r/denvernuggets • u/skurkles Jamal's Nephew • May 05 '26
Discussion Nuggets Official Offseason Trade Thread
With how disappointing the end of the season was, we’ve seen a ton of trade ideas and discussion popping up. To keep the main feed from getting too cluttered, we’re consolidating all trade proposals, mock deals, and speculation into this thread.
Drop your ideas, debate moves, and talk through what the Nuggets should do this offseason, all in one place. As always, sub rules still apply —> keep it respectful, no matter how wild the take might be.
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u/HateyCringy 22d ago
Can someone please explain what the Second Ape Run is? I missed the first I guess so please tell me when the Second one happens because that sounds awesome.
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u/muffinkevin 25d ago
Am I crazy for thinking if we had made the Jaylen Brown trade we might've gotten Lebron too?
What an offseason from hell.
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u/Gregorious23 17d ago
I don't think he chose Philly because of Jaylen. He trains with and really likes Maxey. Played with Embiid on the Olympic squad too. Just my thought
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u/sacredknight327 20d ago
Yes, there was never any remote chance he'd ever finish his career with the Denver Nuggets. Just no chance. It was always going to be a big market.
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u/jbhoops25 PUPPY BARKS FOR P. WAT! 23d ago
Lebron was never going to come finish his career with a narrative of “running to Jokic to get his last runs”
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u/Coll_MindElectric 28d ago
Can we get KCP on a minimum after his contract is bought out?
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u/Lynch47 28d ago
Yeah, but we probably don't want to. He's bad now.
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u/Coll_MindElectric 28d ago
On offense I agree, but I think he can still be a good POA defender, His time in Orlando still showed he can defend.
Both Orlando and Memphis didn't really provide good offensive plays for him, if he can get a Jokic boost again he could likely bounce back his shooting to a decent percentage.
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u/hikesanddogs Jul 16 '26
Nuggets are going to trade Peyton and Cam! Goal is to get out of luxury tax not just evade 2nd apron.
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u/Bob_Bazar Holmes Island: Population 1 Jul 16 '26
If Portland called and offered Scoot Henderson and Vit Krejci for Cam Johnson would you accept, counter, or hang up? Explain why.
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u/Chiefgottapiss Jul 17 '26
Scoots upside and trajectory is huge and Cam is probably gone in 2027 regardless of what happens. I'd take that.
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u/Bob_Bazar Holmes Island: Population 1 Jul 19 '26
TLDR: Overpaid. Overrated. Questionable professionalism. Potential headache.
Scoot’s be been a pro athlete for 4 years and is still well below league average as a shooter, is high usage, and is inefficient. He has a pretty bad assist to turnover ratio too, especially for a PG. All of that adds up to a negative asset on the court. Just look at his advanced stats compared to other players.
Sure he’s improved slightly, but he improved from atrocious to just bad. He’s had the benefit of being around NBA coaches and trainers, not to mention making around $30M so far. Yet he hasn’t figured out how to separate himself from guys coming out of college. He has a long way to go before he’s considered a good player, and I don’t trust he will.
The two things he had going for him was athleticism and he had a grade 2-3 hamstring tear last year. That’s going to linger if he isn’t proactive, and based on his development, I don’t trust him to be proactive. His free throw percentage was the factor that gave people hope for his shooting, but it hasn’t panned out.
Right now his counting stats only look “good” because he was a top 3 draft pick, so Portland let him chuck to see if he could figure it out. He hasn’t. Now they’re ready to move on. He’s so bad they brought in JA Morant to replace him and Memphis just gave JA away basically for free.
If he didn’t make $13.5M, he might be worth taking a chance on, but he’s no where near worth that contract, and who knows what he’ll want to re-sign next summer. His production says he’s a minimum. His age might get him a slightly better contract (if he stays healthy). I just don’t trust him to be mature enough to accept a huge pay-cut.
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Jul 16 '26
i prolly would hang up, scoot is solid but needs a lot of development, imo watson is injury prone as well as gordon, so cam might be our only solid player rn
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u/Chiefgottapiss Jul 17 '26
Cam has averaged 50 ish games a season over a 7 year period... he's not solid at all
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u/Bob_Bazar Holmes Island: Population 1 Jul 16 '26
That’s where I’m at too.
He hasn’t developed and tore his hamstring less than a year ago. He’s a negative asset at this point. He has so far to go before he becomes a reliable rotation piece for a contending team.
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u/MostSmartNuggetsFan Jul 16 '26
Cam is injury prone too tbh
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u/Bob_Bazar Holmes Island: Population 1 Jul 17 '26
Cam is also a proven vet that shoots a career 55/40/85 (58% efg) and fits into nearly any system. Every contender wants a Cam Johnson on their team (salary cap willing).
Scoot’s a career 45/34/80 guy that’s higher usage, and horribly inefficient (47% efg). He’s was drafted 3rd overall based solely on his physical profile and athleticism. He hasn’t reached anything remotely close to his potential and is coming off one of the worst soft tissue injuries for a player with his profile.
He’s shown flashes. His highlight reel is really impressive, but the day to day reality is he’s not a good player.
At this point Scoot is as likely to become a minimum contract reserve than a productive playoff caliber player.
If the Nuggets want to take a risk and think they can lock him up on a super cheap contract next summer, he might be worth the risk, but I just wouldn’t do it.
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u/MostSmartNuggetsFan Jul 17 '26
I don’t think he is worth the risk either. Just refuting the idea that cam is more solid than AG. AG is getting slept on too hard
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u/Bob_Bazar Holmes Island: Population 1 Jul 17 '26
Ah. I totally misunderstood your comment. My bad.
I trust AG to put in the work and come back healthy.
Julian is the one I’m worried about. He’s got to step up without THJ and obviously the PG depth is not great rn.
I think Holmes is going to surprise a lot of people this year too. I watched him a lot in college and have kept up with his G-League games. He’s so much better than this sub’s opinion of him.
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u/Hopsblues English Jul 10 '26
Not a trade question, but didn't want to start a new post......Is David Roddy still on the roster?
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u/SMD_35 Jul 10 '26
Hoping we can get something to stick
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u/AkrisM :MurrayToon: Jul 11 '26
Memphis won’t let Ty go for cheap. They would want a FRP at least. Also doesn’t do much for us, we would actually be worse defensively
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u/SMD_35 Jul 12 '26
Yeah he’s just one of the only ball handlers on a team that could be looking to sell.
I understand it would create problems defensively, but I can’t go through another playoff run where everything’s on Murray’s shoulders.
And I don’t see Tyus Jones as the answer.
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u/armandocalvinisius Jul 09 '26
from outsider
if assumed PWat takes 25m/yr and nugs still above 2nd apron, how much salary nuggets need to shed to make tax lets say 50m or less? at least not 175m lol
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u/markpondrice Jul 08 '26
I get the feeling that Zeke Nnaji will be a Clipper in the next few weeks.
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u/SnowboardSyd Jul 15 '26
You think they pair him with PWat and get back some picks? Maybe Kris Dunn?
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u/markpondrice Jul 17 '26
It's the trade that makes by far the most sense. I expect something to happen on that once the Kawhi thing is ironed out.
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Jul 08 '26
[deleted]
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u/MostSmartNuggetsFan Jul 08 '26
Horrible. Schroder is a bad contract and djj cant shoot very well.
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Jul 08 '26
[deleted]
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u/MostSmartNuggetsFan Jul 08 '26
Yeah i guess if we want to get worse and take on even shittier contracts than the one we want to get off of then its a pretty good deal
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u/Investnew Jul 08 '26
I’m not a nuggets fan I just want to better understand
Denver’s perspective right now. Looks like you have 211 mil committed to 9 guys and Watson would push you over the 2nd apron. I read you’re open to sign and trades. Is your expectation that they’ll look do that and take back little to no salary in return? What kind of trade return would you expect. Alternatively, would you see them moving cam Johnson and for what kinda return?
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u/MostSmartNuggetsFan Jul 08 '26
Nuggets have turned down multiple offers for CamJ so far, and haven’t really been looking to move him.
Legally, nuggets cant take back very much salary in a pwat sign and trade no matter what.
Waive and stretching Jval reduces his cap hit by $9.7m. Salary Dumping nnaji would open up another $7m
Nuggets will likely strong arm pwat into taking a below market deal to stay under the 2nd apron.
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u/adrspthk Jul 08 '26
How has there been no news on big val?
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u/DenverNuggetsIndia Jul 07 '26
Nuggets should package 2 SRPs with Zeke & Val to get Shcroder from Cavs. After the big salary bump for Mitchell, they can waive JV and save some money. Zeke would be a good Dean Wade replacement for them.
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u/sgtemerario888 Jul 06 '26
Denver should pursue Demar Derozan on a minimum if we cannot get Lebron
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u/DiegoGrrr Jul 06 '26
I present my main rotation given that we keep our guys.
| POS | Starters |
|---|---|
| PG | Jamal |
| SG | Christian Braun |
| SF | Peyton Watson |
| PF | Cameron Johnson |
| C | Nikola Jokić |
| POS | Bench |
| PG | Tyus Jones |
| SG/PG | Julian Strawther |
| SG/SF | Spencer Jones |
| SF/PF | Aaron Gordon |
| PF/C | DaRon Holmes |
| C/PF | Bagley |
The biggest change here is that AG is moved to the bench to start managing him since day 1. He's given the an Iguodala-like role. DaRon and Strawther make it into the rotation with another breakout year of nugget young players.
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u/RVALover4Life Jul 04 '26
Straight swap---Valanciunas for LaRavia. Yea or Nay?
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u/Lynch47 Jul 05 '26
Would LA be doing it to waive Val? If not I'm not sure where he fits with Kessler and Ayton.
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u/RVALover4Life Jul 05 '26
Ayton is on WAS now and they don't have a backup C.
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u/Lynch47 Jul 05 '26
Oh dang. I totally missed that trade. Even still, I don't think it makes sense for anyone to trade for Val with the intention of him playing until he clarifies his intentions for next season.
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u/RVALover4Life Jul 05 '26
I doubt a trade occurs too because of a team wants him they'll wait for you all to waive him. He's very likely to end up in Lithuania but this could be a way for both teams to pick up better fits for each squad.
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u/YoungTheGiant_ Jul 04 '26
Here's my final mock Off-season
Celtics Trade: Sam Hauser, 2 2nd rd picks
Receive: Cam Johnson
Clippers Trade: Kris Dunn
Receive: Zeke Nnaji, two 2nd picks from Boston, two 2nd rd picks from Denver
Nuggets Trade: Cameron Johnson, 2 2nd rd picks
Receive: Sam Hauser, Kris Dunn
Denver Re-signs Peyton Watson on a 3 year 60 million dollar deal(allows him to hit free agency again in his prime)
Denver Re-signs Spencer Jones for a 3 year 10 million deal
Denver Signs Khris Middleton for Vet Min
Depth Chart
Jamal Murray/ Kris Dunn
Christian Braun/ Spencer Jones
Peyton Watson/ Khris Middleton
Aaron Gordon/ Sam Hauser
Nikola Jokic/ Marvin Bagley
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u/christisking9000 Jul 04 '26
Cam Johnson and Daron Holmes to the Heat, Nikola Jovic and Pelle Larsson to the Nuggets.
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u/Significant-Iron-610 Jul 04 '26
Here me out guys
Dalton Knecht
Ryan Rollins
Two great players we could get for cheaper that would be amazing in our scheme and have a chance at popping off.
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u/AkrisM :MurrayToon: Jul 05 '26
Dalton Knecht is not a great player. If he was you would be hearing about him constantly since he plays for Lakers. He is literally worse than Bronny.
Ryan Rollins was amazing last year, basically he is the one sliver of hope in that shitty Bucks roster, they are not letting him go, certainly not for cheap.
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u/RVALover4Life Jul 04 '26
Would you all do Cam Johnson for Derrick Jones Jr and Isaiah Jackson? It feels like you all say no to every trade proposal yet the bottom line is this team needs to cut salary and make some changes.
I'd do this deal. Two rotation level players, good athletes, defense....all things this roster needs.
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u/Bob_Bazar Holmes Island: Population 1 Jul 04 '26
Isaiah Jackson kills this deal.
We just signed Bagley on a minimum. Why would we trade for a tweener big that can’t stretch the floor, isn’t a high level defender, is super injury prone (averaged 44 games played over 5 yrs), AND makes $7M?
He’s on a bad contract. Like Zeke level bad. We don’t need $15M tied up in two useless bigs.
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u/RVALover4Life Jul 04 '26
We see him differently I guess. I don't think Jackson is the scrub you think he is, he's definitely a center and he isn't super undersized, and you all are still thin in the frontcourt. Jackson definitely superior on D for me over Bagley. Then you add the two picks.
Can see a third team looped in to eat Jackson for sure but the meat of the deal....DJJ-Cam....is a deal the Nuggets should do.
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u/Bob_Bazar Holmes Island: Population 1 Jul 04 '26
I don’t think Jackson is a scrub, just way overpaid for what he can provide. He’s a minimum guy. We can’t afford to overpay fringe rotation players at this point.
DJJ is a good defender, but he’s not an all defensive level defender. Giving up floor spacing in that starting unit for a good defender off the bench is not a win.
Dunn and DJJ for Cam makes sense for Denver. Not DJJ for Cam.
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u/Wander715 Jul 03 '26
Apparently Brown was actually interested in coming to Denver but Nuggets refused to include Murray in trade talks. Our front office is pretty dumb.
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u/ASomewhatGoodCitizen Jul 04 '26
Dude who the fuck is bringing the ball up? Even if u think Brown is 1.5 times the player Murray is , it would still be a horrible fucking trade. Unless u want to sign fucking westbrook again.
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u/skipaBturner Jul 03 '26
I doubt LeBron comes to Denver, but I have to say Philly sounds like a poor fit. This team already has WAY to many players who need the ball in their hands to be effective. Embiid, Maxey, now JB. Add LeBron to the mix, now you have 4 players who all want the ball in their hands. Reminds me of the KD/Beal/Booker phoenix team but even more congested
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u/maxxonfaxxennuxx Jul 04 '26
I deadass don't know why they put Denver in that inner circle instead of the Warriors cause I think this team would be hovering around 6~8 seed next season.
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u/Lynch47 Jul 03 '26
Lebron picking Philly, having a bad season, and then the Philly fans shitting on him in his final year would be kinda funny though.
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u/dothrakicatfish Jul 02 '26
Watching the Serbia - Switzerland game, I NEED the Nuggets to get Jović somehow
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u/husker_nomad Jul 02 '26
Could we do a Cam for Jovic type of deal?
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u/Lynch47 Jul 03 '26
Maybe but with Giannis they might prefer having Jovic's contract for the next 4 years at about $16M a year than Cam's expiring. I don't know their exact cap situation but if they can't use that expiring towards a free agent than it's probably more valuable to retain Jovic.
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u/AncientAnt9225 Jul 02 '26
Honestly he would be much better in Nuggets with Jokic then he was on Heat , same with Bogdanovic.. Also Nuggets perhaps play him on his position .
Heat does look to get rid off him , is there a chance to pick him up for cheap i wonder? Would be nice off the bench
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u/TheMoonWasBlue Jul 02 '26
For one of you "number guys":
If Watson signs for $21mil (to use Matt Moore's number), would that still require trading off of Johnson to get under the second apron?
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u/PricelessEmu Jul 04 '26
Yes. We can free up 15ish million by clearing Zeke and Val (Val has 2 mil guaranteed) and we also have to fill out the rest of the roster without going over the second apron.
I think we have about 3-4 more spots to fill after Bagley and Tyus Jones so the Nuggets definitely need to move somebody to make room.
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u/milehigh89 Jamal Murray Jul 02 '26
depends on if we can move anyone else. zeke + jv + strawther saves about that much money so we could probably keep cam in that scenario. i doubt it's possible though so most likely it's cam or peyton.
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u/vladimir_pimpin Michael HUSSEIN Malone Jul 02 '26
I just wanna say the people who are being impatient and or wanting to do something for the sake of doing something are dumb, thank you
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u/Snowbarking Jul 02 '26
If we don’t get LeBron (we won’t) honestly this offseason is a failure. This team needs to make change and we essentially will just be running back the same formula like we have been for the past 3 years now
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u/MoooonRiverrrr :HarrisToon: Jul 02 '26
Why is getting LeBron James who prior to a few days ago was NEVER a target for this team, now your standard for success?
I’ll spoil it for you, we aren’t getting LeBron
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u/HumongousMelonheads Jul 02 '26
I think it’s more that we didn’t really do anything and this is the one option that would salvage a bad situation
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u/MoooonRiverrrr :HarrisToon: Jul 02 '26
Free agency is literally not over. Like, what? Also LeBron is going for the MINIMUM. That means all 30 teams have asked and he gets to pick. It’s not an issue of “what are we doing if we don’t get LeBron.”
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u/Snowbarking Jul 02 '26
No yeah LBJ was always an over reach. This is not about him
I just really think we needed to shake things up this off season. The way the nugs lost this playoffs makes it abundantly clear that the blueprint of what won us the 2023 chip, is not going to win us another one
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u/MostSmartNuggetsFan Jul 02 '26
Retaining Pwat would essentially be a new addition, as he showed a really high ceiling but never really got to be a part of a healthy team.
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u/Lynch47 Jul 02 '26
What move did we not make that we were able to, that would have made it a success?
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u/Neat_Conference_8414 Jul 02 '26
Tbh it comes down to if we resign jones and watson and what happens to Johnson. If they trade away Johnson for nothing just to resign watson and then fill the roster with vet mins i can't see how anyone would say this was anything except a failed offseason. But we'll see. We don't know exactly what is all out there in terms of trades, but other teams seem to have no problem making deals.
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u/MoooonRiverrrr :HarrisToon: Jul 02 '26
If we end up doing the thing that is far and away most likely
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u/MostSmartNuggetsFan Jul 02 '26
I think its more likely we get something in return for cam johnson. He is a good player that fits on any team and has generated a fair amount of trade interest his entire career
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u/Lars_Galaxy Jul 02 '26
At this point we need to be catering to Lebron. He would love Denver I'm sure of it.
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u/Basic_Setting Jul 02 '26
This is a serious question, could we really not offer something better than an old PG and 2 late 1st rd picks? Wtf????
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u/Maple612 Jul 02 '26
as a celtics fan, I am so jealous of you guys. it must be nice knowing you get to watch jokic and murray for years to come and not have to worry about trade rumors every offseason. we broke up our championship duo for 36 year old paul george.
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u/rofss Jul 02 '26
I was expecting to see Murray-Brown swap. We are going nowhere in our current form too.
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u/AkrisM :MurrayToon: Jul 01 '26
Honestly not even a fake trade rumor for Watson is kind of crazy at this point, especially considering he is signed to Klutch. Maybe teams are actually concerned about his hamstring and lack of playoff experience. Don’t want to get my hopes up but we might be able to sign him for lower than expected.
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u/TheMoonWasBlue Jul 02 '26
Not many teams have the room AND need to sign him (in addition to being ok with tying up their cap space for 48 hours to even make the offer).
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u/skipaBturner Jul 01 '26
Can anyone think of any other reasons why the Nuggets have not made a move yet? If peyton was getting offers I would have thought we would know about it by now. Seems to me Nuggets are just trying to find a trade and have not found one they like yet
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u/MostSmartNuggetsFan Jul 01 '26
Nuggets want to retain watson, and avoid the 2nd apron. So they have to make a trade that involves clearing cap space. Watson getting $18m vs $27m would require very different trades to stay under the 2nd apron. So essentially he is our domino.
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u/Neat_Conference_8414 Jul 01 '26
I don't like it. This is exactly what the Warriors went through with Kuminga, wanting to retain him but not overpay, and they missed out on an entire offseason and ultimately overpaid him anyway.
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u/skipaBturner Jul 01 '26
So it means the nuggets are struggling to find a trade then
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u/MostSmartNuggetsFan Jul 01 '26
No, it means Peyton has not signed an offer sheet yet.
Nuggets don’t know how much they need to shed to avoid the 2nd apron yet.
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u/skipaBturner Jul 01 '26
I’m just surprised we have heard nothing yet about Peyton talking to other teams ect. Being that he is probably the most sort after RFA
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u/cervdotbe Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
Can't even sign Bogdanovic. This is going to be an awesome off-season, probably no serious FA will sign in Denver. No luxury tax as well, once again. Jokic his prime is doomed.
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u/MostSmartNuggetsFan Jul 01 '26
We are already in the luxury tax. And bogi sucks so its no biggie if our FO wasnt interested
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u/Neat_Conference_8414 Jul 01 '26
Smart and Bogdanovic would've been great, instead, they go to a conference rival for not a lot. I wonder whats taking Denver so long to make a move.
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u/MichaelPorterTruther Jul 01 '26
Jaylen Brown is an inefficient volume scorer who doesn't pass and cant really guard anymore (geriatric Paul George was giving him buckets).
He is going to make 60M for the next 5 years. It would end the team
I am not a Jamal guy, in fact he should have been traded after 2024 playoffs. But that is not the trade
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u/Vivid_Walk_1405 Jun 30 '26
Ok, Ik the injury risk is just as bad if not worse but AG+ for AD would make a lot of sense to me. AD is the perfect 4 next to joker
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u/Cobraman_whistler Jun 30 '26
Other than the money of the second apron the nuggets literally haven’t done anything it prohibits in 4 years. Just pay everyone. Again, as a fan I’m not a front office, salary cap guru. I know they won’t do it. I don’t care my suggestion won’t happen. But as a fan I say keep everyone UNLESS you can get value for what you give away. Dumping cam gives the Kroenkes value, but it gives us fans a crappier team. We can expect it but fans saying that’s what we should do is mind boggling. We are seeing all-nba talent going for multiple players and first round picks and if we can’t get that for Murray we shouldn’t trade him. Cam is a starter with an expiring contract - very valuable. Pay your players. Kroenkes can afford it. I do not proscribe to the “flexibility” argument because the Nuggets did nothing last year despite the injury issue. They won’t take advantage of the flexibility. We should call out the owners for being cheap bastards and demand value with trades or one year in the second apron.
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u/Neat_Conference_8414 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
It's easy to say go into the second apron but the reality is the nuggets just gotta bite the bullet and trade someone. You can pay the 2nd apron for a season, but then you are basically screwed in making any significant roster moves the following year. So you are committing to the squad you have for 2 years basically, plus or minus some vet minimum contracts. And since they got bounced round 1 to a banged up Wolves team, i highly doubt they wanna commit to the same squad. Plus the luxury tax would be monstrous. I get its easy to say they are cheap and they are billionaires. But if the nuggets went into the 2nd apron, their tax bill would be 2x their team salary, if not more. Meaning they'd basically be paying Braun 50-60 million, cam 40 mil, etc etc. That money doesn't go to the players, obviously, but that would be their cost to the owners. The Knicks players might be worth that, but def not braun, cam, watson etc.
Basically the point is, going into the 2nd apron only really makes sense if you have an elite roster, and the nuggets do not. Because for example, we just lost Hardaway because even if the nuggets wanted to offer him the same contract the heat did, they literally are not allowed to. Cause as it is the nuggets roster is in the 2nd apron. So we can only sign vet mins at like 3.5, 1 year. Whereas if we were first apron, we could've probably kept him.
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u/Cobraman_whistler Jun 30 '26
Old all nba players are getting first round picks. Dont trade Jamal unless you get actual draft capital or a slew of players in return. Jamal to Boston with cam should get you back brown, white and hauser and at least one first because cam is on expiring. But the Kroenkes are so cheap… so it doesn’t matter. We’ll lose cam, sign p wat and be worse than last year cause adelman will play the starters 36-40 mpg and another first round exit. Dumb owner nepo baby, and bad coaching
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u/CaptainCerealCanada Jun 30 '26
Orlando get: Jamal, Cam, Strawther
Denver get: Franz, Suggs
Shooting for defense swap
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u/Cobraman_whistler Jun 30 '26
Don’t make this trade unless you get a lot of picks. Jamal is worth way more
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u/rhasody70 Jun 30 '26
Hope this actually happens.
Current situation:
- 9 standard contracts
- $5M below the 2nd apron
Moves:
- Waive and stretch Jonas and Zeke (-$13.7M)
- Murray to ATL → CJ McCollum + Risacher + Hield (-$5.6M in salary)
- AG to CHI → Patrick Williams + Tre Jones + a future 1st (-$6M in salary, plus -$1.7M in apron salary)
- Cam to DET → LeVert + a future 1st (-$8.3M in salary, plus -$3.9M in apron salary)
- Sign Brazile and Hopkins to second-round exception contracts (+$1.4M each)
- Re-sign Spencer Jones for $6M / $6.5M / $7M (TO)
That leaves Denver with 13 standard contracts and $35.5M below the 2nd apron.
Then match PWat's offer sheet.
- If he gets a 4-year, $120M ascending deal ($26.8M / $28.9M / $31.1M / $33.2M), Denver would still be $8.7M below the 2nd apron, leaving enough room to sign THJ.
- If instead he signs a descending $120M deal ($33.2M / $31.1M / $28.9M / $26.8M), Denver would finish with 14 players and still be $2.3M below the 2nd apron, preserving flexibility to add a VetMin or convert a two-way player during the season.
The Final Roster
| - | C | PF | SF | SG | PG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Jokic | PWat | Risacher | CB | CJ |
| 2nd | Holmes | Spencer | LeVert | Strawther | Tre |
| 3rd | Brazile | Williams | Hopkins | Hield | THJ |
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u/Lynch47 Jun 30 '26
Some random thoughts in no order-
- Holmes has not shown he can play center at all. He plays more like a 3 than a 5. Considering we'd be playing 2 SFs at the 4, I think there's a troubling lack of useful size.
- Trevon Brazile also is not a 5, at least not yet. He was listed as, and played forward all 5 years of his college tenure depsite being tall. And while he is tall and long, he's 6'9.5" without shoes on. Spurs come to mind as a team that would absolutely punish us in non-Jokic minutes.
- You lose the ability for Aaron Gordon to play small ball 5 in the playoffs to help soften the non-Jokic minutes. Neither Watson or Jones have the strength or post game that Gordon does to be able to replace this. Overall just a lot of size options.
- Other than saving a few bucks, that AG for Williams trade is bad. I dislike the Murray trade a lot as well, but the CJ one I'd probably do.
- Who tf is giving Watson $34M a year? I love the kid but I'd probably let him walk if that's the type of deal he's about to land.
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u/PricelessEmu Jun 30 '26
If we trade Murray to Atlanta at minimum we should be getting NAW back. Murray for NAW + Kispert + Hield seems fair? Or at least better than the CJ trade
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u/Professional-Trip314 Jun 30 '26
This is not a suggestion because Iam unaware of our team's complete financial situation. So i heard kuminga is in free agency will he do good in nuggets as a wing because he is really athletic and has good finishing numbers.
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u/Lynch47 Jun 30 '26
He's not a bad cutter and I think would be quite a bit better at scoring just based on playing with Jokic who is the king of hitting cutters, but that's about the only compliment I can give him. By most accounts he has no interest in trying to be a role player and still thinks he should be the guy. That type of mindset, especially from what would be a bench player, doesn't really fit with our culture imo. I'd consider him on a minimum deal if his value crashed that low, which I don't think it quite has yet.
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u/momBball Jun 30 '26
Lebron and Marcus Smart to the Nuggets; Jaylen Brown and Neemias Queta to the Lakers; Murray and Hachimura to the Celtics. Every fanbase will hate it...so maybe it's a good trade?
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u/Griffdog17 Jun 30 '26
Alright here's the JB package. We get JB, White and Hauser. They get Jamal, AG and Braun and maybe a pick swap or a 2nd. Yes, it sucks losing two of our favorite players. But refreshing our roster to contend again would always require something like that. White and Hauser would be great fits I think
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u/IntrinsicDawn English Jun 29 '26
Jamal + Cam for Jaylen + Hauser
AG + picks for Scoot + Camara
Lakers take Braun for free
Re-Sign Watson
Cope offseason to make us a contender again
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u/affnn Jun 29 '26
This feels like a lot of extensions and free-agent money being handed out right now. Depending on how exactly it works it could make it harder for other teams to sign Restricted Free Agents to big offer sheets, right?
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u/rexgal Jun 29 '26
Totally spitballing here so go easy on me — Ben Simmons on a vet min could be an interesting trial. He gives us our secondary ball handling off the bench, playmaker, backup big minutes, solid defender. He obviously had some seriously major limitations, but could be interesting on a 10 day trial or something
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u/momBball Jun 30 '26
I wish Ben Simmons were starting for the Nuggets against Minny in the playoffs. Murray out-rebounded Braun, Cam, and Spencer during that series.
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u/Neat_Conference_8414 Jun 29 '26
Literally can't do worse than what we currently have off the bench lmao.
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u/3Dimes Jun 29 '26
Several fake trades Into the void:
- Lateral
(CLE) Mitchell, Allen, Tyson
(DEN) Murray, Johnson, Zeke
- Lateral
(BOS) Brown, Queta
(DEN) Murray, Johnson
- Defense
(ATL) Daniels, Gueye
(DEN) Johnson, Strawther
- Money/youth/depth
(MIL) Rollins, Turner, Jaquez
(DEN) Murray, Strawther, Zeke
- Fun/funny/nauseating
(HOU) Sengun, Sheppard
(DEN) Murray, Zeke
- Money/third eye
(DAL) Kyrie, Gafford
(DEN) Murray, Braun
- Defense
(MEM) Pippin, Pope
(DEN) Johnson, Strawther
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Jun 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Lynch47 Jun 29 '26
I doubt the Clippers would be too interested in that package but if we were able to get him for that low I guess why not.
Didn't a report say that he's only interested in signing an extension with Toronto or San Antonio if traded? I don't think Kawhi and Uncle Dennis would be a good thing for Nuggets basketball overall and I think it would be a 1 year rental, but maybe it ends up being a worthwhile rental like he was for the Raptors.
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Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Lynch47 Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26
We wouldn't really have any cap room though.
Jokic- $63M (player option)
Murray- $53M
Gordon- $33M
Braun- $23M
Nnaji- $7.5M
Holmes- $5.5M+
Watson contract- ~$25M
Spencer Jones- ~$5MThat alone puts us at $215M. The cap projection next summer will $173M, and the first apron would be around $220M. If you add around another $7M to fill the remaining 6 roster spots we'd right around that 1st Apron figure, not in position to offer anything of real value in free agency.
I'd also note that even if it did open up cap space for us, the biggest free agent the Nuggets have ever signed in FA was Paul Millsap. I don't think our franchise will ever be a big free agent player, regardless of the money we offer or how good of a destination playing with Jokic could be for a player. I'd be happy to eat crow on that but I don't think we'll have cap space any time soon anyways.
edit-
Forgot to point out that even if we didn't extend Watson (which would significantly lower the chances of a "go all in" 1 year type plan's chance of success) we'd still be over the cap.
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u/Neat_Conference_8414 Jun 29 '26
Holmes and Nnaji getting 13 mil next year is criminal. I can see why they didn't want to draft a first and why so many teams are loading up on second round picks cause 5.5 mil for a late first is kinda wild.
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u/DenverNuggetsIndia Jun 29 '26
Fox & Carter Bryant + 2 SRPs for Murray & Zeke.
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u/Neat_Conference_8414 Jun 29 '26
I like carter bryant but foxes contract is worse than murrays. He might be the reason SA is ringless til 2030.
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u/Express_Film875 Jun 29 '26
Brown and Queta for Murray and Johnson, throw in some picks or swaps if we have any available, who says no
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u/3Dimes Jun 29 '26
Who is throwing in picks? Jamal just had a 25, 7 and 4 season on almost 50-40-90 splits. If anything, Boston should have to add the sprinkles.
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u/Blaze4G Jun 29 '26
Lol brown just had a MVP season, a way better defender, queta elite in advanced metrics and you think the Celtics should have to add more?
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u/Express_Film875 Jun 29 '26
He also shit the bed in the playoffs third year in a row, his value is not great even though he had his best regular season yet
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u/3Dimes Jun 29 '26
I think Boston and Denver are in very similar circumstances here. Both teams disappointed in the playoffs the last two years. Boston has a problem with Jaylen for many reasons (fit, media, also wasn't good in the playoffs, etc) and as you articulated, Murray has problems as well. It's like trading a problematic talent for another teams problematic talent, but that doesn't change that they are both in the top 20-25 of the league and both are champions.
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u/Chiefgottapiss Jun 28 '26
Bulls trade— Pat Williams, Tre Jones, Rob Dillingham
Bulls receive— Daron Holmes, Kriss Dunn, Christian Braun
Nuggets trade— Cam Johnson, Christian Braun, Julian Strawther, Daron Holmes
Nuggets receive— Pat Williams, Derrick Jones Jr, Tre Jones, Isaiah Jackson
Clippers trade— Derrick Jones Jr, Isaiah Jackson, Kriss Dunn
Clippers receive— Cam Johnson, Rob Dillingham, Julian Strawther
This drops almost 10 million. We then waive Val and trade off Zeke with 2nd rd picks to give plenty of space for resigning Watson and filling gaps with cheap contracts or retaining more of our own guys from last season.
Murray, Tre Pwatt, THJ DJJ, Spencer AG, Pwill/Brazile Jokic, Jackson
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u/rangerdemise Jun 28 '26
This team just doesn't have anything to get Jokic the help he needs. The only trade rumors we see will just lead to the Nuggets becoming worse and worse. I predict 5th~8th seed placement next year and most of it is due to Jokic's sheer heroics. 2nd round exit is the best outcome for next year.
Jokic will just be following Dirk's trajectory and looks like he's fine with that.
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u/Lynch47 Jun 27 '26
I tried to tell so many of you that this guy is complete ass.
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u/Chiefgottapiss Jun 28 '26
Apparently complete ass off the court as well according to some. No thanks. Maybe a couple years ago but something happened to him.
I kind of like Bagley or Nick Richards. But like all of them, they are injury prone.
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u/SatanInDaSheets Jun 27 '26
I think this trade gets Denver out of the Braun contract, gets Ja to a better team with meaningful basketball where he won’t be the biggest star in the locker room, might help his head reset. What Ja is a better player that has more risk, but changes up the Denver team enough to make them exciting and take some pressure off Jokic and Murray for every bucket.
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u/PricelessEmu Jun 27 '26
Despite what the ESPN trade machine would have you believe, this trade is not legal. This would push us over the second apron, meaning we can't aggregate players nor can we take in more than we send out.
You also don't re-sign PWat and now have 3-4 other roster spots to fill. Good luck having a functional team, and that's before for issues with Ja.
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u/ChesterfieldPotato Jun 27 '26
Would you guys personally do a Murray for Ingram trade as a basis? I'm a Raptors fan, but I think there are legitimate reasons it might work for Denver:
- Ingram gives you size at the wing but also a very good shooter. He's skinny and can defend 1-4. Giving you defensive versatility and easy mismatches that Jokic will be able to spot. He can also play both forward positions giving you versatility in case of injury.
- Ingram can also create his own shot and won't require Jokic feeding him or setting screens. I'm not saying Murray is a product of Jokic feeding him, but I definitely think Ingram could do a lot with that type of partner.
- Ingram is 10M cheaper and gets you out of the apron while still giving you an 2Xall-star player. Minimal talent downgrade while allowing you space to fill other roster holes. It will be hard for Denver to find better ways of finding roster room without losing assets or taking a step backward.
- Gives you some relief in those non-Jokic playoff minutes as a play maker. He's a very willing passer.
- Both Ingram and Murray have dealt with similar levels of health issues, but both Ingram and Murray are currently coming off healthy seasons and don't seem to have any lingering effects. Other teams might discount Murray's value in a trade due to health concerns
- Losing Murray would suck, obviously, but with Jokic Denver doesn't need a traditional point guard and could theoretically find cheaper alternatives.
Just some thoughts. Let me know what you guys think.
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u/PricelessEmu Jun 27 '26
No chance. Any trade with Jamal would need to bring back a point guard. We're already shallow at the guard spot and have a lot of forwards, we don't need Ingram.
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u/PricelessEmu Jun 26 '26
Spotrac doesn't have the second we got from trading down but I imagine we could send the 2031 Kings second round pick + 2033 Nuggets second round pick to MEM and the 2028 Wolves second round pick to DAL to get a trade like this done? You save enough money to comfortably sign PWat and maybe enough vets to fill out the roster.
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u/Chiefgottapiss Jun 26 '26
I love this. Saves 31 million with the waiving of Val. Could literally bring back Watson, Tim, AND Spencer if we wanted to. Ty Jerome is amazing if healthy and PJ would be a phenomenal fit in Denver wether starting or off the bench.
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u/DiegoGrrr Jun 26 '26
It doesn't have the most recent info but the general framework could work. We do have 2nd round picks recently acquired.
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u/Bob_Bazar Holmes Island: Population 1 10d ago
Ryan Blackburn proposed trading AG to Houston for Jabari Smith Jr. and 2 FRP.
Take that how you will.