After signing Nikola Jokic and Will Barton to massive deals, the Nuggets are over the luxury-tax. Denver already traded Wilson Chandler for cap relief, but what are some other possible trades that could free up salary for the team?
The Nuggets know that they need to shed salary. After they signed Nikola Jokic and Will Barton to 5 yr/$148 million and 4 yr/$54 million deals respectively, Denver is expected to be over the salary cap, and around $22 million over the luxury tax line.
The Nuggets have a few contracts that are eating up a lot of the cap space. Kenneth Faried, ($13.7 million) , Wilson Chandler ($12.8 million) and Darrell Arthur ($7.4 million) make up around $33 million of the cap room. Add Mason Plumlee ($12.9 million), and that number goes up to around $46 million.
The Nuggets need to clear up salary cap space, as these “bad deals” are pushing them into the luxury tax. However, in order to clear the space, Denver would in all likelihood need to attach other assets to these players to entice teams.
They can be valuable assets on another team, but their salaries are too much for another team to want them on their own.