The Denver Nuggets officially welcomed big man Mason Plumlee to the team at practice Tuesday morning.
Plumlee, 26, was acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for center Jusuf Nurkic and the rights to the 2017 Memphis Grizzlies first-round pick. Denver also received a second-round pick and cash from Portland in the deal.
After getting situated, Plumlee spoke to the Denver media for the first time as a member of his new team on Tuesday. Off the bat, Plumlee made one thing clear: He’s ready and excited to get to work with his the new squad.
“Overall, I’m thrilled,” Plumlee told reporters. “I’m very excited to be here … I’m very excited about it and I’m looking forward to this.”
Plumlee is a solid addition for the Nuggets, especially because of his passing ability, which will complement that of cornerstone Nikola Jokic; someone the newest Nuggets is excited to play alongside.
“I watched that game last night. That was a heck of a performance.” Plumlee said with a smile on his face. “He gave us a lot of problems when we [Trail Blazers] played against the Nuggets, and now I’m on the other side of it, so I’m very excited to play with him. I think he’s used the floor as well as anybody from any position. He has great touch on his shots and his passes. He looks like he makes the game fun for all of his teammates and that is something that is very exciting.”
Like Jokic, Plumlee is also notorious for his passing ability, making the idea of playing the two alongside each other that much more intriguing.
Jokic aside, Plumlee spoke highly of his new teammates.
“You can see that they are connected,” Plumlee said. “Just coming in this morning everybody was happy to see each other which isn’t always the case in the NBA. It seems like it is a very close-knit group and something that is going to be fun to be a part of.”
This trade was a reflection of the win-now mindset the Nuggets are currently in. As it stands, the Nuggets are winners in three of their last five contests and have sole possession of the Western Conference’s eighth seed.
“They are definitely trending upwards,” Plumlee said. “They got a lot better from last year to this year and then they are getting better within the season, so to join that and to contribute is going to be a fun process.”
Plumlee is averaging 11.1 points and 8.0 rebounds per game this season and is expected to make his Nuggets debut Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Nuggets last game before the All-Star break.
