Denver Nuggets: They Won’t Need a Midseason Trade for a Playoff Run

The Denver Nuggets have a deep roster, and they’ve set themselves up to compete. With that in mind, they won’t be needing a trade at the deadline this year.

The Denver Nuggets have steadily worked to develop their team into the young up-and-comer that they have assembled. They made it back to the playoffs last season, and they were one game away from making it to the Western Conference Finals. This offseason, they’ve added Jerami Grant on the wing, along with grabbing the talented Bol Bol in the NBA draft. With those and the incumbent pieces in hand, why would they need a trade in the middle of the year?

Normally, when a team makes a trade in the middle of the season, one of two things is happening. A. They feel that they’re one piece away from making a big postseason run. B. They’re not going to compete this year, so they go into tank mode to sell off valuable assets. Having traded away two straight first-round picks with multiple young players in tow and limited salary filler, the Nuggets would struggle to make a trade even if they needed one.

Center Nikola Jokic is an All-NBA player, and he’s only getting better as he moves from his rookie contract into his prime years. The possibility of him averaging a triple-double this season is an extremely realistic one with the amount of ball-handling he does. Denver has also added shooters around him over the past couple of years to make his life even easier. The dependable Mason Plumlee also gives them a stable backup center to anchor the bench units.

At last year’s trade deadline, there were multiple major moves. The Milwaukee Bucks added George Hill while the Toronto Raptors grabbed Marc Gasol to give them five studs in the starting lineup. For Denver, their only real weakness as things stand right now is at the small forward position. They have great depth as they’re at least two players deep at every position, and they have four starters that have all shown the ability to take over a game from time to time.

At the small forward position, the Nuggets have three or four options depending on who plays where. Torrey Craig, who’s stock shot way up during the playoffs last season, is one of the candidates to start there. If his 3-point shooting can be more like what we saw in the playoffs vs the regular season, 47.2 percent vs 32.4 percent, he’ll likely have the spot locked up to himself.

Behind him though, the Nuggets have last year’s first-round pick in Michael Porter Jr. Porter has struggled with injuries to this point in his career, but he still has a ton of potential. At 6’10,” he can get his shot off over any defender, and his length makes him a nuisance on defense even if he isn’t the most attentive on-ball defender.

Unless they wanted to sacrifice a young role player for an aging veteran, which is unlikely considering how patient they’ve been during this build so far, they don’t have the pieces to facilitate a trade for a major player. Outside of Jokic, Jamal Murray and Gary Harris, the only players making significant money are Paul Millsap, Plumlee and Will Barton. Barton’s the only one of that trio that could even be considered on the move.

Last year, Denver finished with a top 10 unit on both ends of the floor. Their offense remains their biggest strength, but their team defense improved dramatically last year. From the 2017-18 to 2018-19 seasons, they went from 23rd to 10th in defensive rating. The younger players just needed time to develop and be successful. That’s exactly what’s happening with them, and Denver has no reason to rush that.

Other NBA teams, such as the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets and others are attempting to mortgage their futures to maximize their title window now. With how well the Nuggets have done to draft and develop their talent, they can win the war of attrition by waiting other teams out. Not only would making a midseason trade difficult. It wouldn’t fall into the mantra they’ve been using this entire time.

Denver doesn’t need to make a midseason to make a postseason run. They made a small run last year, and their roster has gotten better this year through organic growth and small additions like Grant. Even if he doesn’t start for them, he’ll play a major role for them this season. Everyone on this team has a role, and they can make life difficult on a lot of teams as long as everyone is doing their job.