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Denver Nuggets: What to expect when free agency kicks off

By Alex Murray

Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. of the Denver Nuggets talk during a timeout during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Justin Tafoya/Getty Images)
Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. of the Denver Nuggets talk during a timeout during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. (Photo by Justin Tafoya/Getty Images) /
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Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone with center Nikola Jokic (15) and forward Michael Porter Jr. (1) and forward Aaron Gordon (50) and forward Will Barton (5) and guard PJ Dozier (35) on 4 Apr. 2021. (Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports)
Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone with center Nikola Jokic (15) and forward Michael Porter Jr. (1) and forward Aaron Gordon (50) and forward Will Barton (5) and guard PJ Dozier (35) on 4 Apr. 2021. (Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports) /

Denver Nuggets free agency primer: Who will be back?

The Denver Nuggets will be bringing back a very strong core, the only shame is that one of the key pieces—Jamal Murray—will not be available for most of the upcoming season despite taking up a huge chunk of the team’s salary cap. The team currently has 11 players signed through this season, leaving them more than a few roster spots to fill.

The problem is that the Nuggets don’t have much salary cap space to work with and will therefore need to use some fancy footwork to try and improve on last year’s squad while also filling the Murray void. Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., and Monte Morris will all be back this season, though MPJ could be in line for an extension very soon.

PJ Dozier, Bol Bol, and Facundo Campazzo are the other notables under contract for Denver, and you can likely count their first-round pick, Nah’Shon Hyland, as a shoo-in for a deal as well.

Hyland projects to be a solid scoring combo guard with a strong stroke from outside. If the VCU product can fill out his lengthy frame (6’3″ with a 6’9″ wingspan) he has the potential to become a lockdown defender as well.

Veterans Will Barton and JaMychal Green both declined their player options for this season ahead of free agency, but it seems likely that both will return to the Rocky Mountains for what will probably be the final lucrative deal both men will sign as they near the end of their careers.

Shams Charania, The Athletic reported that Barton and the Nuggets have a mutual interest to make a deal happen, which would likely be for around $10-12 million a year.

A week after that news, Charania tweeted that while Green also declined his option, he was looking to return to Denver as well:

Green should be getting around $4-6 million a season on a multi-year deal, and wiley veteran Paul Millsap is also likely to resign with the Nuggets for the veteran minimum, which should be just over $2.5 million for this season. The Denver Post‘s Mike Singer is also reporting that big man JaVale McGee would like to return to the team, though he would likely have to sign for the vet min as well.

If all four of those guys resign and the Nuggets cut Vlatko Cancar, they’d be left with just a couple of spots, so how should they go about filling them?