Denver, CO
Former Nuggets sixth man Bruce Brown traded in blockbuster deal
Several months after winning an NBA championship, former Denver Nuggets sixth man Bruce Brown Jr. is on the move again.
The key cog for the Nuggets signed a big money deal with the Indiana Pacers this past offseason, and on Wednesday, he was shipped to Toronto with three first-round draft picks for Raptors star Pascal Siakam. The two-time All-NBA forward needs a contract extension, and the Raptors have finally begun a teardown, which began with a trade of Og Anunoby to the Knicks last month. Meanwhile, the Pacers have taken a leap this season. They made it to the In Season Tournament finale and are sixth in the East led by Tyrese Haliburton, who looks to be the lead guard of the upcoming American Olympic team.
Though Brown was part of that success, he was third on the team in rebounds, fourth in assists and fifth in points per game. Brown’s stats are actually almost all up across the board this year—but his efficiency numbers are down from his standout season in 2022-23.
Brown, 27, got his championship ring on Sunday in Denver as the Pacers visited the Mile High City. He’ll actually be back with the Raptors on March, 11. But don’t expect the movement to mean Brown will rejoin the Nuggets anytime soon. Though he could become a free agent this offseason since he signed a two-year deal with the second year being a club option last summer—a lot needs to happen. First off, thanks to the new CBA rules, which hurt the Nuggets chances of resigning Brown to begin with, they could not pick him up this year if the Raptors waived him—similar to how Denver got Reggie Jackson last season. Second, Toronto would need to decline his $23 million player option for next season to make him a free agent. Thanks to new CBA rules the Nuggets are close to the second apron line, which would prevent them from using a near $6 million exception to sign a role player. In order to clear that money, Denver would need Jackson to decline his player option at $6 million (unlikely) and have Kentavious Caldwell-Pope decline his at $15 million and sign an extension at a cheaper number at around $12 million.
All of this is to say, even though Brown has already been dealt from his new home—Wednesday’s big trade had no impact on the likelihood the beloved former Nugget will return to Denver soon. Brown will have to enjoy life in his fifth NBA city and hope if he wants to be in the postseason this year that he’ll get dealt a second time.
Further, while the Pacers did get stronger in the move, the trade shouldn’t really impact the Nuggets as the Raptors will likely tank out and have already moved their biggest assets, and the Pacers are going to be a mid-tier playoff team out east. Denver does play in Indy next week, which will likely be Siakam’s home debut.
Denver, CO
Denver hockey’s Johnny Hicks wins DU Pioneers’ Male Athlete of the Year
Denver, CO
Rockies’ Ryan Feltner pitches a gem, Jake McCarthy shines in 8-3 win over Giants
The Rockies threw a boffo welcome-back for Ryan Feltner on Saturday night, and the right-hander was the biggest party animal of all.
Coming back from an elbow injury and making his first big-league start since April 23, the right-hander celebrated by pitching six crisp, efficient innings in Colorado’s 8-3 win over the Giants at Coors Field. Feltner allowed no runs, just four hits, struck out two, and walked none. He needed just 63 pitches, throwing 41 for strikes.
“I felt great and felt like all of my pitches were working,” said Feltner, who became the first Rockies starter to pitch six scoreless innings with no walks since lefty Kyle Freeland on Sept. 5 of last season vs. San Diego.
“I was really happy about the efficiency part of the game,” Feltner added. “It’s always important to go deep into a game here (at Coors).”
Manager Warren Schaeffer said there was never any thought about pushing Feltner past six innings after Feltner made just two minor league rehab starts.
“There was no reason to push him into the seventh; he did his job,” Schaeffer said. “His fastball command was exceptional, his slider was good and he got double-play balls early when he needed to. I just thought he controlled his game very well.
“He controlled his emotions, he was in attack mode, and like we talked about before the game, when he does that, he’s pretty dang good.”
The Rockies, who beat San Francisco 8-6 on Friday night on a walk-off homer by Ezequiel Tovar, clinched their first series win since sweeping the Mets from April 24-29 in New York.
Feltner got plenty of support.
The Rockies have had a nasty habit this season of scoring early only to see the offense go into hibernation. That wasn’t the case on Saturday. The Rockies kept piling on and taking away any chance for late-game drama in LoDo.
“When a guy goes out there and grinds away, like Feltner did, you want to reward them with run,” said center fielder Jake McCarthy, who had a big night from the leadoff spot, going 3 for 4 with a walk and driving in four runs.
McCarthy’s 427-foot two-run homer in the fourth off Giants right-hander Adrian Houser gave Colorado a 4-0 lead. McCarthy added an RBI single in the fifth and another in Colorado’s three-run seventh. He also recorded his club-leading 10th stolen base and reached base four times for the eighth time in his career.
“I haven’t been patient the last week, I had a lot of pretty bad at-bats” he said. “But I think it’s just about getting good pitches to hit. … Getting into good counts, seeing pitches and taking pitcher’s pitches you can make it easier on yourself. I think I did a good job of that tonight.”
Also in the seventh, Kyle Karros came off the bench to whistle a leadoff homer to right off Ryan Borucki. It was Karros’ third homer of the season, fourth of his young career, and the first pinch-hit home run of his career. It was also his first home run against a team other than the Dodgers — his father, Eric’s, former team.
“That was becoming a thing, so it’s nice to put that narrative to rest,” Karros joked. “I think I saw somewhere where it said, ‘Are the Dodgers just feeling Karros meatballs?’ That’s certainly not the case.”
The Rockies provided an early comfort zone for Feltner by scoring two runs in the first inning. McCarthy and Hunter Goodman drew walks off Houser, Willi Castro delivered an RBI single, and Sterling Thompson took one for the team, getting plunked by Houser with the bases loaded.
Castro hit 2 for 5, recording a multi-hit game for the fifth time in his last six starts.
San Francisco spoiled a rare Rockies shutout with a two-run homer in the eighth by Drew Gilbert off reliever Blas Castano.
The Rockies (22-37) will play for their third series sweep of the season on Sunday afternoon at Coors. Should the Rockies win, they will move out of the National League West cellar and the Giants (22-36) would fall into last place.
Pitching probables
Sunday: Giants LHP Robbie Ray (3-6, 4.60 ERA) at Rockies RHP Tanner Gordon (0-0, 5.85), 1:10 p.m.
Monday: Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-6, 8.08) at Angels RHP Jose Soriano (6-4, 2.65), 7:38 p.m.
Tuesday: Rockies RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (4-4, 4.01) at Angels RHP Grayson Rodriguez (2-1, 7.53), 7:38 p.m.
Wednesday: Rockies RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-7, 7.22) at Angels RHP Walbert Urena (2-4, 2.44), 7:38 p.m.
TV: Rockies.TV
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM
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Denver, CO
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