current location:HOME > Sports News > Basketball Hub > Text content

Exploring possible trade destinations for Nuggets' Bones Hyland

nqajqrqw7months ago (05-16)Basketball Hub198

"We're a championship team."

That's what Nuggets guard Jamal Murray said, as part of a larger answer aboutthe team's prospects after Thursday night's 134-117 win over theGolden State Warriors. Murray was a big part of the win, scoring 33points (9-of-12 from two, 3-of-11 from three), dishing out 8assists and grabbing 5 rebounds in a little over 30 minutes.

"All that stuff, not being happy, has gotta go out the window orelse we’re not going to win," Murray said. "It’s nice to have acoach that knows that and knows what we’re trying toaccomplish.”

There are a couple of ways to decipher the rest of Murray'swords. You can take the "duh" approach and leave it there. Any teamwith title aspirations — and the Nuggets, headlined by MVPfrontrunner Nikola Jokic while boasting the West's best record,certainly fit the bill — needs buy-in. Beyond the Xs and Os androtation decisions, a head coach's primary responsibility is to getbuy-in from its players.

Michael Malone has appeared to get that for the most part. Youcan see that most blatantly with the Nuggets' defensiveperformance. Per Cleaning The Glass, they're up to 16th indefensive rating on the year, excluding garbage time. In early December, I wrote abouthow pourous their then-ranked 27th defense was; Coach Maloneseemingly lamented it every other game.

If you read a little deeper into Murray's reminder forconnectivity, you could interpret it as a message to second-yearguard Bones Hyland.

Hyland didn't appear in Thursday night's game. He only playedfour minutes in Tuesday's win over (what's left of) the New OrleansPelicans. In fact, here is Hyland's minute count over the Nuggets'past 10 games: 8, 15, 18, 8, 11, 0 (inactive), 24, 21, 4, 0(DNP).

Share with friends:

“Exploring possible trade destinations for Nuggets' Bones Hyland” ofrelated articles

Karl-Anthony Towns out indefinitely with a meniscus tear in left knee

Minnesota Timberwolves star bigman Karl-Anthony Towns is expected to be out indefinitely aftersuffering a meniscus tear in his left knee, according to...

Strength in numbers: The Golden State Warriors' way

As Klay Thompson comes off aflare screen from Kevon Looney, rookie Brandin Podziemski deliversa bounce pass at the block to Jonathan Kuminga to run th...

Picking the NBA's Eastern Conference All-Star reserves

With the Eastern ConferenceAll-Star starters set, let’s look at the players who deserve areserve slot for the East All-Star team this season. Check ou...

Marcus Morris reflects on homecoming: 'That shit is everything to me'

As James Harden departed fromthe Philadelphia 76ers, Marcus Morris was included in the tradepackage that the Los Angeles Clippers sent to the 76ers. M...

Los Angeles Lakers win NBA's inaugural In-Season Tournament

The Los Angeles Lakers are the NBA's inaugural In-SeasonTournament champions.On Saturday night, the Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers,123-109,at the...

NBA to bring back East vs. West All-Star format, traditional scoring

The NBA today announced changes to theformat for the 2024 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played onSunday, Feb. 18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indian...