The Denver Nuggets might make their first major mid-season trade since their 2021 acquisition of Aaron Gordon. After a disappointing 14-10 start to the season which has the Nuggets two games behind the No. 4 seed in the West, the team is reportedly looking at some major additions. The Athletic has reported their interest in scorers such as Zach LaVine, Jordan Poole, Cam Johnson, and more.
“The Nuggets have either expressed interest in or have had preliminary trade discussions on the following players: Chicago’s Zach Lavine, Washington’s Jordan Poole, Utah’s Jordan Clarkson, Atlanta’s De’Andre Hunter, Brooklyn’s Cam Johnson and Washington’s Jonas Valanciunas…League sources say the focus on LaVine in recent discussions is significant.”
Ian Begley added to The Athletic’s report on X by saying the team has also been mentioned as a potential Brandon Ingram destination.
“Re: The Athletic report on the Nuggets’ search for a scorer, I’ve heard Brandon Ingram is another player among the group on their radar. FWIW: the clearest pathway for Denver to make a trade for a big scorer with a significant salary would be to include Michael Porter Jr. in deal.”.
These are all fascinating targets for the Nuggets, with Begley’s point about Michael Porter Jr. being a necessary inclusion for most deals being spot-on.
The Nuggets can’t trade Jamal Murray this season after he signed an extension over the summer while trading Aaron Gordon makes little sense given he forms the team’s defensive backbone. This leaves Porter Jr. as the obvious trade candidate, as his $35.8 million salary will be required to help the second-apron Nuggets make an acquisition.
As a second-apron team, the Nuggets will need a team to match Porter’s salary exactly or send back less money to make a one-for-one deal happen. If the Nuggets need to add more salary to make a LaVine ($43.0 million) acquisition happen, they likely will have to add someone like Zeke Nnaji ($8.8 million) while the Bulls give up a minimum-contract player like Julian Phillips ($1.8 million).
All the players the Nuggets are linked with are known as scorers, even Jonas Valacuinas who is a solid offensive player as a center but below-average defensively. Looking at former All-Star scorers such as LaVine and Ingram is fascinating, as both players carry major risks.
LaVine is averaging 21.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in a great season while Ingram is averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 5.2 assists, recently picking up an injury that should sideline him for the near future.
Every team in the NBA is after Cam Johnson it seems, and the Nuggets have no tradeable draft capital in their control so it doesn’t look like they could outbid rival West teams for him.
It seems the Nuggets know they need to take a swing on rehabilitating players whose value has taken a hit in recent seasons such as LaVine, Ingram, or Jordan Poole.
De’Andre Hunter is averaging 19.3 points and 4.0 rebounds for the Atlanta Hawks and is a potential Sixth Man of the Year candidate, so it seems hard for the Hawks to let him go without future assets coming back.
These players all would reinforce the team’s offense amidst Jamal Murray’s slide in form, so it’s bound to include Porter Jr. in almost all circumstances. This would be a major trade for the franchise, so we’ll have to wait and see if they make a move as this could drag on till February 2025.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We appreciate your support.
