HoopsHype.com Rumors

Benjamin Hochman: Ujiri on Iguodala possibly returning to Nuggets: “I’m very optimistic that things will go well. … We want him back.” Twitter @nuggetsnews

Denver Nuggets, Free Agency, Andre Iguodala 

Paul Coro: McDonough got choked up talking about his brothers, Sean & Terry, attending the #Suns presser. Said it's OK cuz he saw George Karl do that. Twitter @paulcoro

Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, George Karl, Ryan McDonough 

Jody Genessy: NBA front-office types voted Denver's Masai Ujiri executive of the year. Jazz's Kevin O'Connor got two second-place votes, finished 13th. Twitter @DJJazzyJody

Denver Nuggets, Masai Ujiri 

Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri will be named the NBA's executive of the year on Thursday, a source told The Denver Post on Wednesday night. Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, Masai Ujiri 

Phil Jackson: Congrats @georgekarl22, good season and nice run in the playoffs…very entertaining. Twitter

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Phil Jackson 

Jessica Camerato: George Karl named 2012-13 NBA Coach of the Year. Twitter @JCameratoNBA

Denver Nuggets, George Karl 

Tom Haberstroh: Erik Spoelstra on COY: "Congratulations to George Karl, but I know he didn't want it either. No disrespect." Twitter @tomhaberstroh

Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, George Karl, Erik Spoelstra 

Ethan J. Skolnick: Spoelstra: "I'm probably more pleased this morning than George Karl. It's not quite as definitive as the SI jinx, but it's pretty close." Twitter @EthanJSkolnick

Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, George Karl, Erik Spoelstra 

KC Johnson: Thibodeau on George Karl winning COY: "He’s been great at it for a long time. I’m very happy for him. I thought he had a remarkable season." Twitter @KCJHoop

Chicago Bulls, Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Tom Thibodeau 

Mozgov stated that his current role in Denver does not suit him. About playing no minutes in the series against Golden State: "It is hard to take. But how could I make a difference? Quarreling with Karl? Complaining about the coach? All I could do was wait for a chance. I was completely healthy and eager to fight. However, Karl continued to trust others. I love this club, this city. But of course, the current role does not suit me. And I'm not going to continue to get paid for sitting on the bench. Sport Express

Denver Nuggets, Timofey Mozgov 

Q: Andre Iguodala can opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer. Where does he fall on your priority list? Nuggets president Josh Kroenke: “A.I., he was a big part of everything we did this year. He. is a unique player. He fits our system very well. He’s wonderful in our locker room. As far as his contractual situation, he has a player option for next year. He’s going to make a decision there and we’re going to be making our decisions as well. I can’t say too much about it because I don’t know exactly how it will unfold. Dre was a big part of who we were this year and we hope to have him as part of what we’re doing going forward.” NBA.com

Denver Nuggets, Free Agency, Andre Iguodala, Josh Kroenke 

At, or near the top of that list is Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri, who doesn’t even have a contract extension himself. Speaking on 9News’ late Sunday night sports program ‘Overtime,’ Ujiri said despite a disappointing finish in a first-round loss to Golden State there is no worry about the future. “I think it’s nothing that we need to panic about,” Ujiri said. “We will fix it. We knew we had a growing team and there would be growing pains, and we will fix the problems.” Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, Masai Ujiri 

Q: Finally, Masai Ujiri’s contract is up this summer. What can you tell us about keeping him in Denver? Nuggets president Josh Kroenke: “Masai and I, we pretty much figured that out between each other. We have a relationship where we openly discuss (everything). Last summer, Philadelphia made a run at him. I said, ‘Hey, buddy, if you want to be here, let’s talk about it when the time is right.’ That was really about it. For the fans, they should know Masai wants to be here and I think he enjoys working for me. I think we make a pretty good team, along with (vice president of basketball operations) Pete D’Alessandro, (scouting coordinator) Dan Tolzman and the rest of our scouting staff. I wouldn’t anticipate any issues there.” NBA.com

Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers, Masai Ujiri, Josh Kroenke 

Would the Cavs go for broke with free agents like Utah center Al Jefferson or Minnesota center Nikola Pekovic? The 6-10, 289-pound Jefferson made $15 million this season. Pekovic, a 6-11, 290-pounder, had a breakthrough year in 2012-13 with 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds. He made $4.6 million this season, and could vault up to the $8 million-$10 million range. The Cavs probably won't take on that kind of commitment from either player, even though they desperately need scoring from the post. They might pursue free-agent role players like Matt Barnes or Corey Brewer to round out the roster. News-Herald

Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Free Agency, Al Jefferson, Matt Barnes, Nikola Pekovic, Corey Brewer 

Josh Kroenke: “Andre Iguodala, he was a big part of everything we did this year. He. is a unique player. He fits our system very well. He’s wonderful in our locker room. As far as his contractual situation, he has a player option for next year. He’s going to make a decision there and we’re going to be making our decisions as well. I can’t say too much about it because I don’t know exactly how it will unfold. Dre was a big part of who we were this year and we hope to have him as part of what we’re doing going forward.” NBA.com

Denver Nuggets, Free Agency, Andre Iguodala, Josh Kroenke 

Andre Iguodala can make $16 million next season playing for the Nuggets, but he has the choice to opt out of his contract and sign a new, longer deal with Denver or with another NBA team. Re-signing with the Nuggets would give him a chance to sign for an additional fifth season. But other teams, notably Dallas and Atlanta, will have ample salary cap space this summer if they want to go after Iguodala. "When I go to Los Angeles and sit down and talk to my agent, we'll start having conversations," Iguodala said Friday. "I didn't really think the season would be ending this early. It was never on my mind what I would do next year. My whole thought process was about how deep we can go, and how can we improve on the team we have right now." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, Free Agency, Andre Iguodala 

Asked if how these playoffs played out gives him less hope of future success in Denver, he said: "It doesn't give me less hope, especially considering we had one of our leading scorers (injured Danilo Gallinari) down and our youth. They have nowhere to go but up, and that's something you have to take into consideration. ... I definitely want to win a championship. At the same time, it's a business, but I don't think it's a factor. The front office knows what I bring to the team, so we'll see what happens. There are so many factors that I haven't even thought of yet." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, Free Agency, Andre Iguodala 

The Nuggets shot only 34.7 percent Thursday, their worst performance since the first game of the season. After the 92-88 loss Thursday, veteran guard Andre Miller said Denver was "outplayed, outcoached, out-toughed." Asked for his reaction, Karl said: "I'm OK with it. There are parts of that that are correct, parts that could be argued. Andre is a passionate guy. He understands the game of basketball and I have no problem with the commentary." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching 

The Nuggets didn't get home until 4 a.m. and met at the Pepsi Center at noon. Karl said that he, Kroenke and general manager Masai Ujiri talked to the team. "(We) thanked them for a committed year," Karl said. "We talked to them about the summertime, having fun and getting better. When all the clouds go away, the toxins of the series go away, there will be more sunshine than right now." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching, Masai Ujiri Denver Nuggets 

There has been much buzz around Denver about the future of George Karl, after the Nuggets coach lost 4-2 in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs to the Warriors. "George is under contract for next year. At this point in time, we haven't really given any thought to making any change whatsoever," Nuggets president Josh Kroenke told The Denver Post and nuggets.com. "As we do at the end of every season, we'll have internal meetings and George will obviously be a major part of them. We won 57 games and in my mind, he should hands down be the NBA coach of the year. We'll all put our heads together and try to figure out what happened (in the playoffs) and why it happened. We were without our second-leading scorer, and some benefit of the doubt should be given to a coach with well over 1,000 wins without one of his leading scorers (Danilo Gallinari) in the playoffs." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching, Josh Kroenke