The primary pieces of the 2023 Denver Nuggets' championship-winning team were already in place as early as 2016. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray weren't yet the players they are now, but they had bright futures ahead of them, while Michael Malone was already instilling an unselfish team culture in the Mile High City.
But it's the trades the Nuggets have pulled off since then that have elevated them from a mere playoff-caliber team to a championship-winning outfit.
In 2021, the Nuggets bid adieu to one of their most tenured players in Gary Harris, sending him to the Orlando Magic in exchange for Aaron Gordon. Paul Millsap was in the middle of a gradual decline, so acquiring Gordon helped the Nuggets shore up that position. And shore it up, Gordon certainly did — and then some.
Meanwhile, prior the 2022-23 season, the Nuggets sent Monte Morris — a backup point guard who had his moments with Jamal Murray on the mend — and Will Barton — a developmental success story for the Nuggets — to the Washington Wizards in exchange for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Caldwell-Pope gave the Nuggets another stout point-of-attack defender, and, perhaps most importantly, a knockdown shooter. And it was KCP who basically sealed the Nuggets' championship with a passing lane theft on Jimmy Butler.
It will certainly be interesting where the Nuggets go from here. They don't have too many players they'd be willing to trade coming off a championship, and they don't necessarily have a glaring hole on their roster that's in need of filling.
But the Nuggets know better than to rest on their laurels. In fact, they even made a trade while in the middle of the NBA Finals just to put themselves in a position to sustain their success.
With that said, here's another trade they could make with the hopes of winning another championship next season.
Nuggets trade Zeke Nnaji, Peyton Watson, Vlatko Cancar, 2024 LAC first-round pick (from OKC), 40th pick of 2023 NBA Draft to the Chicago Bulls for Alex Caruso
It seems almost heartbreaking to think about trading away any piece from the Nuggets' championship team. But there's no room for sentimentality when it comes to building a sustainable contender, especially if the team isn't necessarily giving up someone who played a huge role in their run to the title. Moreover, the sting that comes with dealing them away shouldn't be too painful anyway when a player of Alex Caruso's caliber is arriving in a trade.
Caruso is one of the best guard defenders in the NBA. His positional strength, lateral quickness, and fast hands allow him to become a menace on that end of the floor. Caruso doesn't have the most accurate three-ball ever, but he does have experience playing alongside a generational playmaker in LeBron James, so he shouldn't have too much difficulties adjusting to the Nuggets' system that's predicated on player movement.
Acquiring Alex Caruso may not be preferable to acquiring a big 3 and D wing in the mold of Aaron Gordon or even Jeff Green, but those players would cost the Nuggets more than they'd be able to pay.
Prior to the February 9 NBA trade deadline, the Nuggets expressed interest in trading for another defensive-minded guard/wing to help at the point of attack. And of the names that was thrown around that time was Caruso's; the Bulls looked like they were going nowhere fast, so perhaps cashing in on an asset that belonged more on a contender could have been the shrewd move.
Perhaps the Nuggets rekindle their interest in trading for that kind of player, with, perhaps, the Bulls lowering their asking price for the 2020 NBA champion.
The Bulls were reportedly asking for at least two first-round picks for Alex Caruso, but the Nuggets don't have that kind of draft capital. So in lieu of another first-round pick, perhaps the Bulls would want to take on Peyton Watson, the 30th pick of the 2022 NBA Draft.
Watson did not feature heavily in the Nuggets rotation this past season, but when he did play, he was a bundle of energy on the court, flying everywhere to snatch boards and doing his best to attack the paint. He even showed flashes of a workable three-point shot, shooting over 40 percent in an extremely small sample size. Given the Bulls' roster imbalance (too many guards, not too many wings), Watson could, perhaps, be an impact player for the Bulls.
Meanwhile, trading Zeke Nnaji and Vlatko Cancar shouldn't sting too much; Nnaji and Cancar are both rarely-used bigs off the Nuggets bench anyway, and they don't exactly have the best playoff viability, unlike Alex Caruso.
Giving up what should end up being the Los Angeles Clippers' first round pick in 2024 won't be the easiest thing to do. After all, they traded away their 2029 first-round pick, in the middle of the NBA Finals no less, just to acquire that selection from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
But Caruso ups their championship equity with his unselfish, two-way contributions. For around $19 million total for the next two seasons, it's going to be difficult for the Nuggets to add a more impactful player than the Bulls guard.