Denver Nuggets: Evaluating the likelihood of a Gary Harris trade

The Nuggets are bursting at the seams at the guard spot. Could they decide to part ways with one of their guards?

The Nuggets are still trying to flesh out exactly what the final rotation is going to be once their deep roster further takes shape. Gary Harris could potentially be the first one out the door based on both his ability and his contract.

Harris’s deal pays him an average of $21 million a year after signing a 4 year extension worth $84 million in 2018. The Nuggets would miss Harris’s perimeter scoring in a potential deal, but his salary could be powerful in potentially matching a deal for a bigger perimeter star.

The presence of Michael Porter Jr.’s scoring off the bench and Monte Morris’s further development is helping the Nuggets along in their ability to offload one of their starters. Bradley Beal’s marriage to the Wizards is going to erode further and further the more his team plummets to the bottom of the eastern conference.

Michael Malone has had tremendous success with bigger guards and forwards despite the team’s desire for smaller players in recent years like Isaiah Thomas, Will Barton, and Morris. Denver could use another perimeter defender alongside Barton, whose defense is very impressive at times, but a bit up-and-down over the course of a full season.

With Paul Millsap and Mason Plumlee both slated to hit free agency, the team’s rotation of big men is going to lose depth. Harris’s larger contract figures to be powerful salary matching power when trying to reel in a bigger fish, and his efficient on court offense is going to be attractive to teams hoping to recoup the assets for their star.

The team’s extra first round pick in the Malik Beasley trade could be useful in possibly packaging a move to secure a bigger resource. But as the Nuggets’ entire roster continues to flesh out, Harris is looking like he could be the odd one out.