The Denver Nuggets have two potentially expendable pieces in Will Barton and Gary Harris, but they would be wise to retain both.
With trade rumors continuing to swirl about Bradley Beal, the Nuggets have logically been linked to the Washington Wizards involving either Will Barton, Gary Harris, or both. The Nuggets have long been in pursuit of a third fiddle to go along with Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, but may not need to sell the farm in order to acquire Beal or anyone else.
For starters, both Barton and Harris were well deserving of the contract extensions they received and while the depth of the roster has phased both of them in and out of the rotation at different points in the team’s rebuild, they both remain integral core parts of the offense. Barton still contributes 15 points per game and six rebounds per game, while Harris adds another ten.
Harris’s player efficiency rating dropped like a stone however this season, as it plummeted all the way down to 9.79, which doesn’t crack the top 150 in the league. Harris is definitely underperforming on his four year, $84 million deal. But his usage rate has also dropped down to 15.2, his lowest in his entire career.
The steady emergence of Michael Porter Jr. is posing a good problem for Michael Malone. With so much talent and depth in his rotation, Porter Jr. is the latest talented scorer to display his expertise both inside and outside the three point line. With Paul Millsap nearing the end of his time in Denver, the team will not be facing too steep a luxury tax number if they even reach it at all.
Currently, Denver sits a little under $33 million below the luxury tax line leaving them with plenty of room to keep some of their wing players even at the expense of having a crowded backcourt. If Porter Jr. can become the player they were willing to take a massive gamble on in the draft, then there will be virtually no need for the Nuggets to make a splashy trade for the sake of adding a third superstar.
The team is already well on its way to consistent contention with their two frontrunners, but keeping their depth handy will be useful when teams have to play them on the road in the playoffs in the altitude.