The Denver Nuggets main goal for the 2022 NBA offseason is to get healthy. After being without two of their best players in Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. for most of the 2021-22 season, Denver hasn't been able to realize their potential since their unexpected run to the Western Conference Finals in the 2020 NBA bubble. If they can get all their star players on the court at the same time, Denver figures to be one of the best teams in the NBA.
Yet with Murray missing the last season and a half, and Porter only playing in nine games last season, much of the burden has fallen on star center Nikola Jokic. Jokic has turned that into back-to-back MVP campaigns, but that hasn't prevented the Nuggets from flaming out quickly in the playoffs.
Getting healthy is key, but the Nuggets front office is clearly intent on finding a way to improve their playoff success, even if guys like Murray and Porter are on the shelf. That's why their best move of the offseason, while not the flashiest move in the NBA, could end up being the move that helps Denver take the next step forward in the Western Conference this upcoming season.
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Denver Nuggets best offseason move: trading for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
The Nuggets main problem over the past few seasons has been a lack of help around Jokic on offense. Jokic is good enough to win games on his own during the regular season, but the degree of difficulty becomes much higher in the postseason when opponents throw all their defensive firepower at the star big man. As mentioned before, getting Murray and Porter back would help immensely, but simply banking on their return would be foolish.
That's why Denver quickly swung a trade with the Washington Wizards for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith shortly after the conclusion of the 2022 NBA Finals. The Nuggets sent Will Barton and Monte Morris back to Washington in return, signaling that Denver is looking to re-align their rotation for the 2022-23 season.
Moving Barton and Morris may seem like a lot considering they both played big roles for Denver last season, but it also shows that Denver is anticipating having Murray and Porter back in their lineup. Barton is a solid two-way player who has emerged as a starter over the past few seasons, but he's going to be a free agent in 2023, and Denver flipped him while they could get something in return for him. Morris started 74 games last season, but Murray coming back, the Nuggets decided to sell high on him while they could as well.
Picking up Smith as a bench guard fits Denver's rotation much better than forcing Morris back to the bench after he spent most of the 2021-22 season as a starter. Smith can be a bit of a sparkplug off the bench when used, and while he has his limitations, he could become an important piece of Denver's bench if he proves he still has something to offer on offense.
But Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is the piece that makes this deal a win for Denver. He fits the Nuggets offensive scheme much better than Barton did in the sense that he will be asked to be a floor-spacing wing. Barton was also an iffy three-point shooter, and while he'd gotten better over the past couple of seasons, Caldwell-Pope is a markedly better shooter. Playing alongside a passer as skilled as Jokic means Caldwell-Pope will have tons of open threes at his disposal.
Caldwell-Pope knocked down 39 percent of his threes last season, which is exactly what Denver is looking for. When defenses collapse on Jokic, or now maybe even Murray's drives to the hoop, Caldwell-Pope will be lurking at the perimeter waiting to knock down an open trey if it comes his way.
The Nuggets also quickly signed Caldwell-Pope to a two-year, $30 million deal right after the trade, ensuring he will be under team control through 2025. They could have done the same thing with Barton techinically, but he will be 32 at the end of the season and probably would have cost the same, if not more, than Caldwell-Pope did here.
Assuming everyone is healthy for Denver, their starting lineup of Murray, Caldwell-Pope, Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, and Jokic looks pretty solid on paper. But it's clear Caldwell-Pope fits what Denver is looking to accomplish much better than Barton, or even Morris for that matter. He's a floor-spacing wing who can play off of Denver's stars and make his mark when teams stop paying attention to him. He fills a vital role for the Nuggets, and it wouldn't be surprising to see Caldwell-Pope's first season in Denver be quite successful.
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