We’ve missed a couple weeks of Golden Nuggets (I blame every holiday in 2023 landing on a weekend) but it’s back to the grind for Denver Nuggets tidbits from around the internet.

The Pistons are historically bad

In case you missed it, the Nuggets next opponent, the Detroit Pistons, set the record for the longest single season losing streak in the NBA and just barely missed setting the record for the longest losing streak in the NBA period. After finally getting a win against the Toronto Raptors, the Pistons got right back to losing and have dropped three straight. Obviously someone’s got to answer for all the losing at some point which is why it was so interesting to hear from Pistons general manager Troy Weaver for the first time since the streak started.

Can the Nuggets actually do anything at the trade deadline

The Nuggets have built themselves sort of a perfect storm when it comes to being stuck in the mud come trade deadline. The combination of being well over the cap, having almost the entire roster on either $20+ million, rookie or minimum contracts and having a starting five that is completely set in stone drastically limits the Nuggets flexibility in the trade market. Throw in the Zeke Nnaji poison pill extension and the Nuggets couldn’t even trade a 2nd round pick for Roy Hibbert if they wanted to. Our good friend and Stiffs Emeritus Ryan Blackburn took on the challenge of trying to come with some plausible deals for Denver in one of his latest episodes of Pickaxe & Roll, including laying out the only team that could take Zeke in a trade.

Denver’s defense continues to improve

A big reason for Denver’s championship run and continued success is their focus on the defensive end. While the Nuggets are intentional with finding players who can contribute defensively, they’ve also been a team who has bought fully into their coach’s defense first mentality. Bennett Durando from the Denver Post put together a nice piece on how the Nuggets are looking even better on defense this year and gave 5 reasons for why they continue to see improvement on that end.

Nikola Jokic appears on Curious Mike

Michael Porter Jr is a multi-talented individual. Beyond his ability to drain three pointers at will, he also is a pretty darn good interviewer. Look for no further proof of this than him landing at 30 minute interview with none other than Nikola Jokic himself on MPJ’s podcast Curious Mike. Jokic goes into a myriad of topics on the show and really gives us a look that we don’t get to see but once in a blue moon. This episode is absolutely worth checking out and Mike’s podcast is worth a subscribe on YouTube in general (no, Mike is not paying me to say this). He has a myriad of athletes on including Aaron Gordon, Bones Hyland, Peyton Manning and others while also having many non-athlete guests like health experts, motivational speakers & entertainers.

Jokic’s buzzer beater was great, but the fan reactions may be even better

Jokic added yet another iconic moment to his career when he sank the game winning buzzer beater from near half-court against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday. While the shot was incredible, the reaction by Warriors fans to having their hearts torn out is pure magic. DNVR’s extremely talented videographer Ryan Greene did the world a favor by putting together a quick clip of close ups of all the tears out of San Francisco.

Champion bobbleheads are here!

One of the best parts of winning a title, from a fan perspective at least, is all the cool merch you can get to commemorate the historic event. There’s been tons of great stuff to buy since the Nuggets claimed their first title (yours truly owns no fewer than three pairs of Nuggets championship socks) and the Nuggets dropped another really cool item this week. You can get your hands on four different championship bobbleheads! The toughest decision will be which one to get but if you’re feeling extra bougie you might as well go ahead and snag the entire collection!