Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets:

NBA Insider

There’s a new source of motivation for a man with a thirst for proving people wrong.

Jamal Murray was not included as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team when the final seven selections were announced on Thursday. It wasn’t a huge surprise given the other guards he’s competing with for limited spots. But the snub is a little added motivation.

“Yeah, of course,” Murray confirmed after he stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points, 10 assists, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal in Sunday’s win over Portland. “But I mean, there’s multiple players in the league that should be All-Stars, you know what I’m saying. I think (De’Aaron) Fox was an All-Star.”

Fox, averaging 27.5 points, 5.4 assists, 4 rebounds and 1.8 steals through Sacramento’s first 42 games, suffered the same fate as Murray. The Western Conference’s All-Star backcourt will be led by a starting duo featuring Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dallas’s Luka Doncic, while Phoenix’s Devin Booker, Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards are the reserves. They’re all deserving candidates with a varied résumés.

Gilgeous-Alexander and Edwards are the best players on the top two teams in the Western Conference. Doncic is second in the league in points (34.8) and third in assists (9.6) per game. Curry’s an active legend who’s still averaging 28.1 points despite Golden State’s struggles. Booker’s not far behind at 27.8 points per game. On the other end of the résumés, Curry is the only one who has won a championship. Murray led the Nuggets past a couple of this year’s All-Stars in last season’s championship run and is comfortable with his status among the game’s best guards.

“What do you want me to do now? I think you guys have seen me play at a pretty high level against those same guys, who are All-Stars,” Murray said.

“It is what it is.”

Murray’s numbers are a little more humble than the competition. Through 37 games, Murray is averaging 21 points, 6.6 assists, and 4 rebounds while shooting 40.6% from 3. The averages are dragged down by a couple of games Murray started, but didn’t finish. A hamstring issue cost him most of November. But since his return he scored 20 or more points in all but three of the 12 games he played and continued his habit of playing at his best against the stiffest competition. In January, he scored 35 points against the Celtics and Bucks, the two best teams in the Eastern Conference, and led the Nuggets to wins over both teams.

“I feel Jamal Murray had a great case to be an All-Star, but that wasn’t the case,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said prior to Friday’s game against Portland. “I feel for Jamal. But in a weird way, he may not be an All-Star, but to me he’s a superstar. He’s a world champion, and he’s done things in the playoffs that a lot of All-Stars have never and will never do. That’s one thing no one can ever take from Jamal Murray. He’s a world champion. Him and Nikola put the team on their backs and won 16 postseason games.”

Denver’s lone All-Star, Nikola Jokic, has gotten used to being Denver’s only representative in the game. He’s starting the All-Star Game for a fourth-straight year, his sixth appearance in total, but has never had a teammate join him at the event.

“I mean, it’s every year,” Jokic said. “It seems like he needs to be on that. I feel, or we feel, that he’s supposed to be (an All-Star), but maybe that’s just us, you know?”

The only chance that changes this year is if Murray is selected by commissioner Adam Silver as an injury replacement. If that doesn’t happen, Murray has got other plans. He’ll be at friend and offseason sparring partner Alexander Volkanovski’s UFC fight against Ilia Topuria in Anaheim and might make another stop on his way back to Denver.

“I might go watch Volk and then maybe go to Vegas after,” Murray said with a wry smile following Monday’s game.

Then, it’s back to using that new source of motivation to help the Nuggets repeat. There’s no better place to prove people wrong than the playoffs.

“You feel for Jamal Murray,” Malone said. “But what I love about Jamal is he’s a team player, and he’d much rather help this team win a back-to-back championship over being named an All-Star.”

All-Stars on reigning NBA champions

2019 champion: Toronto Raptors – 2020 All-Stars: Pascal Siakam, Kyle Lowry, Kawhi Leonard*

2020 champion: Los Angeles Lakers – 2021 All-Stars: LeBron James, Anthony Davis

2021 champion: Milwaukee Bucks – 2022 All-Stars: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton

2022 champion: Golden State Warriors – 2023 All-Stars: Stephen Curry*

2023 champion: Denver Nuggets – 2024 All-Stars: Nikola Jokic

*Played for Clippers in 2020

** replaced due to injury

What I’m Thinking

Expanding the All-Star rosters would not be a concession to the participation trophy generation.

It’s just the logical thing to do, and that’s been the case for far too long.

The NBA held its first All-Star Game in 1951. The league was in flux back then, floating between eight and 10 teams for most of the ‘50s. It wasn’t until the late ‘60s the league had at least a dozen teams going forward. The 1976 merger got the league above 20 teams for the first time. Charlotte became the 30th franchise when it returned to the league in 2004. Throughout that growth, the roster spots for the All-Star Game have stayed at 12.

Roster size has also expanded from 12 to 13 to 15 ahead of the 2020-21 season, meaning the percentage of players selected as All-Stars is as low as it’s ever been. With another round of expansion expected, there’s no better time to expand All-Star rosters to 15.

With three extra spots in each conference, De’Aaron Fox, Jamal Murray, Domantas Sabonis, Trae Young, Derrick White and Scottie Barnes could all be All-Stars while maintaining the game’s reputation as an event for the game’s elite talents.

All-Star Game selections can impact players financially and in a historical context. It’s harder than it’s ever been to be an All-Star, and increasing the roster by a few spots going forward is overdue by a few decades.

What I’m Reading

The 76ers’ season went sideways when Joel Embiid was recently diagnosed with a lateral meniscus injury in his left knee and decided to have a corrective surgery. While there’s a chance he returns this season, there’s no guarantee.

Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski says the franchise’s best bet is to be patient and let the process play out for as long as Embiid is in Philadelphia.

What They’re Saying

Michael Malone doesn’t see the need for general manager Calvin Booth and the rest of the Denver Nuggets’ front office to to be too active ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.

“Calvin and his staff, I’m sure are fielding phone calls, but I can’t imagine we’re actively calling many teams right now. … Knowing Calvin and the brief conversations we’ve had, there’s nothing where Calvin’s on the phone burning up the phone line to 29 other teams because we think that we have a tremendous starting unit, and we have some guys on our bench that are young and developing and have a chance to be really good players for years to come,” Malone said. “But, you never know what kind of phone call you’ll get. That’s the crazy thing. As next Thursday approaches, this is a weird business. Strange things happen, but I love the group in that locker room. I love where we’re at, and more importantly, I think we really have another level that we can get to.”

Michael Porter Jr. touched a nerve with the basketball community after his comments on the state of the women’s game.

“They’re very talented, but so is a famous ping pong player. Like, the best ping pong player is just as talented as the best basketball player. That doesn’t mean they’re going to get paid the same. It’s (about) what the people want to watch, you know what I mean? So, as much as I understand females wanting the same treatment as men’s basketball players, it’s a different sport. They’re not packing out the arenas. Obviously, their TV deals aren’t the same. So, as much as I advocate for women and the equality of the respect of their craft and all those things, I mean, you can’t pay them the same thing. But, I do feel like there should be a little way to make a little bit more money, because they are very talented,” Porter said on The Pivot podcast hosted by former NFL players Ryan Clark, Fred Taylor and Channing Crowder.

“I would watch that. They need to lower the rims.”

For what it’s worth, Porter’s mother, Lisa, played at the University of Iowa, and his sisters Cierra and Bri played at Missouri. Porter’s also worn WNBA player Breanna Stewart’s signature Puma shoe this season.

The List

The trade deadline is Thursday. It figures to be a quiet one for Denver with back-up center, a role often filled by Aaron Gordon in the playoffs, looking like the Nuggets only real question mark. Here are five Western Conference teams to watch:

1. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder don’t need anything. They’ve shown an ability to beat the best teams in the league despite a young and mostly inexperienced roster, but general manager Sam Presti has a plethora of draft picks at his disposal if he wants to upgrade. One thing the Thunder seem to lack is a true center. As good as Chet Holmgren is, Oklahoma City could run into trouble if he’s asked to guard the likes of Nikola Jokic in a playoff series.

2. Sacramento Kings

The surprise of last season is realizing life isn’t so easy when a playoff berth is the expectation. The Kings are a couple of losses away from finding themselves in the play-in portion of the standings. De’Aaron Fox isn’t going anywhere. It’s unlikely Domantas Sabonis or Keegan Murray would get moved either, but the Kings could really use some help on the wings. The Kings got outbid for Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby, but they have first-round picks and a few medium-sized salaries that could help facilitate a deal.

3. Golden State Warriors

This can’t be the way it ends, right? The Warriors are on pace to be a lottery team despite Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson missing a combined five games. How much value Thompson, who’s set to be an unrestricted free agent, and Draymond Green, who’s been suspended twice this season, have will likely dictate Golden State’s deadline decisions, but they could also move younger players like Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody or Brandin Podziemski, if they want to give the veteran core one more shot to make a run.

4. Los Angeles Lakers

LeBron James and Anthony Davis have led the Lakers to a 26-26 record through 51 games. That puts Darvin Ham’s squad, for now at least, squarely in the play-in. At this stage of LeBron’s career, it seems like too much to ask of him to carry the team through the play-in and onto a deep playoff run. Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt’s injuries have complicated the matter, but it feels like a move is necessary if the franchise has any hope of hanging an 18th championship banner.

5. Portland Trail Blazers

This one isn’t as much about who or what would come to Portland but who the Trail Blazers could send elsewhere. Malcolm Brogdon and Jerami Grant, neither of whom played Sunday in Denver, could be valuable veteran additions to many different teams and don’t fit Portland’s timeline, which should be focused on the future.

Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray (27) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Monday, Jan. 29, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

David Zalubowski