The San Antonio Spurs have waived Chandler Hutchinson, the fourth-year wing who was traded in the five-team deal this offseason that included Russell Westbrook and Spencer Dinwiddie.
Hutchinson is now a free agent after the Spurs decided to waive his $4 million for the upcoming season per The Athletic, Fred Katz.
The Denver Nuggets are currently at the maximum allowable roster spots and are only allowed to offer training camp deals. Could Hutchinson help the Nuggets? Entering his age-25 season, would it be worth Denver’s time to see if there is any untapped potential?
At 6’7″, Hutchinson fits the mould of a tall forward whose best ability is his scoring. In his fourth year at Boise State, the wing averaged 20 points a game while hitting 52 percent of his shots inside the arc and a respectable 36 percent from 3-point range.
Since coming into the NBA, that production hasn’t translated and the Chicago Bulls were happy letting him go in a deal that essentially saw them swap Daniel Gafford for Daniel Theis.
Things didn’t get better with the Washington Wizards, playing in 18 games for the Wiz and averaging 15.7 minutes a night. His 37 percent 3-point percentage looks nice on paper but it was only in 1.1 attempts a night.
What’s worse is that he was one of the worst scorers in the paint according to Cleaning the Glass, hitting 37 percent of his shots at the rim, good for the second percentile in the league. It prompts the question:
Why should the Denver Nuggets offer Chandler Hutchinson a training camp deal?
Firstly, when writing about this topic, I’m referring to the Denver Nuggets training camp roster, not their full team. At the moment, the Nuggets have the maximum allowable 15 players on roster with one two-way deal for Markus Howard and the other up in the air (it was previously for Shaq Harrison).
It’s possible that Tim Connelly is keeping that final two-way roster spot open and waiting until after training camp to decide who to give it to.
Chandler Hutchinson gives the Denver Nuggets a big, versatile forward type that it doesn’t really have elsewhere on the roster. The backup forwards at the moment are JaMychal Green and P.J. Dozier, two very solid options but neither elite at guarding the bigger wings in the league like LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, or Kevin Durant.
When playing against either of those players, Aaron Gordon is the main assignment, but when he sits, the Nuggets can be quite vulnerable. Dozier excels at guarding smaller players and Will Barton isn’t a primary defensive option.
The theory of Hutchinson works here, as a tough forward who can hang on the wing. There’s likely no universe in which he’s the primary option, but in the minutes that AG sits, he could patch up the rotation well.
In Chandler’s rookie season, his highest minute load for a single season, he posted some elite defensive numbers for the Bulls. At the time, the Bulls needed help on the wing and he soaked up some minutes. In the 2018-19 season, he held opponents to 4.3 points less per 100 possessions via Cleaning the Glass, an elite mark.
It could’ve been a glimmer of hope, or it could just be that Hutchinson was an average defender playing for a Bulls team that ranked 24th in defense that season.
However, if he can hold up on defense, the Denver Nuggets offensive ecosystem should be able to prop him enough on that end.
It’s a safe bet to bank on the excellence of Nikola Jokic. He makes his teammates better and finds them for open shots.
Yes, Hutchinson hasn’t been able to play well on the offensive end thus far, but how would he look in a pass-happy offense that wouldn’t ask him to create his own shot much, if at all.
Maybe Chandler isn’t the specific guy, but it’ll be something to watch as we get closer to training camp in just over a month from now. Who does Connelly bring in to fill that final roster spot, what kind of players is he looking at? There’s a role open for big wings, maybe Hutchinson is the one.