Matt Moore | Action Network NBA Analyst

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You know, the Nuggets kind of talked all week about how they wanted to, you know, get past it and get back to work and, you know, turn the page. But it was emotional. It was emotional for Michael Malone who lost his father two weeks ago. He said that, you know, when he received the ring that he thought of his dad and as the banner was raised there in the arena. Uh, Nicole Jokic, there was a video package that kind of showed all the fan reactions to their winning the title. And Jokic talked a lot about how much that meant to him. I spoke with Michael for a junior after the game and he said that he wasn't aware that everyone with the organization gets a ring. And so he's talking about the training staff and the equipment managers and all the people that go into the giant organization of an NBA team and how it was great to see them get recognized for their contribution. So overall it was a really emotional and really just, uh, you know, a real night of celebration for the Nuggets and their fans and that continued through the end of the game. How much has changed for those Nuggets in the last four months?

Not much. You know, honestly, I asked Aaron Gordon, I was like, you know, you guys seemed really sharp given that it was a, you know, night one. He was like, honestly, it felt like we stopped playing yesterday. We just picked it right back up. But that's, you know, the, the continuity of that team, I think helps a lot where Jokic and Murray and, uh, and Gordon have been playing together, especially, uh, Gordon and Jokic have been playing together for several years.

And so they all know how to play together. You know, obviously there's been some changes. Bruce Brown's gone. Jeff Green's gone. They're playing younger guys like Peyton Watson. They need a big step up for Christian Brown. Uh, Reggie Jackson's now the backup point guard, but those are all pieces that kind of fit into limited roles who are asked to do limited things. The key components are still that starting five and that's the best starting five in basketball with the best player in basketball.

Uh, and that's going to make them tough to beat throughout this season and into the postseason. LeBron has been through several of those emotional two, multiple places, and here he is starting his 21st season. So Matt, how much of the conversation around LeBron is how much longer he plays in the NBA? Yeah, you know, he had that conversation about possibly retiring, which I think that was just a moment for him, a tough moment after a disappointing exit last, uh, postseason. But look, I think he's seen his own basketball mortality, right? He knows that's getting harder.

He's not able to do the things that he used to. And usually when players reach that point where they can see the end, that starts kind of the clock for them to eventually not come back. And I think that, that, uh, LeBron's kind of in that zone. And I think it's one of the reasons why there's so much optimism and focus with this team in preseason about making one more run is how important it is and what the clock looks like with LeBron. And so, you know, part of that equation is LeBron's kind of asked for Anthony Davis to step up and be the best player on the team the last couple of years and keep saying, if we're going to win the championship, LeBron's gotta be, or AD's gotta be our best player. He said that every year and it kind of was there in a big way this postseason or this preseason as well. So that's going to continue to be a storyline is not just how much does LeBron have left, but is Anthony Davis ready to be the one that carries LeBron to the title?

Because he needs that from Davis, if they're going to compete for a championship, the Lakers have employed load management for their two stars in the past significant rule change this year. How do you think teams will navigate these new rules that are instituted by the league to prevent stars from taking as many nights off or to prevent stars from sitting out all at the same time? I mean, it wasn't a great start when Bradley Beal who did tweak his back and have an injury, but they said that he's out basically out of trying to be cautious in the first game of the season. Not a great start there, but that said, I'm still pretty optimistic that I think we're going to see a much more, a higher level of effort and focus from teams and players on the regular season this year. It's been a big talking point. Most notably, if you kind of, if you have conversations around the league, you kind of get a sense that a lot of this is coming from the players themselves.

That in coordination with the NBA, who knows that a new media deal is being negotiated and they need to put their best foot forward for the good of everyone financially. I think we're meeting the summer of the NBA where there is a little bit of this sense within the ranks of trying to get everybody back on track of, Hey, we, we get to play. Like we got to be out there. I know that the training staffs are telling us that we need to rest, that it's dangerous, that I'm going to get injured, but we've got to push through a little bit. We have to kind of change the narrative. I think the players are really tired of being accused of not wanting to play when so often it's the teams that are asking them and telling them, Hey, you're at risk of injury. We think it's safer if you don't play tonight. I think the players are kind of taking this stuff into their own hands and saying, no, we're going to compete this season.

Now we'll see if they carry through with it, if they can still do it in January. But I do think we're going to see a lot less load management, a lot less rest nights. I think a lot more play on back to backs. I think we'll see a lot, a better product from the NBA this season. We're always excited to welcome Matt Moore back to the show. Former colleague of ours here, but now with the Action Network has been covering the NBA for a long time, has the Locked on Nuggets podcast as well. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. While we're talking about wrinkles in time for the NBA, how do you like this new in-season tournament?

I'm excited for it. You know, I think the players don't really know what to make of it. I think there's a lot of skepticism about what it means and how much to try and all those types of things. But talking to some coaches around the league and asking them about that question, they all said the same thing, which is we have guys going at it in practice. We have guys that get into fights with teammates on a Tuesday over a play in a scrimmage. And you're telling me that the most competitive players in the world aren't going to care when there's something, it doesn't matter what it is. Like these guys go round for round and shooting competitions. These are the most competitive athletes on the planet. And if you get them in that environment in a one-off, you win or you go home, I think that there is going to be a little bit of, not a lot, but a good amount of effort to make these games compelling. I think the stakes in the NBA are an important thing that's been missing and it just provides an opportunity for that. I think Vegas is a great place to host for these events for a number of reasons. It'll be cool inside the sphere.

All these things are really great. I think you'll see like a really good moment and kind of new thing happening with the league when it comes to the end-season tournament. It almost feels confusing to me and I'm trying to actually figure it out. The simple thing is November, Tuesdays and Fridays. That's one of the smartest things the league has done, which is just like, hey, here's two nights, these are the games, that's when you get to watch. And if you're able to take out all the guesswork, now follow in the standings and all of that, that's going to be more complicated. Understanding who's getting the wild card in these situations, yeah, like that stuff's going to be tough. But I do think that having certain nights where you can say, if you turn on NBA game in November on Tuesday or Friday, there's something on the line.

Like it matters what happens in a very short-term matter. I think that that helps a lot with fighting off some of the problems that are inherent with the 82-game season where no game is really different from any other and the players talk about that openly. This changes that and if they embrace it, the league will have something good and if not, it'll be gone in a couple of years.

Similar to a model that we see with European soccer, so we'll see how it is implemented, Tuesdays and Fridays in November. Okay, Matt, let's talk about some of the new duos and tandems that we have in the NBA. I actually was listening to Warriors basketball, my drive into work, and Tim Roy utters these words, Chris Paul may be the best Warrior on the court tonight, and then after a pause, he follows it up with a phrase I thought I'd never say. So there you've got Chris Paul joining the Warriors, but that's just one of the moves with Dame going to Milwaukee, the changes for the Celtics, Wembe in San Antonio, who are a few of the new combos that you are psyched to see? I think it starts with Milwaukee, just seeing Daniel Lillard for years has been one of the best offensive players in the league and he's carried these teams with rosters that were fine, they weren't terrible, like these teams were not filled with non-NBA players, but he's never had a real star beside him, a real superstar, and now he's arguably the second best or best player over the last five years in basketball in Giannis Anacompo. And having Giannis as a player he can play off of is going to elevate his game to an even higher level. Having Dame to space the floor and make sure teams can't send droves of defenders at him is going to make Giannis better. This is the best defense that Dame's ever played with, and I was thinking about this too, where does Chris Middleton fit in with the number of guys that Dame has played with? It's probably in Portland, LaMarcus Aldridge, and then I think Chris Middleton's probably better than CJ McCollum. So Chris Middleton, the now third or fourth best player on the team, is still probably on the list of third best players that Dame's ever played with, and that I think is really exciting. The Celtics, I'm more excited on how they all go together formula, because you have so much defense in the backcourt with Derek White and Drew Holliday, that's just a fantastic defensive combo that's going to give point guards nightmares, game after game after game. But in preseason you kind of saw this, Chris F. Porzingis was phenomenal last year. I've never been really high on Porzingis, and he was amazing last season because he was finally healthy. If he stays healthy, he provides a weapon that means that the Celtics won't have those stretches where their offense completely melts into pieces. And that's really exciting, and that can open up even more for Chase and Tatum.

So all these things, I think that they were super exciting. The Warriors I'm a little bit more skeptical about with Chris Paul, and the age, and the injuries, and all of that. And the Suns, I've talked to players who have kind of said like, yeah, I don't know if Phoenix is going to be dominant enough because of their defense.

And that I think is an interesting question. And I think everybody in the league, I will say this, I don't know, I've never seen a rookie come in that so many players are like, I've got to make sure I watch that, as I've heard talk about Victor Wemenyama. What do you expect with him? I had kind of lowered the bar on my expectations and been like, well, you know, look, he doesn't have the muscle mass and he's going to get pushed around and guys are going to attack his dribble.

And then I saw him in preseason and was like, man, maybe not. Maybe he's just going to block four shots a game and hit threes and dunk from the free throw line. There's a part of this where these guys that are so physically exceptional, I'll never forget, I was seen early in Giannis' first MVP season where they were playing the Nuggets and Paul Millsap was trying to stop Giannis in transition. It was obviously impossible because of Giannis' athleticism and wingspan and Paul Millsap looked at the bench like, what is it you want me to do here? And that's how every player looks with Victor Wemenyama.

What is it I'm supposed to do here? And that I think is going to be really amazing in that, look, it's not going to be perfect every night and there will be nights he struggles like any rookie, but the things that he does are things we've never seen before. And that's going to be exciting and something to watch for every single night.

Matt Moore is with us from Denver here after hours on CBS Sports Radio. What happens with James Harden? I think he ends up a clipper. I think eventually that deal gets one side or the other budgets and they get it done. I think there's a sense of resignation on the sixer side with a lot of things going on and I think on the clipper side there's a confidence that they can get him. But my understanding is that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have both expressed that they want that deal to get done.

So that's something that they think the team needs to do. Typically those guys get what they want with the clippers. And so I think it's very likely that he winds up there. Harden's away from the team right now with a personal family illness and it is for all of the jokes and all of the comments and I understand why Harden has put himself in a position for those jokes to be made. My understanding is the situation is serious and so I'm trying to have empathy and care and not get involved in the kind of cynicism that Harden has honestly generated for himself and understand that he does have a family and personal life and he's got some stuff going on. But long term, I think he probably goes with the clippers.

The bigger question in NBA circles I've talked to is very little about Harden because he's not considered to be that much of an impactful influential player anymore. Honestly, the question is what happens with Joel Embiid then? And there are a lot of teams that are keeping their cap sheets and offers ready in the event that Joel Embiid decides, you know what, you didn't get a star back in return, I don't want to waste the season, this has gone sideways, I'm out. And as that happens, we're just going to go from the Dame situation and the Harden situation right into the Embiid saga and it will just keep on running because there's not a lot of confidence that things will calm down with the Sixers unless Daryl Morey and the Sixers front office find a miracle trade for a true star running mate next to Embiid. It's going to be crazy to see the Miami Heat actually represented the East in the NBA Finals last year.

What a story they were. Have they gotten better or worse in the offseason, Matt, considering they didn't get Damian Lillard? Yeah, there's a lot of confidence from their side about the developmental program of Nicole Jovich, not Jovich, Jovich of rookie Jaime Hockes, Cole Slider, another young player that they're developing, they feel confident in their ability to find all these guys to replace what they lost when Gabe Vincent and Max Stroust left in pre-agency, because quite honestly, the Heat were making room for Damian Lillard.

I'm still pretty skeptical. You got Jimmy Butler in his mid 30s, after a lot of years under Tom Thibodeau, he's got a lot of miles on him. The rookies will probably be good. Eric Foltz is an amazing coach, but rookies aren't consistent and consistency wins in the NBA and there will always be now the question of like, oh, well sure, they'll start a regular season, but they'll just do what they did last year. And I have to kind of just like really stress, they were down with three minutes to go in the second play-in tournament game. It was three minutes from not even making the postseason. I think the margin for error for Miami is very thin, that the growing pains will be difficult. That said, if they can get things to break right, I think that there's a chance that they'll be in the mix once again through sheer force of will. If they can figure out a way just to get through six months of basketball and land in the playoffs, that combination of what Jimmy Butler is in the postseason and Eric Spolstra is enough to give them a chance as we saw last year. Matt, before I let you go, what are your emotions as you cover another NBA season, another start to an NBA season?

I'm really refreshed to be honest with you. I'm kind of having a renaissance and falling back in love with the game. There's so much nonsense and there's so much stuff that goes on behind the scenes in the NBA with regard to the business side of it and so much is driven by money. But seeing the kind of joy that happened in Denver with that franchise winning its first title and then seeing all the great basketball, there's such talent in the league right now. There's talk of expansion because there's so much talent to support that kind of expansion. It's going to be an amazing season. There's going to be great storylines.

I think we're going to see better effort as I talked about earlier. I think we're in for an all-timer when it comes to what this NBA season looks like. The enthusiasm to share from Matt Moore, longtime NBA writer and insider, now with the Action Network. You can find him on Twitter at HP basketball.

He's very active, especially late at night, working at the same time that we are. Thank you so much for a couple of minutes and happy basketball season. Thanks for having me, Amy.

Anytime. I'm Kate Abdo, the host of Kicking It, a new weekly show from the CBS Sports Galasso Network where Clint Dempsey, Charlie Davies, Mo Adoo and I connect with the biggest personalities from global soccer and beyond to learn about their journeys and what makes them tick. This is the place for football fans to hear unfiltered conversations with the game's most familiar faces. So what are you waiting for? Follow and listen to Kicking It on the Audacity app or wherever you get your podcasts.