Denver Nuggets: 4 Greatest Trades In Franchise History

The Legend Comes to Denver

Nuggets Receive: Alex English, 1st round draft pick.

Pacers Receive: George McInnes.

(1980)

To me, this is the greatest trade in Denver Nuggets history. It was the winter of 1980, and the Nuggets were in the midst of their first losing season since entering the NBA four years prior. At the time, Denver’s roster featured former ABA superstar and NBA All-star forward George McInnes.

McInnes was averaging 15.6ppg to go along with 10.3rpg and was an integral part of the teams makeup as the leading rebounder and this scoring option behind Dan Issel and David Thompson.

McInnes, who was born and raised in Indianapolis and had played for the Pacers the majority of his ABA career, was gifted a homecoming as he was dealt back to the Indiana in exchange for young, unproven forward Alex English.

English, who was in his fourth NBA season, was putting up numbers of 14.9ppg and 7.0rpg coming off the bench for the Pacers. When he was inserted into the starting lineup in Denver, his scoring output exploded. In the 24 games that remained that season, English started all 24 and averaged 21.3ppg on a ridiculous 48% shooting to go along with 9.4 rpg.

At just 26 years of age, English was just entering his prime. The outgoing George McInnes was about to turn 30 and had had already played the best basketball of his career. The Nuggets had effectively traded an aging All-star for a player who would go on to become arguably the greatest Nugget of all time.

Like the Billups-Iverson deal, the trade was made even more impressive due to the fact McInnes struggled in his final stint in Indiana. He had one more productive season after the trade before retiring in 1982 after averaging just 4.7ppg in 17 minutes of action.

English however, went on to play 11 seasons in the Mile High, putting up 25.9ppg during his time in Denver.

He currently leads the franchise in most points scored (21,645), games played (837), assists (3679), offensive rebounds (2038) and minutes played (29,893).