The Denver Nuggets could have seen a drastic change to start the season, as they were inches away from completing a swap for Eric Bledsoe earlier this month. The Mile High City and coach Mike Malone had been mired in a point guard battle that started in the preseason, alternating starts between starter Emmanuel Mudiay and hopeful second-year product Jamal Murray, who showed glimpses of a fit for the position last season.
Bledsoe, already established as one of the best talents at the position would have been a welcome addition to this team, giving Nikola Jokic and Paul Millsap a budding star to put them in par with teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets for the Western Conference crown.
According to ESPN's Zach Lowe, the Nuggets were close, but no cigar.
“Around the same time, the Nuggets were in the red zone — if not at the goal line — in talks with Phoenix for Eric Bledsoe, according to several league sources,” wrote Lowe. “The deal would almost certainly have included Mudiay and a first-round pick. Talks collapsed, and the Nuggets washed their hands of it. They would chase a playoff spot in one of the toughest conferences in history behind a 20- and 21-year-old sharing the controls with Jokic.”
Nuggets president Tim Connelly had his reservations on pushing any further to work out a feasible deal, which left him with Murray and Mudiay splitting time and giving Malone several sleepless nights, wondering who is best fitted for the job.
“We chase every opportunity to improve ourselves,” said Connelly. “We’ve had a lot of excellent players offered to us for our young talent. There’s a fine line between overvaluing your own players and being too aggressive chasing short-term results.”
Bledsoe would ultimately be traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, one of the four initial teams that showed interest in his services, along with the Nuggets.
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