After making the Western Conference Finals in 2020, the Denver Nuggets have been hounded with injuries over the past two seasons. They were recently eliminated by the 2022 NBA Champions Golden State Warriors in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Without Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr., it was apparent that the supporting cast of superstar Nikola Jokic was severely depleted.
Jokic was consistently effective en route to bagging his second consecutive MVP award. Murray and Porter Jr. will be returning at the beginning of the next season, but the front office must still improve on the ancillary pieces of the Nuggets. A few days ago, Will Barton and Monte Morris were recently moved to the Washington Wizards for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith.
The swap does not swing the tide for both franchises, but the Caldwell-Pope addition bolsters their defense unit alongside the Big 3 of Jokic, Murray, and Porter Jr. On the other hand, the departing Morris opens up more minutes for bonafide young stud Bones Hyland as he would play vital minutes behind Jamal Murray. Hyland will likely receive a ton of minutes early in the season because Murray would be easing into the groove as he continues recovering from an ACL injury.
Next Nuggets Trade
With two trades in the midst of being completed for Denver, the opening for them to shake up the team and trade Jamal Murray would be a possible scenario. The only way this would occur is if Brooklyn is enticed and interested in acquiring his services as the centerpiece of a Kevin Durant trade to pair with Nikola Jokic in the Mile High City. Having two of the five best players in the association in Denver for the next four seasons at the very least will make them a legitimate championship contender in the Western Conference.
Kevin Durant still has four years, $198 million left on his current contract which gives the 29 other teams more leverage in throwing their whole roster to try and acquire Durant. Moreover, Jokic just signed a historical super max contract extension with the organization. It would be painful to give Jamal Murray away, but Kevin Durant is one of the best players in NBA History. Even if he is entering Year 16 in his career, the Nuggets are already at the cusp of claiming a coveted championship crown in the next few years.
The nucleus of Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokic will hinder the role players and supporting cast of the Nuggets, but this spectacular duo will be able to attract underrated and veteran free agents who prioritize winning championships over receiving the bag. Furthermore, the leeway of Durant to try and continue winning chips is starting to close because of his age so choosing Denver is more than an ideal destination because they have been a force to be reckoned with even without Durant on their roster yet.
The opportunity of acquiring a big name and incredible talent in Kevin Durant through trade is very rare, so the Nuggets must throw the kitchen sink and grab the chance of winning the first championship of their franchise. Having the repertoire that Durant has possessed throughout his NBA career, Nikola Jokic complements it perfectly because of his passing and selflessness that would unlock Kevin Durant's arsenal even more.
As the Brooklyn Nets are expecting at least two All-Stars in return for Durant, the package around Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. will be more than enough as these two folks are All-Star caliber players with tremendous upside. The NBA offseason has just begun and the fireworks are starting to fire away all over the NBA landscape.
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