The Denver Nuggets are not ignorant to what super teams can do.
They have witnessed the rise of the Celtics original “Big 3”, the Miami Heat’s replica, and the Golden State Warriors budding dynasty. But do they have the potential to create their own?
Optimistically, yes. Jamal Murray still has buckets of potential, Gary Harris is already an incredibly underrated and undervalued two-way player, Nikola Jokic is a superstar in the making, and there are several young players on the roster whose potentials are yet to be established. However, the only sure way to make a super team is through trades or free agency.
The Celtics traded for KG and Ray Allen, the Heat signed LeBron James and Chris Bosh, and the Warriors drafted their main core, but then added a former MVP in Kevin Durant to make sure of the dynasty. History has told us that if you want to make a super team, you need to draft well and sign or trade for some All-Stars.
Unfortunately, signing an All-Star is likely off the table for the Nuggets. While Denver is not the smallest market in the NBA, free agents are still naturally more attracted to places like New York, Los Angeles, and Miami. While players like Paul Millsap and Isaiah Thomas(sort of) have bucked that trend recently, Denver is not going to sign Kevin Durant or Anthony Davis anytime soon. So that leads one option to create a super team: trades.
So, here are 3 trades to create a super team in Denver.
(Note: All stats are via Basketball-Reference unless otherwise noted.