The Denver Nuggets will have the mid-level exception available to them in free agency this offseason. They should use it to pursue Goran Dragic.
The Denver Nuggets are plenty well off with Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic leading the way on both ends of the floor. Goran Dragic could make the Nuggets next to impossible to slow down. The Nuggets have quite the history with international talent, and adding Dragic would be the team’s latest effort to broaden their offensive profile.
The Nuggets have been searching for a capable offensive guard off the bench for years. Isaiah Thomas was a huge disappointment after being signed to such an affordable contract. Monte Morris has since taken the baton and become one of the team’s leading bench options. But Morris can only provide so much when providing eight points per game.
While Dragic’s health has come and gone in recent years, he can still provide a unique scoring punch to the bench that the team thought they would be getting in Isaiah Thomas. Dragic is a career 14 point per game scorer after making a name for himself with the Houston Rockets. The Nuggets are a deep roster, but sometimes appear to have a crowded rotation more so than a diverse collection of scorers.
Having already jettisoned Malik Beasley, the Nuggets have themselves an opportunity to add to their bench to deal with the depth of scoring throughout the Western Conference. The Dallas Mavericks were boasting the league’s best offense in NBA history when play stopped, while the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, and Utah Jazz all strike fear into any defense regardless of the perimeter defenders they have at their disposal.
Dragic could be signed for less than the full exception, the amount of which is not yet known considering the NBA’s salary cap is set to drop significantly. Even if it takes the full exception, Jamal Murray will have the best backup guard he’s ever played with spelling him off the bench.