Murray, 27, has one season remaining on his current deal before the extension takes effect, keeping him under contract in Denver until 2029. The two sides paused contract talks earlier this offseason, with the Nuggets planning to offer a max after the conclusion of the Paris Olympics, sources said. Murray suited up for the Canadian national team, which won its group but was eliminated in the quarterfinals without a medal.

Murray’s efficiency struggles from the 2024 NBA playoffs carried over to the Olympics. Averaging 21 minutes off the bench with Canada, he converted just 29% of his shots from the field and 14% of his 3-point attempts for 6.0 points per game.

He was 40% from the floor and 31.5% beyond the arc in Denver’s 12-game playoff run, which was cut short by Minnesota in the second round. Murray was attempting to play through a left calf strain after a season’s worth of minor leg injuries that caused him to miss 23 games, eliminating him from All-NBA and supermax contract eligibility. Nuggets president Josh Kroenke said in August that Murray was still dealing with an ankle injury “among others” during the playoffs and Olympics.

“He was playing through some dings, some pretty good dings, that probably would keep most people out of the game,” Kroenke said.

Murray returned to Denver after the Olympics and participated in workouts at Ball Arena.

“If Jamal is in shape and in condition, he’s a totally different beast,” general manager Calvin Booth said after the season ended. “He obviously wore down a little bit at the end of the playoffs.”

Other than those durability concerns, Murray’s 2023-24 regular season was exceptional. He matched or outdid previous career-bests in scoring (21.2 points), assists (6.5), rebounding percentage (6.6%), field goal percentage (48.1%), 3-point percentage (42.5%) and usage rate (27.3%) to help the Nuggets tie a franchise record with 57 wins. They were 16-2 when he scored 25 or more points and 8-9 when he played but scored 17 or fewer. In the games he missed, Denver went 13-10.

Murray has spent all eight years of his career in Denver, including a season-long recovery period in 2021-22 after he tore his left ACL. His partnership with Nikola Jokic has been the defining characteristic of two Western Conference Finals runs and an NBA championship, the first in franchise history. But he has never made an All-Star Game or an All-NBA team, hindered by injuries and slow starts to his seasons.

That lack of individual accolades is mostly eclipsed by his clutch reputation. In 53 career playoff games before 2024, he averaged 25 points, five rebounds and 6.3 assists on 40.4% 3-point shooting. He registered a 30-point triple-double in an NBA Finals game, scored 50 twice in a memorable 2020 series win over Utah and averaged 32.5 points in the 2023 Western Conference Finals. Even amid his struggles this spring, he made two game-winning shots against the Lakers in the first round, including a buzzer-beater.

The new extension means Murray is guaranteed more than $244 million over the next five seasons, starting with a salary cap hit of $36 million in 2024-25, according to Spotrac. The Nuggets now have a projected $200.48 million committed in salary to 13 players for the 2025-26 season, including three contracts that include player options (Aaron Gordon, Russell Westbrook, Dario Saric) and three more with team options (Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther). That leaves Denver with an estimated $7.8 million in room below the second tax apron.

Gordon is next up. He will become eligible for an extension on Sept. 27, a week before the Nuggets open preseason play in Abu Dhabi. There is mutual interest in getting a deal done, sources told The Denver Post.

After opening the 2024-25 season at home, Denver will play its first road game in Toronto, where Murray is traditionally greeted with applause and appreciation by Raptors fans. He grew up nearby in Kitchener, Ontario.

Bennett, which games do you have circled on the Nuggets schedule this year?

— Daniel, Sloans Lake

I’ll give you five since you asked so nicely (and because I was on vacation when the schedule was released). Let’s start with the obvious: Jan. 21, 2025. That’s the day the 76ers come to town. This game guarantees intrigue and entertainment regardless of what happens with the elephant in the room. If Joel Embiid plays, it’ll be his first time facing Denver on Nikola Jokic’s home turf since Nov. 8, 2019. If he doesn’t play, the peanut gallery will relish every second of it. Ball Arena will be uproarious. Either way, great theater. (My favorite scheduling tidbit: Inauguration Day is Jan. 20, meaning the NBA has guaranteed that an entire American presidency begins and ends without Embiid playing in Denver.)

2. The Grizzlies are the wildest wild card in the league after the high peaks and low valleys of the last two years. And the Nuggets get to visit them on Beale Street for an NBA Cup (in-season tournament) clash early in the season. I couldn’t make this list without highlighting at least one game that’ll be played on a goofy court, and this one is the most fascinating to me. Ja Morant back from the dead, just in time for the Group of Death.

3. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope makes his return to Denver on Feb. 6. It’s a tasty matchup even before factoring in what’s sure to be a tear-jerking tribute video. The Magic swept the Nuggets last season, and the last two meetings between these teams in Denver have both been memorable. Paolo Banchero scored 32 points in his first career triple-double to lead an 18-point comeback last January, ending with Jamal Murray’s last-second miss. The year before, Jokic sank a game-winning 3 with 1.2 ticks left. Orlando is intent on leveling up in the East now with KCP’s guidance.

4. Denver plays a back-to-back series in Oklahoma City, March 9 and 10. Major litmus test a couple of weeks after the All-Star break. The way I see it, the Thunder deserve to be clear preseason favorites to win the West, unlike last year when it felt like they were still in the early stages of their rise, punching above their weight class to hang with Denver in the standings. The Nuggets are back to being underdogs this season, in this matchup at minimum. The back-to-back also takes place during a grueling, make-or-break stretch of the schedule, surrounded by the Celtics, Kings, Suns, Timberwolves and Lakers.

5. Another back-to-back, Jan. 3 and 4 against the Spurs. After the first game in Denver, both teams fly to San Antonio. I for one have my fingers crossed the Nuggets bring Jokic along for Round 2 because it would be devastating to deprive basketball fans of a single Joker vs. Wemby battle from now on.

While the Nuggets got one championship out of the current ownership-GM-coach setup, there seems to always be a 5-10% simmer of conflict between the three dealing with salaries, roster-building and playing time. … Another season of not reaching the expected potential will bring about what: Malone or Booth gone? Trading assets (anyone not including Jokic)? Or more patience and retooling for next season?

— John Steichen, Fort Collins

Ah, the paradoxical question that obsesses every sports fan about his or her team. You pose it while hoping it will never be answered.

Seeing as this is awfully hypothetical and premature for a team that views itself as a top-tier championship contender, I can only give you educated guesswork, not reporting. My sense is that sweeping change would be more likely than complete static if the 2024-25 season went awry. What changes, exactly? Nothing you suggested is impossible, once you wrap your head around the notion that Jokic is the most essential person to any team in the league right now. By that logic, he’s also the only truly immovable object in the Nuggets’ organization.

This is a cutthroat league. Think about Milwaukee, another small market franchise that was lifted to the pinnacle by a transcendent European star. Two summers later, the coach was fired and a player from the championship core was traded. It all started with a second-round Game 7 loss the year after the Bucks won the title. Even in the underdog cities, patience runs thin.

All that being said, I have a hard time envisioning the Nuggets finishing lower than fourth in the West this season, barring major injuries. With a team this good, hot seats are usually a topic reserved for the playoffs, so I don’t see this as an imminent issue. Michael Malone is tenured and beloved in Denver, and Josh Kroenke hasn’t hesitated to speak highly of general manager Calvin Booth in the recent past.

From the outside looking in, it seems Booth and Malone are not aligned. Case in point is Zeke Nnaji. I read that Booth said Nnaji was drafted as a 4 and we (Malone?) tried to make him a small 5, and it hasn’t worked. It seems like Booth still talks as if Nnaji has value, but then he drafts Holmes who he says is a 4 all day. Two questions … Where do you think Booth stands on Nnaji? Are Booth and Malone not in sync on the direction to play youth?

— Michael, Denver

I don’t think it’s any secret that Malone is often reluctant to give extended runway to young players. Booth has placed a clear emphasis on the draft, out of necessity from his perspective. Malone has addressed this friction in his own words. “As a coach, I’m thinking, ‘How do we win the next game?’ That’s my job,” he said after the season. “Calvin, as a GM, is thinking about, ‘How do we win the next couple of years?’ That’s his job.”

Translation: A little tension is inherent and healthy in the working relationship between a coach and GM. Fair enough. It’s just a matter of whether the Nuggets can locate the proper balance. Nnaji might be an example that they haven’t fully accomplished that yet. Doesn’t mean they can’t.

From a game-to-game standpoint during the season, that balance rests on Malone’s shoulders. With DaRon Holmes II injured, there will be no rookie playing time for him to manage this season unlike the last two, perhaps a silver lining for a lousy situation. Instead, this year it’s more about Malone’s approach to expanding players’ roles: Christian Braun to the starting lineup (potentially), Julian Strawther to the rotation, Peyton Watson to the playoff rotation.

As for Nnaji, Booth has been clear that he still believes in him. But the contract obviously looks terrible right now. I think the best Denver can hope for is an enhancement of Nnaji’s trade value early this season — which, of course, requires playing time.

Thank you, Bennett, for your excellent insight to our beloved Nuggets. I know there is much debate about whether or not MPJ is worth his max contract and if he should be traded. I’m wondering what his next contract looks like if he continues to play like he has the past few years (solid offensive option and on the defensive glass while providing little defensively.) If he stays on this trajectory, do you think the Nuggets would offer him another max contract, or something more in line with the kind of contract Aaron Gordon has now? And would MPJ take that? What are your thoughts? Thanks!

— Eric, Parker

Depends on the market for him, right? If Porter makes it to the end of his current contract without getting traded, and suitors aren’t lining up to offer him a second max in free agency, then he might not have a choice but than to accept something less. I think a lot of teams are feeling stingier by necessity about giving out that type of contract right now, with the new CBA guardrails in place.

Based on that logic alone, I think MPJ is a case where it wouldn’t hurt the Nuggets to wait, rather than sign him as soon as he’s extension-eligible. It’s also relevant context that Denver’s current general manager is not the same GM who signed Porter to a max deal the first time.

There are still three years left on the current contract, so a lot can happen before 2027. Everything I hear is that Porter is a relentlessly hard worker when it comes to his body; maybe by then, his injury history is behind him and he’s one of the best shooters in the league without an asterisk. Or maybe the past keeps haunting him. Maybe he’ll be traded before 2027. It’s tough to project his future right now.

Are any local press traveling to Abu Dhabi with the team?

— Grace, Oakland

Let’s just say I’ve been researching neck pillows in my free time lately.

Looking ahead, who do you see having the better season at Ball Arena? The Nuggets and Avs are stacked and ready to make postseason runs again, but my money is on the Avs with Gabe Landeskog making his return. Seems like too many unknowns with the Nuggets rotation.

— Rip, Aurora

Someone always asks me a Nuggets-Avalanche comparison question. This one’s a coin flip, honestly. I’d push back on your point about the Nuggets’ unknowns by saying those are mostly deeper in the rotation, whereas Landeskog and Val Nichushkin are still the two biggest, most expensive unknowns in Denver sports right now (unless you count the buyout money Deion Sanders will owe CU once Florida State has an opening in December).

The West is so good in the NBA that I’d lean toward the Avs having a better regular season. But I’ll always maintain the Stanley Cup Playoffs can be especially cruel or fluky. The Nuggets have a better chance to reach their Finals.

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The Nuggets will test the limits of that question. The focal point of their controversial 2024 offseason was the forfeiture of free agent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a valuable 3-and-D guard who started almost every game the last two seasons and shot 41.5% from 3-point range. Adding to the apprehension was Denver’s acquisition of Russell Westbrook — a no-doubt Hall of Famer, but also more of a floor-condenser than floor-spacer.

Twelve of the last 13 NBA champions ranked in the top 10 in 3-point percentage during the regular season. (The one exception was the 2020 bubble Lakers, perhaps more of a commentary on how weird that season was.) Eight of those title-winning teams ranked in the top five. Emphasis on the 3-pointer inflated more than any world economy after the emergence of Steph Curry. The Celtics took the trend to new extremes last season by attempting 603 more 3s than the league average.

The Nuggets’ formula in recent years has been low volume, high efficiency. They ranked fourth in the NBA in 3-point percentage and 25th in attempts the year they won the title. Both of those rankings took a hit during the 2023-24 season, but the principle was unchanged. They were still 10th in percentage at 37.4%, teetering on the edge of what qualifies for modern championship legitimacy, but their 2,560 attempts were the fewest in the league.

As the second-most recent champs, they represent a stylistic antithesis to Boston.

Still, even for a team that has seemingly managed to transcend the trend of spamming 3s, the math can’t be neglected. What is the state of Denver’s arsenal entering 2024-25?

In shedding Caldwell-Pope, Reggie Jackson and Justin Holiday, the Nuggets are losing 728 of their regular-season attempts — more than 28% of them. Those three players combined to shoot the 3 at a 38.7% clip. Remove their numbers, and the new team percentage is 36.9%, which would’ve ranked 14th in the league.

That means the Nuggets need to regain at least some of the lost contributions, via returners or newcomers. Start with the latter. Based on 2023-24 stats, they’ve added back 351 combined 3-point attempts this summer between Westbrook and Dario Saric — bringing the net loss to 377 attempts. Denver won’t necessarily want Westbrook shooting a ton of 3s anyway; the two free-agent acquisitions combined for a 33% mark last season, a number heightened by Saric.

So to take the hypothetical team percentage a step further: If you replace the three departing players’ production last season with Saric’s and Westbrook’s, Denver’s new 3-point percentage comes out to 36.3% as a team. That would have ranked 19th.

This is all over-simplified, obviously. A player’s output can be a product of circumstance. Of his role within a system. Of his teammates. That much was evident with Jackson. He shot 44.3% from 3-point range in 23 games as a starter last season, when Denver needed him to replace Jamal Murray. In 59 games off the bench, he was a 31.6% shooter. The Nikola Jokic Effect is good for at least some of that massive gap. It’s encouraging that Saric (37.6% overall) shot 43% on wide-open 3s last season and 38.1% off the catch (the vast majority of his attempts).

As for Westbrook? Even if the Nuggets maximize his minutes alongside Jokic and the three-time MVP works his magic — elevating another teammate’s game just by existing in the same orbit — improved 3-point shooting probably won’t be the area where that takes effect.

More than 70% of Westbrook’s 3-point attempts last season were designated as wide-open, because opponents wanted it that way. He still made only 27.5% of those shots with the closest defender stationed 6 or more feet away — consistent with his overall 27.3% percentage. Jokic’s teammates are still responsible for cashing in on the open looks he provides them.

Russ is in Denver for other reasons. Not that.

So shift your gaze to the returners. (We’re skipping over draftee DaRon Holmes II, who’s out for the year in a stroke of terrible luck.) Any optimistic outlook on the 3-point arsenal needs to mention Vlatko Cancar, who’s also a newcomer in a sense. He missed all of last season with a torn ACL, after attempting a career-high 115 outside shots (37.4%) in his most recent healthy season. Regaining his 2022-23 productivity would be a notable boost. But is that realistic to expect? Cancar’s increased volume two years ago was largely a result of opportunity. His previous career-high for 3-point attempts in a season was 33.

If the Nuggets use a nine-man rotation in 2024-25, Cancar is likely not part of it. He’s certainly behind Westbrook, Saric, Julian Strawther and Peyton Watson. And it’s up for debate whether he or Zeke Nnaji will be the 10th man. There’s more at stake for Denver with Nnaji’s development as his new contract begins. But if floor spacing is a top priority, Cancar might be more of a necessity. At any rate, it’s not a given that he’ll play enough to shoot 37% on triple-digit attempts. He also struggled dramatically during international play this summer. (More on that topic soon.)

The roster decisions Denver made this summer were widely interpreted as a big bet on the organization’s youth. Shooting is a vital aspect of that. Christian Braun is already on an ideal trajectory after his 38.4% sophomore season. Watson was 29.6% overall, but unlike Westbrook, he has a reason for confidence if he’s slightly more selective. He was 37.7% on his wide-open 3s. He’s still young. And he seems to have a balance of shot-making potential off the dribble and the catch.

Strawther looms over this entire discussion as the returning player about to make the biggest leap. He was drafted to be a spot-up sniper but shot just 29.7% as a rookie, despite a handful of electrifying heat checks. Developing his consistency is a clear X-factor. It’s a lot of pressure for a 22-year-old picked late in the first round.

All this roster movement makes it easy to overlook the core, where continuity remains a strength. The same two players have led the Nuggets in 3-point attempts the last two seasons — a distinction shared by only five other teams. And unlike three of those teams, Denver’s duo remains intact.

Murray and Michael Porter Jr. combined for 35% of Denver’s attempts in 2022-23 and 2023-24. They combined to make their 40.7% of those shots (725 for 1,781). Only the Warriors got better efficiency from their two highest-volume 3-point shooters during that two-year span (40.8%), and Klay Thompson is no longer in Golden State as of July.

The confluence of Murray and Porter’s respective injury recoveries was the setup for Denver’s championship season. They are the two most essential perimeter cogs in an offense that functions around Jokic. That was always the case, with or without Caldwell-Pope.

Losing KCP increases the pressure on their durability if anything. One injury to Murray or Porter, and the floor-spacing could start to shrink. It’s already clear that Murray’s shooting is prone to plummet if he plays while hurt. He shot 14% from 3-point range during the Paris Olympics, part of the Nuggets’ ominous trend on the international stage. Cancar was 1 for 14 (7%) in Slovenia’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Even Jokic, who led the Olympics in points, rebounds, assists and steals, suddenly couldn’t buy a basket beyond the arc. He was 17%.

That’s a lot of baggage entering training camp for a franchise that’s already in danger of 3-point regression due to its offseason choices. The foundation of Denver’s low-volume, high-efficiency identity is still there, but it’s thinner.

The 29th-ranked team in attempts last season?

The Orlando Magic — a team that’s trying to remedy that with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Shooting stars

The Nuggets are one of six NBA teams with the same two leaders in 3-point attempts each of the last two seasons. Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. have combined for a 40.7% clip during that time. How does that efficiency compare to other teams’ most relied-upon 3-point shooters between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons? Here’s a look:

(Can’t see chart on mobile? Click here.)

* All players still with team | NBA rank in parenthesis | Source: Basketball-Reference.com

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This offseason has reaffirmed to Adam Trautman that it’s more important to be concerned with the latter.

He’s a pragmatist’s tight end, a 27-year-old who finds fulfillment in leadership despite his age, a recent free agent who learned he can be aspirational by being rational. He sees the value in the nuances and intangibles of his position as much as the showy stats.

“That’s the nice thing about tight end,” he told The Denver Post. “It’s multifaceted, and you can do so many different things. At some point, you embrace who you are. You figure out the type of player (you are). You be realistic with yourself of what you’re gonna do and what things you do well. … Obviously it’s less flashy, but being a blocker is how you last 10, 12 years.”

If the nooks and crannies of tight end-ing can buoy a career, sign Trautman up. The Broncos did. He is back in 2024 as the presumptive leader — in principle and in snap count — of a mostly unchanged position group, after re-signed on a two-year deal in March. So continues the working relationship between Trautman, Sean Payton and tight ends coach Declan Doyle, all of whom collaborated in New Orleans and liked one another enough to reunite in Denver.

That means everyone has a mutual understanding of the expectation. Trautman is on the roster for durability and dependability first, downfield route-running second.

There is no fantasy in Trautman’s mind. And he doesn’t care about yours, either.

“I’ll double down on it. I couldn’t give a (crap) less, couldn’t care less about fantasy football,” he said cheerfully, referring to his recent comments about not being an ideal fantasy football player. “I mean, tight ends, people don’t necessarily understand the position as well as they should. Certain guys have certain roles and stuff. But I’d much rather be a leader in the room, looked up to than be like, ‘I’d rather be a fantasy football god.’”

Indeed, Trautman ranked 15th among all NFL tight ends last year with 755 snaps played, but he was targeted as a receiver only 35 times for 22 catches and 204 yards. So he’s not exactly the prototype for fantasy football, where receiving yards and touchdowns are all that matter.

In reality, that’s not how it works.

But when exactly did Trautman realize it’s most prudent to embrace the less flashy side of his job?

“I think I found out early on that it could definitely be something I could evolve into, and like, if this stuff doesn’t work, I know I can do this stuff,” he said. “It’s not really a backup plan, but it kind of is, in a way where you know, ‘Hey man, I’m always going to be able to fall back on these (skills). And this is always valued by every single team in the league.’ But kind of going through free agency and this past year and stuff, you kind of realize, ‘Alright, this is what these people think. This is what this team thinks, this team thinks.’ So, yeah, I’d say around probably this past offseason.”

Trautman was on his annual trip to Newport Beach, Calif., during free agency — the weeks when he reached that epiphany. Ultimately, his return to the Broncos was a testament to the relationships he has built and the niche he carved out for himself last year.

He’s now the familiar voice of wisdom and experience to Denver’s other tight ends, a group that includes Greg Dulcich (24 years old), Nate Adkins (25) and Lucas Krull (26).

“One of the reasons I came back and re-signed was because of that,” Trautman said. “… I came from that system and I played for Sean. So guys naturally listened when I gave them pointers on things because I know the scheme. And that naturally kind of evolved into, ‘Oh yeah, this is the guy we go to for certain schematic questions or whatever the case is.’ I think it was natural with me getting traded here under Sean.”

Then there was the established familiarity with Doyle, a position coach also in his 20s who adds to the distinctly young dynamic within the tight end room. Trautman credits Doyle for teaching him how to play pro football and says, “We’ve pretty much grown up together in the NFL.” It’s a work friendship that’s no stranger to regular phone calls.

“The best thing he does in our room is, the communication is elite,” Trautman said. “There’s no gray area of like, ‘Hey well maybe I shouldn’t say this.’ No, we’re gonna say things to each other. He makes you feel comfortable.”

It’s the type of mindset that reflects everything Trautman has learned to value. It’s not that he’s substance-over-style at all costs, so much as substance-with-or-without-style. If he’s needed to run a route and reel in a catch, fabulous. If he’s not, he feels gratification in the dirty work of blocking, in his leadership responsibilities behind the scenes — even if those elements aren’t recognizable where the TV camera is trained, or if they don’t earn him fantasy points.

And at least he gets some extra validation from a handful of friends, who draft him out of sympathy.

“I just got you to have you on the team,” they’ll tell him, smirking. “On the bench.”

Fantasy Island

Among the 20 tight ends who played the most offensive snaps in the NFL last season, Denver’s Adam Trautman amassed the fewest fantasy football points. He’s one of only two TEs who ranked in the top 20 in snaps played at his position but outside the top 25 in fantasy points. (Fantasy points according to ESPN. Snap count rankings according to fantasypros.) 

Mobile users, tap here to see the chart.

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In Memphis, Keegan Bradley needed to finish the day 50th or higher in the FedExCup points standings just to qualify for the next round the following week in Denver. He was teetering. In Wyoming, Mark checked his phone from the golf course and saw his son was No. 51. Keegan needed help.

He got it from his competitors. The next time Mark checked, his son was back in 50th. “Gee whiz,” he recalls telling his friend, Bernie Wirth.

“So we go the whole day — now we’re just checking and checking it. And it held. Once we realized Keegan made it, I looked at Bernie and said, ‘I’m going.'”

After years of bad luck, the Bradleys finally got the timing right in Denver. Bradley’s 50th-to-first triumph at the BMW Championship on Sunday was more sentimental than his six previous wins on the PGA Tour. This was the first time his dad had been with him to see it in person.

“I was on the bag when he won the Wyoming State Amateur,” Mark told The Denver Post on the 18th green at Castle Pines Golf Club, while Keegan cradled the trophy for photos nearby. “And then I was there for — I don’t know. That’s it.”

Keegan is from Woodstock, Vermont, but his dad became the club professional at Jackson Hole Golf & Tennis Club in 2005. Summers during college started with a three-day drive from St. John’s in New York City. Keegan worked at the club, played local tournaments and went fishing until it was time to haul his Ford Focus back east for the fall semester.

“It’s a special thing to win on the PGA Tour, and it’s something that you really have to cherish,” Keegan said Sunday. “And to have him here makes it that much more special.”

Mark is retired now, so he faced no obstacles planning an impromptu trip to Colorado. It wasn’t always that simple. Bailing on his club for three-day weekends was a luxury he could rarely afford. He used to make it to a handful of events every year, but never the ones that Keegan won.

He was in Jackson Hole all six times his son lifted a trophy, celebrating in silent solitude.

“I was working on Sunday of the PGA Championship (in 2011), and I had a special members event at the club,” Mark said. “So I just told everybody … ‘I’m not gonna be here when you get in (to the clubhouse). Get your scorecards turned in and signed and added up. I’m gonna go home and watch Keegan.’ I was home alone, watching it, and all the people in the tournament at the club were watching it there. And I guess it was a wild scene.”

He preferred to be on his own, standing in front of his TV, raising his arms in the air triumphantly. He didn’t say a word.

“No need to scream,” he said, “because there was no one there.”

It was an elusive dream to share that moment with his son. But Keegan’s PGA Championship was in 2011. He hasn’t won another major. Success on the PGA Tour is fickle. When he won the Zozo Championship in 2022, Mark missed it. When he won the Travelers Championship in 2023, Mark missed it.

Not this time. Father was with son for every step this week. And Keegan’s victory was relatively stress-free. First place was all but clinched after a remarkable five-iron shot to set up a birdie on the 17th hole. Even if the 18th was more of a nail-biter, Mark wouldn’t have been nervous.

“I stay way cool,” he said. “My dad was tough. He’d get nervous. He’d get mad. … When Keegan came along and my daughter, Madison, I just decided I’m gonna do it a different way. And that way was a little kinder, a little gentler, a little more, just: ‘Here’s a good grip.’ It never dawns on me to get mad. I’m blessed. I’m lucky. … I even make sure, if he stumbles, that I think about my posture as I’m walking along the fairway. And I’m not down here (hanging my head). I’m not kicking pine-combs like my dad. Whether (Keegan) sees that, I don’t know. But I’m not gonna change it.”

When Keegan potted one last easy putt Sunday, Mark raised his arms again to bask in the victory. This time, his son was mirroring the gesture back at him, not through a television screen, but in the flesh, waiting for an embrace.

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It’s been perceived that way by a majority of voices and pens outside Ball Arena, anyway. The Nuggets have been widely declared one of the losers of the NBA summer, owing to a combination of polarizing strategy, internationally staged inefficiency and plain awful luck.

Internally, that’s not how the front office views it. They’re aware of the dice they’ve cast, of course, most prominently in the avoidable sacrifice of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and subsequent additions of Russell Westbrook and Dario Saric. KCP signed with Orlando for three years and $66 million, an offer the Nuggets chose not to equal despite possessing his Bird rights. But if the outcome is a marginally worse (but still elite) starting lineup traded for marginally better depth and lineup versatility, so be it, their philosophy dictates.

That’s especially true with other player retention efforts to consider, even after Jamal Murray. Aaron Gordon becomes extension-eligible starting Sept. 27. Christian Braun and Peyton Watson each have two years remaining on their rookie deals.

Flexibility for future spending is a critical fourth dimension on the chessboard, Kroenke explained Wednesday after the Gardner Heidrick Pro-Am.

“Once we knew that (Caldwell-Pope) was going to opt out and test the open market, we thought it would probably be pretty difficult to retain him,” he said when asked what the determining factor was in deciding what number to go to during KCP’s free agency. “We had some pretty good offers in that we thought made sense for us going forward, but when you hit the open market and there are teams that have space and there are teams that really need a certain skill set, (it’s difficult). We’ve been smart about how we’ve planned, and we think we have young players that can fill in to certain roles, and so we also have to think for the future in the new system.”

He speaks of the 1-year-old collective bargaining agreement, which the league is still breaking in. More specifically: the punitive competitive penalties associated with roster payroll passing the second tax apron.

“It’s much more relatable to the NHL style, even though the NBA’s not a pure hard cap,” Kroenke continued. “In the NHL, whenever you think about contracts and you start to plan, you have to think a year or two ahead. Because if you give up space, and you have to wind up getting off players to give up something you don’t want to give up, that’s not a good place to be. So we’re pretty excited about the group we’ve got — while also planning and keeping an eye on that future and making sure we have our flexibility to retain the guys we want to keep.”

A comparison of salary cap systems in the NBA and NHL spurs an obvious follow-up question: Should the expectation be that Nuggets ownership will not exceed the second apron going forward? Did the KCP situation set a precedent?

Does Kroenke see that second apron as a hard cap?

“Not necessarily,” he said. “But when you talk about our starting five, and you understand the rules of flexibility when you’re in that second apron, it’s a real juggling act. We call it, we’re spinning as many plates as we can, trying to keep those plates as stable as possible. But yeah, it was a different exercise (this offseason). … We were excited about the possibility of retaining (Caldwell-Pope), but we also knew that once he hit the open market, it was going to be something that we may have to step away from to preserve our future flexibility.”

In the meantime, back to the present state of the roster. Forfeiting KCP provided a small bit of immediate flexibility as well. The Nuggets were able to use the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Saric, a viable backup center for Nikola Jokic. That was their most expensive move of the summer, but nowhere close to their buzziest.

That title belongs to Westbrook, a former MVP, future Hall of Famer and current bench player.

The post-Thunder era hasn’t always been graceful for Russ. Denver will be his fifth new uniform in six seasons. Twice during that span, he has been convoyed through Utah only for the Jazz to waive him so he could promptly sign with a new team (including this one).

At his best, though, every player in the league understands the jolt he can supply. And Kroenke is willing to engage in a little nostalgia.

“I got a chance to meet him for the first time right after he signed, and as I said to him, I’m very grateful that he’s on this side,” Kroenke said. “Because I’ve watched him kind of tear our hearts out for so many years in Oklahoma City, among other places. So he’ll be a really good person for us to have, both on and off the court, with some of the young guys who we’re expecting to take bigger roles this year. Russ has seen it all, in and around the NBA, so he’s gonna be a big part of who we are both in the locker room and on the court.”

Second apron fears aside, the Nuggets are nonetheless over the first apron for a second consecutive season. With all 15 roster spots occupied, any additions to the team at this point would require circumnavigating other CBA side effects to make a trade. DaRon Holmes’ season-ending Achilles injury granted Denver a disabled player exception worth $1.53 million, but that doesn’t make the first-round pick exempt from occupying a roster spot. To take, the Nuggets have to give.

“I think right now the roster’s pretty set for this year,” Kroenke said. “But you never know. Our eyes and ears are always open. The new rules are interesting, and how some of those trades work once you’re over the tax. But it was an eye-opener I think for a lot of teams this summer, in how some of the teams behaved.”

“It’s different than watching it on TV,” Sofia Cary said, climbing the fairway toward the finish line at Castle Pines with her friend, Molly Schatz. Between them and their view of the clubhouse at the top of the hill was a sight that still seemed surreal, even after a few hours: the top-ranked golfer on the planet. Just a few yards ahead.

This is the joy of live sports, of course, even without a VIP pass. The talent, the craft, the intensity of a world-class athlete — it’s all easier to appreciate in person than it is via screen, depending on the view. So what was it that struck Cary and Schatz while witnessing Scottie Scheffler attack a golf course up close? The concentrated power of his tee shots? The precision of his putts? The sound off the club?

“Just all the walking,” Cary said. “I’m on JV. So I’m not used to doing 18 holes. Molly’s used to it.”

“No,” retorted Schatz (varsity). “This is really long.”

But rewarding, make no mistake. These two Lewis-Palmer High School juniors were shadows to Scheffler and Adam Hadwin during the third round of the BMW Championship on Saturday, thanks to a fortuitous phone call.

Kelly Hodge is a longtime LPGA teaching professional in the Colorado Springs area, coaching at Coronado High School and operating a club that attracts 40 to 50 girls every summer Wednesday. In the lead-up to the tournament, LPGA sponsor Chevron contacted her, asking if she had any pupils who would want to walk the course inside the ropes for a day.

“It was a huge deal,” Hodge said. “This doesn’t happen. It’s amazing. They donated $5,000 to my girls club so I could help girls that can’t afford to play. So now I’ve gotta go look for more girls.”

Four high schoolers had the red carpet rolled out Saturday to walk the course in pairs, including Schatz, who represents a full-circle moment for Hodge’s 30-year career fostering the local growth of girls golf. Schatz’s mother was one of her first students in Colorado Springs years ago. The two are friends now, and Hodge is Molly Schatz’s private instructor.

Molly has played for three years now, encouraged by her mom. She quickly developed an appreciation for the sport because of the friends it has introduced to her life. Cary is somewhat the opposite. She joined the high school team so that she could spend more time with her friends, and in the process learned that golf is “a very underrated sport.” When this opportunity came along?

“They couldn’t even sleep last night,” Hodge said.

Their excitement went in a blender and emerged as nervousness once Hadwin shook their hands at the start of the round. Once they were out on the course. Out in the open. The center of attention. Every teenager’s nightmare, more or less.

“It’s definitely awkward just being in the middle of a field,” Cary said, laughing.

The golf and the scenery were distracting enough to ease those nerves eventually. Not to mention the walking. Even Scheffler himself has commented on altitude being a challenge he has struggled to overcome in the past. He didn’t play his best round Saturday, shooting a 74 (2-over par). At 8,130 yards, Castle Pines is the longest course in PGA Tour history. Not quite the same stratosphere as the nine-hole JV rounds Cary is used to playing. Those will feel like nothing from now on.

“It’s been a really cool experience,” Schatz said.

One that will resonate even more with time, as one spectator preached to the girls from the other side of the rope during the 17th hole. In the short-term perspective of a high schooler, Saturday was “fun to hang out with friends and see some famous people,” Cary said.

In the long term?

“This will be just a lifetime memory for these girls,” Hodge said. “Who gets to do anything like this?”

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But he and his caddy were second-guessing themselves moments before.

Two rounds into the BMW Championship, a mile-high hole-in-one has eluded all 50 golfers, though a handful of them have nearly struck gold on the 11th and 16th holes at Castle Pines Golf Club. Nobody has come closer than Wyndham Clark, whose 229-yard drive Friday trickled to a stop 11 inches from glory on the 16th.

It could’ve transpired much differently. Clark was briefly unsure which club he should use after watching Rory McIlroy’s tee shot. The Valor Christian High School alum was visibly on the fence, choosing between two options.

“We never actually changed our mind,” Clark explained afterward. “Rory just confused us. Because we thought it was seven-iron all day, and then Rory hit (his) seven-iron and barely covered. So then we were questioning it.

“Then the wind quickly switched, so we thought of going to the six-iron. Then I just felt like it was too tough to fit a six-iron back there, and the wind went back to a predominant southwest wind, and then John and I just said, ‘Just hit it hard and it should be good.’ I didn’t think it was going to get that far.”

The shot easily cleared the water in front of the green and landed within a couple of feet of the hole, rolling a short distance to its resting place. Clark tapped it in for a birdie, his fifth of the day en route to a successful second round at 4 under par.

“To walk up there and have it be only six inches was a nice delight,” he said.

Followed again by fans hurling their local pride at him — “Go Eagles!” multiple groups yelled Friday, referring to Valor’s mascot — Clark has been uniquely burdened by the expectation of rising to the occasion this weekend. For Colorado. For Denver. He has met those expectations relatively well so far thanks to his second-round score, which elevated him into a tie for 10th place halfway through the competition.

But ironically, he’s more proud of his overall performance Thursday, when he shot even.

“I thought I played better yesterday. I mean, I had four water balls yesterday, and I shot even par,” Clark said. “Take those away, it’s probably a five- (or) six-under round, and we would be at nine (or) 10-under. All in all, I’ve played really good.”

His score also notably leads McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, the three highest-ranked golfers in the world. Clark is ranked fifth. The four of them happened to converge Friday, a happy coincidence that might turn out to be the most quietly memorable moment of the week for spectators who’ve been hungry to have professional golf back in Colorado.

While the pairing of Scheffler and Schauffele was teeing off at the ninth hole, McIlroy and Clark were standing by, waiting their turn for the same launchpad to come available — to be used on the 18th hole for them. It’s a quirk of the course. It yielded a novel moment: arguably the four biggest names competing in the event, all together in one place.

“There’s not many double tees in professional golf,” Clark said. “… You don’t really have … some of the four best players on the same tee, kind of hitting different shots. That was kind of unique. It’s also cool (that) we’re all friends, and we’re all trying to do the same thing. Yeah, it was a cool experience.”

The moment is unlikely to be replicated, either. They each go their separate ways Saturday. The leaderboard dictates pairings from now on. Clark is matched with Patrick Cantlay, teeing off at 10:55 a.m. as he tries to chase down Adam Scott and the other top scorers.

“I’ve handled the pressure pretty well,” Clark assessed. “It’s not always easy coming home and being the hometown kid and (overcoming) all the expectations on me. I feel like I’ve done a good job thus far.”

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They played for opposing youth basketball teams in the Denver area, first matching up around the third grade. Both were point guards. White guarded Clark. Clark guarded White. White was a little more advanced than his peers — little did they know, he was a future NBA champion and Olympic gold medalist — and at some point during the mid-2000s, he implemented an unfamiliar move to his game. It was just beginning to gain popularity in the pros.

“He was doing the Euro step at a young age,” Clark remembers, “and our whole team kept thinking it was traveling. So every time he would do the Euro step, all our dads and everyone was like, ‘That’s a travel!’ And they would never call it.

“Fast forward to next year, and we’re all doing the same thing.”

White was teaching Clark new tricks on the basketball court. Now it’s finally Clark’s turn to return the favor on the golf course. He’s the fifth-ranked golfer in the world, the winner of the 2023 U.S. Open and the fan favorite this weekend at the BMW Championship. Valor Christian High School, Class of 2012. White is a two-time All-Defensive Team honoree in the NBA, a glue guy for the Boston Celtics and Team USA, and a Clark groupie this weekend. Legend High School, Class of ’12.

White has never played golf or gotten invested in the sport, “but I’m gonna start,” he declared while walking the first fairway at Castle Pines Golf Club on Thursday. He walked all 18 holes in support of his former basketball foe, who was paired with Rory McIlroy.

“It’s fun because he’s kind of new to golf, and so (he) got his real first experience of pro golf at the Olympics, watching and walking with us,” Clark said. “And he really has the bug. We’ve been talking about it. He’s like, ‘I love it so much.’ It was really cool to have him out there.”

Clark finished his first round at even par, but that doesn’t even begin to tell the story. He endured a hectic back nine that included multiple shots into the water and multiple double-bogeys. And that was before a cartoonishly timed lightning delay forced him and McIlroy to wait more than three hours to complete their final putts on the 18th hole. Spectators (even White) had vacated the premises by the time they resumed.

“I was hoping it was going to be one of those quick Colorado 30-minute storms, but there was another one behind it,” Clark lamented. “Definitely a bummer being here for three hours.”

Before that awkward conclusion without a crowd, Clark had been treated to resounding applause throughout the afternoon. Coloradans who noticed White gave him some love, too. He was hard to miss during the first hole, cradling the Larry O’Brien Trophy as he strolled downhill. Whether it was Boston’s Larry or Denver’s from the previous year, though, is unclear. The trophy was also on display Wednesday during the pro-am event, which featured Nuggets president Josh Kroenke.

“I didn’t even know it was gonna be here,” a confused White said, starting to regret his decision to lug Larry along. “I’m really just here to support Wyndham and cheer him on. … I didn’t know it was gonna be here. I was walking in, and I see it on the ground, and I’m like, ‘Let me hold that.'”

His opportunity to reacquaint with Clark this summer was truly last-second. Kawhi Leonard’s withdrawal from Team USA opened a roster spot two weeks before the Paris Olympics. White was the first choice to fill in. He flew solo to Abu Dhabi, UAE, to join the team for its remaining exhibition games, and soon enough he was floating down the Seine with Clark at the opening ceremony.

“(We had) big battles. Big rivalry on the court,” White said. “And then obviously he went and did big things, so it was great reconnecting. And we ended up on the boat in the Olympics.”

“Hanging out in Paris was pretty cool,” Clark said, grinning.

They reminisced. Decades-old matchups on hardwood aged into shared laughs. Their youth teams always seemed to face off in the championship game. “Wyndham was good,” White says, but he insists that his squad, the Dolphins, won more. Clark even played some high school ball at Valor, where he was classmates with NFL star Christian McCaffrey.

“It’s really neat to see kind of Colorado sports coming on the map with Derrick, myself and Christian and some of the other Olympians,” Clark said earlier this week. “It’s a good thing for Colorado. I feel like the sports are in a good spot here.”

When the horn blared indicating a weather stoppage, McIlroy was frozen mid-backswing on the 18th green. (“I knew it was close, and I kind of wanted Rory to speed up,” the local weather expert Clark said later, laughing.) Patrons vacated the course for a nearby covered area outside the clubhouse, where White held court. Colorado golf fans approached him for photographs and autographs. He posed and signed graciously for about 20 minutes. Then a golf cart arrived and he shipped off, leaving his old rival to wait out the storm.

So what if lung preparation wasn’t exactly the point of his trip to Telluride in early July? It provided him a little peace of mind, placebo or not, about returning to the Centennial State a month later for the BMW Championship.

“The elevation got to me a little bit (in Telluride),” Scheffler said. “So I’m kind of glad I got it out of the way then because I have struggled with it from time to time.”

Elevation might be the only thing capable of hindering Scheffler’s historic 2024 at this point. Before his well-earned vacation, he became the first golfer to claim six PGA Tour wins in a season before July since Arnold Palmer accomplished the feat in 1962. After vacation, he went to Paris and won the Olympic gold medal in individual men’s golf.

The top-ranked golfer in the world can ascend into even more rarefied air this weekend if he wins the BMW Championship, an event consisting of 50 remaining participants in the FedExCup Playoffs. In the modern era (since 1983), only Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh have won seven or more PGA Tour tournaments in a single season.

First, Scheffler has to ascend into thin air. Castle Pines Golf Club, located south of Denver, has an average elevation of 6,200 feet above sea level. It’s not quite Telluride, but it’s nothing to scoff at either considering the up-and-down hiking required to complete 18 holes at the longest course in PGA Tour history. It spans 8,130 yards.

Bad dreams in Bogota are reawakened at times like these.

“I remember sleeping really bad the first few nights,” Scheffler said Wednesday, recalling a tournament he played in Colombia — at over 8,000 feet of elevation. “You have really weird dreams, and you wake up in the middle of the night feeling like you can’t breathe, and just weird stuff. I felt like that experience playing at a little bit higher altitude has kind of helped me adjust to this week.”

No doubt he’ll manage to fight off the elements once competitive adrenaline is flowing. Scheffler has been seemingly invincible this year, impervious to adversity bordering on the soap operatic. He was arrested, jailed and charged with a felony after a misunderstanding with a police officer while arriving for work at the PGA Championship. Charges were eventually dropped. By tee time, Scheffler was out of his cell and on the golf course.

He has been a top-10 finisher in 15 of the 17 PGA events at which he’s competed this season, an unprecedented run of consistency. That doesn’t even include the Olympics. His second career title at The Masters was definitive: 11-under par and four strokes ahead of the runner-up. He was the fourth-youngest golfer to be crowned twice at Augusta, behind Jack Nicklaus, Woods and Seve Ballesteros.

Since then, Scheffler has turned 28, welcomed his first child (a son named Bennett) and kept winning.

“He’s been playing unbelievable golf,” said Xander Schauffele, who has won two majors this year and is paired with Scheffler at Castle Pines. “I feel like we’re all just chasing him. I’ve done probably the best job of getting the closest to him, but it’s still very far away.”

“It’s hard to argue with how good Scottie is playing right now and what he’s done this year,” Denver native and world No. 5 Wyndham Clark weighed in. “I know Xander has had an amazing year, and most years that’s the best year anyone will ever have, but Scottie is on a run that we haven’t seen since Tiger.”

Scheffler could have theoretically skipped this tournament in favor of next week’s FedExCup Playoffs finale in Atlanta, thanks to his points advantage in the standings. He even realized this year that he generally doesn’t like playing the week before a major championship.

But when you’re on a run that hasn’t been seen since Tiger, might as well play it out. There’s still room in the trophy case.

“At the end of the day, I talk about not one trophy being much more important than another,” he said. “Yeah, I would love to win the FedExCup, but I would also love to win this tournament.”

Lucky for Colorado. Scheffler’s in the house. And he’s ready to master the Mile High City.

“I was working out in the gym yesterday, and I was definitely getting out of breath a lot faster than I would at home,” he said. “But I feel like I’m doing a good job of getting adjusted.”

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