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Bennett Durando: With Christian Braun returning tonight, sounds like the Nuggets may rest Spencer Jones so that he’s available tomorrow for back-to-back in New York, per sources. He has one game of eligibility remaining on his two-way contract until Denver can convert him to a standard deal.
Keith Smith: Picks in the Celtics-Bulls trade, per a league source: To Boston: Denver Nuggets 2027 second-round pick To Chicago: most favorable 2026 second-round pick of Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks, Portland Trailblazers (likely to be NOP)
NBA insider Marc Stein reported on the latest episode of the ALL NBA Podcast that the Charlotte Hornets, Brooklyn Nets and Utah Jazz are among the teams actively exploring minor trades as the deadline nears. According to Stein, the focus for these franchises is roster flexibility rather than pursuing major names. “Charlotte, Brooklyn, and Utah. Those are three teams that are all very willing to take up and do the kinds of trades that you suggested,” Stein said. “The Nuggets have to make a move like that. If the Raptors don’t make a big move they still have to shed some salary to get under the tax. You've got a variety of teams that want to create roster room so they can convert two way players to standard contracts.”
Marcin Gortat to Dwight Howard: Nikola Jokic is an unbelievable big man and probably by the numbers, by certain things, he's probably better than you. By the respect and obviously championship and everything, he might be better than you. But I'm always saying one thing: He will not play this game if you were defending this guy (Dwight). They don't understand the defense… Jokic can do stuff offensively but defensively he’s got to stop Dwight! Dwight Howard: That would be hard. Gortat: That will be stupid hard like he will foul out in the first quarter! And people don't understand that until they’re going to play you.
Q. You said Magic was freelancing 75 percent of the time. I mean that’s… Byron Scott: He was like I said controlling everything. He controlled the game. The closest to him to me right now is the Joker (Nikola Jokic). The Joker is a guy that controls the pace, the guys that play with him understand that he is more than willing to make them better and to help them. So I think he is the closest to Magic Johnson that I've seen and I'm not going by position, just is the way his knowledge of the game and the way that he sees the game. He's probably the closest in the game today. Well, he's changing the game now. They used to say point forwards now is a point center.
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The Lakers Review: Jake Fischer during his live stream for Bleacher Report today stated the Lakers’ inability to trade for Keon Ellis - whom the team wanted - is an “indicator” to him that they’re not going to be “super aggressive” trying to find perimeter help. He reiterated their desire to maintain cap space for the summer and named Peyton Watson, Bennedict Mathurin, and Tari Eason as potential players they could target amongst other wings that may become available. Jake also mentioned “definitively, the Lakers are ready to move on from LeBron James and I think LeBron James is ready to move on from the Lakers as well. That’s kind of the foregone sentiment in Los Angeles right now about what’s to come this summer.”
Brendan Vogt: Christian Braun has been upgraded to questionable for tomorrow night’s game in Detroit. Aaron Gordon and Cam Johnson are still out.
Scuttlebutt around the league remains that Denver is almost definitely going to complete a trade before the Feb. 5 deadline. Just on an exponentially smaller scale. The team’s aim, as I’ve reported in recent weeks, will be to duck the luxury tax with a minor deal and convert Spencer Jones to a standard contract so he can continue playing, as long as his money aligns with the Kroenkes’ end goal. The Nuggets would be able to treat Jones as an upgrade to their power forward depth for the stretch run and the playoffs.
It’s no secret around the league that Denver’s preferred candidate to offload is Zeke Nnaji, whose 2025-26 cap hit is about $8.2 million. Nnaji was a solid contributor in January, averaging 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds in 22 minutes as an emergency center. He’s closed out multiple wins on account of his switchable defensive acumen
From your outside medical perspective, what do you make of Jokić’s injury that entails a hyperextended left knee and a bone bruise? Collon: “That’s one of the most common injuries to have with a hyperextended knee. The most commonly cited injuries with hyperextended knees are bone bruises. They don’t give you much with their reporting on it. I’ve looked at the injury to see what’s going on and there’s always drama on how long a player is out and if they’re out longer than they thought he would be. I obviously don’t know personally and wouldn’t want to speculate.”
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O’Neill: “Anytime we see someone with a hyperextended knee injury and has to immediately come out of the game, the first thought is if there is something with their ligaments. With those initial reports that they planned to reevaluate him after four weeks, it appeared he avoided a ligament injury. A bone bruise is technically a form of structural damage. But it really is damage to the bone underneath the cartilage in the knee. So that’s not really restrictive from a stability standpoint. But it is very painful. Many times, those injuries are a pain tolerance situation.”
Shah: “Given the findings with what’s described in the MRI, it’s a best-case scenario. The bone bruise will eventually heal without the need for surgery. That is major. With the way he hyperextended his knee, you’re always worried about a torn ligament or a meniscus tear. Then there’s always the possibility of needing surgery and needing to be out for the season. But with the injury that he has, there is hope that he comes back from this with the body healing on its own. It just requires time, but it’s not a season-ending injury. That is good news, given the mechanism of the injury.”
Brendan Vogt: Jamal Murray on learning he was on All-Star: “I was asleep. I was taking my pregame nap, and then a couple of my best friends FaceTimed me on a group call and broke the news to me.”
DNVR Nuggets: Murray plans to play hard in the All-Star Game: “I really kind of lost interest in All-Star just watching whatever they’re doing out there. I’d rather go on vacation if that’s the basketball we’re going to be playing...I would like to play (hard). full answer👇