2008. “I feel like if they had a DeMar DeRozan with that team right now, with Joker, he don’t need to be the best player or the second-best player every night. He is going to give you more than what Michael Porter Jr. gave you.”

Sacramento Bee

Both are eligible to be traded — former general manager Calvin Booth explored deals involving Murray last offseason before giving him the extension, league sources told The Post — but ultimately, those recent votes of faith would suggest that Porter is the odd man out.

Denver Post

And while not every player endorsed the 44-year-old as explicitly as Gordon — Nikola Jokic said that’s “above my pay grade” — the locker room’s evaluation of Adelman was entirely positive. “I think he did a great job,” Jamal Murray said, pointing out “the different schemes that we came up with.” “It’s a tough spot to be,” Jokic said. “He had three games to change something, and I think he changed the energy. I think the guys were woken up a little bit. The guys had more energy. He made us believe in something, and we played good, you know? We played a seven-game series with probably the best team in the NBA, and we had opportunity. We had chances. So I think he did a really good job.”

Denver Post

Sam Amick: When they fired Michael Malone and Calvin Booth, we had stuff that's already out there about the fact that one of the things that ended up tripping Malone up at the end was that he was giving the star treatment to Joker, to Jamal, and to Russ. and that locker room was like, ‘Wait a minute, like two of these things are not like the other.’ And that caused issues.

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Vinny Benedetto: Jamal Murray on the confidence this core can still win a second championship: "100%. We just came up short tonight."

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Vinny Benedetto: Aaron Gordon is officially questionable for G7 with a hamstring strain. Jamal Murray is probable with an illness. Russell Westbrook also probable with a right hand sprain. Hunter Tyson is questionable with a right ankle sprain. Nikola Topic is only player on OKC's injury report.

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Murray underwent treatment all day Thursday, including receiving intravenous fluids, and wasn't officially cleared to play until about 45 minutes before tipoff. He quickly answered any questions about his ability to perform under the circumstances, hitting an and-1 3-pointer for the Nuggets' first basket and scoring 11 points in the opening quarter. "He opened the game really good for us, and he set the tone, but I don't think this [illness] affected him at all," said Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic, who had another dominant performance with 29 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists. "When you play the game, I think you don't think about what you have or whatever is the problem."

ESPN

Murray played a game-high 42 minutes despite "everything kind of bothering me," including having difficulty breathing at times. Denver outscored Oklahoma City by 28 points with Murray on the court, including an 11-point margin while he played the entire third quarter and the Nuggets seized control. "Once the game starts, the team needs you and the adrenaline kicks in," Murray said. "You see a couple of shots going in and you just suck it up and play through it."

ESPN

Nuggets interim coach David Adelman acknowledged that he was concerned about how much the illness would affect Murray. Those worries ended by the midway point of the first quarter. "I kind of was watching the first six minutes [thinking], 'Is this real? Can he do it?'" said Adelman, who celebrated his 44th birthday Thursday. "And I thought he had good energy and good juice. There was a couple of times where he really wanted to go back to get the ball. He was so gassed, having a hard time breathing. But that's Jamal Murray. It's almost like the worse it is, the better off it's going to be. And what a tough-minded, tough-minded man."

ESPN

Denver’s lack of depth in this series has had Adelman searching for someone, anyone, to come off the bench and make a meaningful contribution. Strawther has played 54 minutes across the six games, or a little under seven minutes a night. Fourteen of those minutes came in Game 2, when the Nuggets were smoked 149-106 and everyone on the roster got into the game. Thursday’s 20 minutes were his series-high. The Nuggets simply needed someone with fresh legs, and Strawther provided that and a lot more with the season hanging in the balance. “We’re all super happy for him because we know what he’s capable of,” Murray said. “Yoy can see how he can impact a game quickly in a high-pressure moment. His energy really set the tone for us. Everybody kind of realized what was going on, and we were able to build off of it.”

New York Times

Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic have each played in six different Game 7s. OKC's entire roster has played in 3. Add the rest of Denver's roster and it's 36-3. 🤯 (via O. Phillips)

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