3 types of trades the Denver Nuggets could make this offseason | NBA Insider
Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room:
NBA Insider
The Nuggets are going to make a trade this offseason, it’s just a matter of what type.
Running it back with almost the exact same roster makes no sense for multiple reasons. Denver’s roster limitations have been exposed in the playoffs for three straight years now. Injuries have made the shortcomings more obvious, but it’s not enough of a reason to believe the current roster can win a second championship.
Then, there’s the financial aspect. Keeping the starting five and retaining Peyton Watson on a new contract makes avoiding the second apron impossible. Cleveland is the only team operating in the second apron this season, and Denver won’t be trying to live that life next season.
Here are Denver’s trade options and some deals that might make sense:
The salary dump
The most direct route to retaining Watson and keeping most of the core together means finding someone who wants to take on Cam Johnson’s expiring contract worth $23 million for next season. That task become a little more difficult since only three teams – the Lakers, Nets and Bulls – figure to have cap space to spare this summer.
Los Angeles is a tough trade partner, because the Lakers should be trying to lure Watson from Denver, not help the Nuggets keep him. The Nets and Nuggets worked out a trade last year for Johnson, making another deal tricky. Another swap between Denver and Brooklyn would have to wait until the new league year starts after the Finals.
The Nuggets could send Johnson to Chicago for Rob Dillingham, a young point guard, and Jalen Smith, a big that could provide depth at the four or the five and shed some salary. Pair that with a waive-and-stretch move that would allow the Nuggets to pay off the remainder of Jonas Valanciunas’s contract over the next few years, and Denver would’ve created valuable cap space. The Bulls have plenty of draft picks to sweeten the deal.
Denver could create even more cap space with a one-for-one trade for another player.
The sign-and-trade swap
If Watson wants to head home and be a Laker, there’s a way he can still help Denver move forward.
A sign-and-trade deal featuring LeBron James could make sense for both sides. Los Angeles gets a younger player that fits more naturally alongside Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. The Nuggets get some ball-handling and creation that eases the offensive burdens shouldered by Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic. Denver might have to agree to bring Bronny James to Denver, and LeBron would also have to sign off on the move, but a Nuggets squad featuring Murray, Johnson, James, Jokic and Aaron Gordon would be a big swing for another championship in the immediate future.
James turned 41 last season, but he’s still more than capable of helping a team win big. If Denver can’t create the cap space to re-sign Watson, plenty of teams will be interested in a sign-and-trade, but the Nuggets and Lakers could be mutually incentivized to work together since Watson and James will have their say when it comes to potential sign-and-trade moves.
Send a star home
Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon’s contributions to the Nuggets won’t be soon forgotten regardless of which way this summer goes.
Denver doesn’t have a Larry O’Brien trophy in the Ball Arena hallway without Murray’s connection with Jokic and Gordon’s selfless contributions as the tertiary star, but there’s a world where winning a second requires a tough departure.
It’s only right the Nuggets do right by key members of the franchise and send them places they would be happy to continue their careers.
For Murray, that could mean a trade to Toronto built around Immanuel Quickley, who’s a few years younger and could serve as Murray’s replacement.
For Gordon, that might mean heading back to the Bay Area. The Nuggets could package Gordon, Johnson and DaRon Holmes II in exchange for Jimmy Butler’s $57-million expiring contract. That would give Denver one year to see if Butler meshes with Murray and Jokic. If not, that’s a lot of money coming off the books next summer.
What I’m Thinking
The one voter who left Victor Wembanyama off the All-NBA first team defended his decision well.
Justin Termine, host of Sirius XM’s national NBA show, said he gave the Spurs’ phenom his third-place vote for Most Valuable Player and sees him as the best player in the world in a video posted Monday afternoon.
“This year, he was the second-best center, and I vote by position,” Termine explained.
All-NBA teams became positionless starting with the 2023-24 season. That’s back when either Jokic or Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid were relegated to second-team honors despite being the top-two in the MVP race. Termine mentioned the days Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell battled it out for the first-team selection. It also happened in the 90s with Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Shaquille O’Neal, Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo fighting for limited All-NBA spots.
“It is unfair historically to those that came before us, who I have great respect for. Those guys at center were not allowed to be on the first team at the same time. It’s unfair to Wilt and Russell and all the other guys who couldn’t make first team at the same time just because somebody played the same position as them.”
Most Valuable Player voting results do a good enough job or establishing the best player in each season. Let the All-NBA teams reflect the best players at each position.
What They’re Saying
After beating the Cavaliers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Knicks wing Josh Hart dropped a gem on analytics.
“I’m never a huge analytics guy. At a certain point, they’re a lamp post to a drunk person,” Hart started. “You can lean on them, but it won’t get you home. So, at a certain point, you’ve got to have a good feel for the game.”
Hart went on to credit his college coach, Jay Wright, with the quote.
Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson leaned on analytics in an attempt to give his team some hope after losing the first three games of the series. The Knicks outperformed their expected point total due to hot shooting in the first three games, while the opposite was true for Cleveland, according to the Cavaliers’ metrics.
“I don’t know if you guys follow that, the expected score,” Atkinson said. “We’ve won two out of three.”
What I’m Following
- The Lakers hired Rohan Ramadas as assistant general manager. Ramadas previously worked for the Pelicans as vice president of strategy and operations. He previously worked in the aerospace field.
What I’m reading
In a recent piece for ESPN, Bobby Marks outlined the market for the upcoming free-agent class. Marks has Peyton Watson receiving an offer worth $90 million over four years.