Jerami Grant is expected to opt out of his player option, league sources told Mike Singer of The Denver Post.

Grant would earn $9.3 million next season if he opted in, though sources say he could command up to $16 million this offseason.

“I’m definitely looking forward to it. We’ll see how it goes," said Grant, when asked about his offseason plans following the Nuggets' playoff exit.

The Nuggets will shed more than $44 million from their cap this offseason, with Paul Millsap and Mason Plumlee's contracts expiring. 

Jamal Murray said he was affected by a foot bruise and a bone bruise in his right knee, adding that he was unable to impact the game following the Denver Nuggets' series-ending loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in game 5.

"I have a big bruise on my foot. Just hurt me all game. I changed shoes, and that didn't help. Yeah, I have a bone bruise [as well]. I don't like to tell everybody what I got. I just like to play through it. I was in pain, but it's cool. I was out there. I was struggling a little bit today," said Murray.

Murray, who averaged 26.5 points and 6.6 assists in the playoffs, finished game 5 with 19 points and 8 assists.

Murray added that his injuries were a byproduct of the wear and tear of the bubble.

"Eighty-something days in the bubble and a lot of minutes. I didn't have the energy I needed to have for my teammates today. Without me moving as hard or cutting as hard or scoring as much, I can be so much better in so many different ways. I can't just try to get through the game. I have to try to help lead my team to win by any means," said Murray.

Nikola Jokic added perspective to the Nuggets' season, comparing how far the team had come since he first arrived in Denver.

"Since when I came here five years ago, we had 33 wins that season. And today we're in the Western Conference finals. So I think it's interesting to think about the huge improvement that we have, me as a player, as a group, as a whole organization. It was amazing improvement."

TNT's coverage of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals averaged 4.6 million viewers compared to 5.43 million viewers for Thursday Night Football on the NFL Network. The NBA trailed the NFL by a few hundredths of a point in the 18-49 demographic at 1.87 compared to 1.9.

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Denver Nuggets by a final score of 114-108, while the Miami Dolphins beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-13. The viewership for the NFL was the lowest tally for a Thursday game since 2016 when the Jaguars played the Tennessee Titans and drew 5.1 million viewers.

Celebrity Family Feud on ABC drew 5.26 million viewers.

During the previous week, Thursday Night Football averaged 6.68 million viewers while Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals brought in 3.48 million viewers. 

Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux) and Seerat Sohi of Yahoo Sports (@SeeratSohi) discuss the playoffs so far.

They talk about Denver’s exciting postseason run, Anthony Davis’ dominance, where the Clippers go from here, Tyler Herro’s emergence and much more.

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Michael Malone will approach the NBA about the way fouls are being officiated in the Western Conference Finals.

"They went to the foul line 35 times," Malone said after the Lakers took a 3-1 lead over the Denver Nuggets. "I think I'm going to have to go through the proper channels like they did to see if we can figure out how we can get some more free throws."

Frank Vogel said the Lakers "were dealing with the fouls through the proper channels with the league" after LeBron James shot just 10 free throws through the first three games of the series.

James and Anthony Davis each attempted 14 free throws in Game 4.

Asked if the Lakers' tactic of going to the league about foul calls worked, Malone said he didn't know.

"I just know they went 35 [times] and we went 23," Malone said. "I think late in the game Jamal Murray attacked the basket a few times where it appeared to be contact. We'll watch the film and send our clips in. We'll reach out to the NBA and kind of make our points noted. Whether them going through the proper channels affected tonight or not, I have no idea. The NBA does a great job of listening. You hope that next game maybe some of those fouls are called."

Will Barton continues to rehab his knee injury and is unlikely to return for the Western Conference Finals for the Denver Nuggets against the Los Angeles Lakers.

Barton has not played during the restart. 

Barton averaged 15.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 33.0 minutes per game this season. 

Denver has largely started Jerami Grant in place of Barton. 

Nikola Jokic said that the Denver Nuggets miscommunicated on defense on Anthony Davis' game-winning three during their 105-103 game 2 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Mason Plumlee started the final possession guarding Davis, with Jerami Grant guarding LeBron James.

Plumlee and Grant both ended up on James, giving Davis space to receive and shoot the ball.

"Either going to be him or LeBron [James to take the last shot], so we kind of knew it. Just happened, a little bit of miscommunication. I think I had a really good contest, to be honest. I think I was right there. As soon as he shot the ball, he shot it really well. Like, I kind of felt it going in," said Jokic of Davis' shot.

The Nuggets are now down 2-0 in the series.

Jokic and Michael Malone said that the Nuggets needs to continue fighting in the series, though Malone found a positive in that the Lakers needed a last second shot to win the game.

"The only thing you can talk about tonight is we were in the game. They had to rely on a great shot by a great player to beat us at the buzzer. But as long as we're putting ourselves in position to win games, that's all you can ask for. One thing I know about our group, even though we are disappointed, frustrated, angry, we'll use that motivation to come out and try to take Game 3."

Jamal Murray said that the Denver Nuggets have to expect that foul calls will go against them following their game 1 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers.

"Just try to play through it. It's tough. They want to talk about every call and have full conversations and try to manipulate what happens, but you can't worry about it.

"We know how it's going to be. We know we're the younger team. We're just going to play through it. We're going to find a way, and we're not going to go away so easy," said Murray, who finished with 21 points and 5 assists.

The Nuggets were called for 16 fouls in the second quarter, leading to 24 Lakers free throws.

The Lakers went to the line 37 times in the game, nine more than the Nuggets. 

Michael Malone said he'll watch the film to "see the fouls that are being called, why they're being called, should they have been called."

Murray added that the Nuggets have to earn the respect of the refs.

"I'm not going to sit here and just blame it on the refs. That's not what I'm doing. We just got to play through it and earn the respect."

Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers averaged 5.23 million viewers on ESPN, making it the largest audience of the playoffs on cable and the second-largest across all networks.

It was the third-largest live sports audience on cable since the NFL Draft in April behind only Monday's two NFL games on ESPN.

Game 7 trailed only last year’s Warriors-Rockets Game 6 (7.33M) as ESPN’s most-watched early round playoff game in the past four years.

ESPN's coverage of the Denver Nuggets' Game 6 win over the Los Angeles Clippers drew just 1.3 million viewers as it competed against the start of the NFL season, per data from ShowBuzzDaily. The game started at 10 AM in Los Angeles, likely due to the U.S. Open men's final during the afternoon also airing on ESPN.

The combined morning window of NFL games on CBS and FOX drew approximately 27 million viewers.

Denver's win over the Clippers on Friday in Game 5 drew 2.563 million viewers.

The Los Angeles Lakers' Game 4 win over the Houston Rockets was the second lowest NBA game of the week as it competed against Thursday Night Football, drawing 2.496 million viewers compared to 20.535 million for the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans.

Game 7 of the second round series between the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors drew 4.691 million viewers as the most watched NBA game of the week.