Denver, CO
Broncos trading WR Jerry Jeudy to Cleveland for pair of 2024 draft picks, sources say
The Broncos finally traded Jerry Jeudy.
The 2020 first-round draft pick, subject of rumors for more than 18 months, is headed to Cleveland in exchange for a pair of Day 3 draft picks, multiple sources confirmed Saturday morning to The Denver Post.
Denver is receiving the first selection of the fifth-round (No. 135 overall) and a sixth-rounder (No. 202 overall) from the Browns, a source said. Trading Jeudy also clears $12.987 million in salary cap space for Denver in 2024 without incurring any dead cap charges.
The Broncos now have approximately $31.3 million in cap space, according to OvertheCap data.
It’s been a transformative week for Denver, which officially informed quarterback Russell Wilson of his release Monday. Then over the past three days Denver has said goodbye to safety Justin Simmons, Jeudy and tight end Chris Manhertz, cleared more than $48 million in cap space and set itself up to continue overhauling a roster going into its second season under coach Sean Payton.
Jeudy showed flashes of his immense potential over his first four professional seasons but never blossomed into the top-line receiver the Broncos thought they had when they selected him No. 15 overall in 2020.
His best season came in 2022 when a strong finishing surge put him at 972 yards and six touchdowns on 67 grabs.
All the while, though, he consistently came up in rumors about whether his future was in Denver or elsewhere.
The Browns made a run at him again in 2023 only to have Denver decide to hold the line under first-year head coach Sean Payton.
At the close of the season, Jeudy said he couldn’t care less if his name continued percolating.
“I don’t give a (expletive) about none of that,” he said.
Now, though, a deal is done and Jeudy is off to a new team.
Into his role steps second-year man Marvin Mims, Jr., whom Payton said last month saw his role curbed some in part because he played a similar one to Jeudy.
“I really think the only thing that really stopped his progress as a receiver was us in trying to find roles,” Payton said at the NFL combine. “He’s playing the same position as Jerry. And I’ve said that a number of times: I think you’re going to see a lot of growth with this player. He’s tough. He can run. And we’re certainly excited we have him. But I think the key is for us and I say us as coaches, game planning, evolving in every time we kind of put his name on a certain play he hasn’t disappointed. That doesn’t mean the ball always went to him.
“But the point I’m making is I think his progress was hampered a little bit more with the depth in the room and what we were able to do in sometimes trying to balance that out. I think we’ll see that expand.”
The draft picks and salary cap space matter, too. Denver now has eight picks at its disposal in next month’s draft, including three in the fifth round.
The Broncos can use that space in free agency, will need some of it for their rookie draft class and may well consider taking $53 million of Rusell Wilson’s dead money in 2024 rather than $35.4 in order to expedite the process of trying to get out from under the record-setting $85 million dead cap charge.
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Denver, CO
Minnesota stun NBA champs Denver in Game 1 of Western Conference semis
Anthony Edwards’s 43 points led Minnesota Timberwolves’ 106-99 home win over Denver Nuggets.
Anthony Edwards scored 43 points, Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 20 and the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves took home-court advantage from Denver with a 106-99 win over the Nuggets in Game 1 of a Western Conference semifinal series.
Naz Reid scored 14 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, Mike Conley had 14 points and 10 assists and Rudy Gobert grabbed 13 rebounds for Minnesota, which pulled away to begin the postseason 5-0.
“They are defending champs, they’re a hard team to beat. Great team. They got great players,” Edwards said of the Nuggets.
“They got the best player in the league with Nikola Jokic, they got the best closer with Jamal Murray, the best 3-point shooter with Michael Porter Jr So, it is tough to beat this team.”
Game 2 is in Denver on Monday.
Anthony Edwards puts on a show and drops a playoff career-high to lift the @Timberwolves to the Game 1 win in Denver!
Karl-Anthony Towns: 20 PTS (8-13 FGM), 4 REB
Naz Reid: 16 PTS (14 in 4Q), 4 REB
Nikola Jokic: 32 PTS, 8 REB, 9 AST, 3 STLGame 2: Monday, 10pm/et on TNT pic.twitter.com/iirmYPip3j
— NBA (@NBA) May 5, 2024
Jokic had 32 points, Porter added 20 and Murray finished with 17, all in the second half, for the Nuggets, who are trailing in a playoff series for the first time since losing to the Golden State Warriors in the first round in 2022.
It was a tight game early in the fourth, but the Timberwolves were more poised down the stretch.
Conley hit his third 3-pointer of the game to give Minnesota an 80-77 lead, but Murray answered from deep and was fouled by Towns. He then proceeded to complete the four-point play.
Edwards, who had 25 points in the first half, hit a driving layup through traffic and a pullup 18-footer to put the Timberwolves back in front. Reid hit a pair of 3-pointers, converted a layup and dunked an Edwards miss to give Minnesota a 94-88 lead with 4:20 left.
Jokic converted a three-point play, but the Timberwolves then started to put the game away. Gobert made a layup and banked in a 13-footer and Edwards sank two free throws. Porter committed an offensive foul, and Edwards’ 14-foot fadeaway made it 102-91 with 1:36 left.
Jokic’s 3-pointer cut Denver’s deficit to 102-96 with 1:02 to go, but the Timberwolves closed it out.
Minnesota jumped out to an 18-4 lead with 5:12 left in the first quarter, but the Nuggets turned up the defence. They forced seven turnovers and held the Timberwolves to 22 points in the final 17 minutes of the first half to lead 44-40 at intermission.
Towns and Conley had 11 points apiece in the third quarter to help put Minnesota ahead 73-71 going into the fourth.
“An 18-4 start, so we get down early, fight like hell to take the lead at halftime, then we played no defense in the third,” Denver coach Michael Malone said.
“You can’t just trade baskets with that team.”
Denver, CO
Timberwolves 106 – 99 Nuggets summary, stats, scores and highlights | NBA Game 1
Joker in is comfort zone
For as good as Nikola Jokic is in the regular season, he is even better in the playoffs. He has the luxury of having fantastic players around him, but that is in large part because of how easy the Serbian makes the game. Taking nothing away from Aaron Gordon, or Michael Porter Jr. or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are are great players, but they are better players when Nikola Jokic is on the court. In the first round, he averaged 28.2 points, 16.2 rebound and 9.8 assists to lead the NBA in each category though one round. Against Minnesota, he is going to be going up against a two time Defensive Player of the Year, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Naz Reid as second and third defensive options.
Denver, CO
LetsGoDU: Denver Women’s Lacrosse Stifles Furious UConn Comeback Bid to Earn BIG EAST Tournament Title
10th ranked/#1 seed Denver (15-3, 6-0) capped an undefeated BIG EAST regular season by winning the BIG EAST Tournament against #2 seed UConn,16-14. DU built a 9-1 lead but had to withstand a 4th-quarter tie with the Huskies to escape with the win and the BIG EAST title.
Denver reeled off five straight goals to open the first quarter of play. Caroline Colimore and Sloane Kipp scored for Denver in the first two minutes to race out to a quick lead. Julia Gilbert took a feed from Kipp to keep the run going at 10:33. Four minutes later, Olivia Ripple found the back of the net for the Pioneers. Kipp Sloane finished off the first-quarter scoring outburst in the final two minutes to build a 5-0 lead.
Denver followed the same recipe to start the second quarter when Ryan Dineen scored in the first minute. UConn’s Susan Lafountain finally broke the ice at 11:43 to temporarily stop the DU run. Denver responded with three straight goals by three different Pioneers – Jane Early, Gilbert and Kyra Obert to build a 9-1 lead. Denver was coasting to the title, right? Wrong. In the final 5:11 before halftime, the Huskies woke up with three goals of their own by Kate Shaffer (free position), Shaffer again (man-up) and Madelyn George. The Huskies were chipping away at the massive deficit.
The teams traded goals in the third quarter with both scoring four goals. Denver opened the scoring three minutes into the period when Julia Gilbert found paydirt. UConn scored two minutes later but DU’s Jane Early responded to retain the five-goal edge, 10-5. UConn scored again at 7:13 but Caroline Colimore responded a minute later with a DU tally. Denver countered another Husky goal when Jane Early scored after a Denver draw control and feed a half minute after the UConn goal. Under a minute to go in the third period, the Huskies Kate Shaffer scored to draw within five goals, 13-8.
Denver looked to be on cruise control heading into the final 15 minutes but UConn had other ideas. UConn started to chip away at DU’s five-goal lead. Abby Charron scored in the first minute to start the ball rolling for UConn. Less than a minute later, Caroline Colimore scored for Denver to regain the 5-goal margin. The Huskies then reeled off two straight goals at 10:16 and 9:16 to cut DU’s advantage to three goals as UConn started to gain momentum and confidence. In the final five minutes, the Huskies buried three more goals, a five-goal run in all, to knot the score 14-14. With under two minutes to go, Denver forced a turnover and called a timeout. The ball went into Ryan Dineen with a feed to Julia Gilbert who buried the shot, 15-14, with a minute to go. Gilbert, the hero of the game for DU, secured the draw control as DU took fouls and ran clock. Colimore added the icing on the cake with a goal as time expired for a final score 16-14.
DENVER SURVIVES. 😬@DU_WLAX scores twice in the final minute after @UConnWLAX pulled all the way back.
DENVER WINS THE @BIGEAST. pic.twitter.com/zB7UinIYNp
— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) May 4, 2024
DU outshot the Huskies 28-18 along with only 7 turnovers to 17 for the Huskies. However, UConn was efficient in the offensive zone to make it a game. Colimore and Gilbert had four goals each. Sloane Kipp had two goals and six assists. Kate Shaffer had five goals and three assists to pace the Huskies.
The NCAA selection show is on Sunday at 7:00 pm MT when Denver will learn their NCAA seeding and opponent.
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