On July 12th, Adrian Wojnarowski announced a move that will change the Nuggets season and future.
Reportedly, here’s how the trade went down.
Let’s take a look at the winners and losers of the deal, and how it will impact the Nuggets in the future.
(Note: All stats via Basketball-Reference unless otherwise noted.)
Winners
The Denver Nuggets
This trade is a huge win for the Nuggets front office. They clear over $21 million in salary for a protected first round pick and an unspecified second-round pick. They didn’t even have to take on any money, as Whitehead’s non-guaranteed, minimum contract was waived immediately.
Denver is now under the luxury tax threshold, which means they now have the full $8.6 million Mid-Level Exception to work with. After probably using some of it to sign either Isaiah Thomas or Torrey Craig, the Nuggets likely won’t have the full MLE, but still enough to lure another impactful free agent to Denver.
When you take this trade in tandem with the Wilson Chandler trade, the Nuggets have cleared up over $34 million in salary by trading away a protected first round pick and 2 second round picks. That’s pretty impressive, especially considering less than a month ago, most people thought they would trade the 14th overall pick to get just Kenneth Faried off the books.
As both of the players were pretty non-impactful last season(8.7 combined points and 5.6 combined rebounds per game). their presence on the court will not be missed for Denver.
The Brooklyn Nets
Sean Marks won’t stop helping the future of this franchise.
They get 2 picks for taking on two players who will take up otherwise unused cap space. At least one of them will likely be bought out for a roster spot. However, one of them will likely be kept around as a mentor for the young bigs on the roster.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Jarrett Allen
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Jarrett Allen are the two main young talents at the big positions, and they could certainly use some mentoring.
While both players can hold their own in terms of rebounding the ball, with career averages of 6.1 for Hollis-Jefferson and 5.4 for Allen, they are not elite at it. Allen has a rebound percentage of just 14.3% and RHJ averages 13.3%. Both have the physical intangibles to become great rebounders. Allen stands at 6’10, weighs 234 lbs, and has a huge wingspan of 7’6. RHJ is 6’7, weighs 220 lbs, and has an impressive wingspan of 7’0. Faried can come in and help them.
The Manimal has a career rebound percentage of 18.3% and he excels at offensive rebounding as well, a weakness for Hollis-Jefferson. Faried can help mentor the young bigs and teach them enough skills to keep them relevant in the league.
The Forwards on the Nuggets Roster
This one is just common sense.
Even though Faried and Arthur weren’t playing very many minutes(21.8 combined per game), they were still sucking up some minutes from the young forwards. Guys like Juan Hernangomez, Trey Lyles, Michael Porter Jr., and Tyler Lydon will all likely get more play time now. That’s a good thing for the future of the Nuggets.
Losers
Denver Nuggets
Huh, can a team win and lose in a trade? To varying degrees, yes.
The Nuggets may not be losing a ton of talent or impact off the bench, but they are losing two of their most loyal and devoted players. Not to mention the leadership and stability the two men bring to the locker room.
While this is a good trade for the Nuggets on paper, behind the scenes, it’s a downcast scene. 2 men who have called this city and this team their home for over 5 years are now moving on. That can’t feel good for anybody in the Nuggets organization.
Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur
As I said before, Arthur and Faried weren’t getting much playtime before, but now they could get even less, if any at all. As both players had been with the Nuggets for several years, there is a certain loyalty to the players from the Nuggets. That loyalty translates to play time, scarce as it may be. The Nets do not have that sense of loyalty towards the men.
It is my expectation that Arthur will be bought out and will become a free agent. He may never play again, as he is an above-average shooter for his position, but he is nothing special. With a career 35.2% 3-point percentage, he might attract some interest, but he does not excel at anything else. Unfortunately, this may spell the end of Arthur’s career in the NBA.
As Faried is still an athletic and entertaining athlete, he will likely play out his contract in Brooklyn. After that, there are no guarantees for him. As a player whose game is built on athleticism, it isn’t a good thing that he is nearing 30. While Faried will likely hang around the NBA a bit longer, as his leadership and ability to get the crowd going are valuable assets, but as a player who has 2 career 3-point makes, his options will be very limited.