The Denver Nuggets have gotten off to a bumpy start this season, to say the least. After handling conference rivals and quality squads like Utah, Indiana, and Golden State, the team has now lost three of their last four games, including a near 30-point loss to the 9-7 Mavericks less than a week ago.
Denver is a tough team to gauge through the first leg of the 2022-23 NBA regular season. Despite carrying a less-than-impressive 10-7 record, they’re still just one game back from first place in the Western Conference and have performed admirably against tough opponents. In fact, had they clinched a win against the Pistons last night, we’d be talking about the Nuggets in a much different light.
Being that we’re less than a quarter of the way through the season, it’s still far too early to panic. With that said, Denver has displayed weakness in a few key areas that will surely hold them back from reaching their potential as a legitimate title contender, particularly on the defensive end. Although, there’s one proposed trade that could fix everything,
Denver Nuggets snag instant impact player in proposed mega trade
Proposed by Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report, this deal would see the Denver Nuggets move on from rookie Christian Braun as well as the ever-versatile Zeke Nnaji and journeyman Jeff Green. In exchange, Denver would receive one of the most exciting young centers in the NBA – Jakob Poeltl.
The Denver Nuggets have the 24th-worst Defensive Rating in the NBA at 113.8 and are allowing their opponents to shoot better than 49% of their shots from the field, the third-worst percentage allowed in the league. They also rank in the middle of the pack in opponent scoring per game at 113.6, nearly half of which is scored in the paint (53.3).
Essentially, the Nuggets aren’t just bad at defending around the rim, they’re statistically one of the worst teams in the NBA. Renowned defenders like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Bruce Brown, and Aaron Gordon have each been holding their own along the perimeter, limiting opponents to 34.8% shooting from beyond the arc, good for tenth best in the league. Unfortunately, their interior defense is well below the league average.
Thankfully, this is an area of the floor Jakob Poeltl could make an immediate impact on, helping to push Denver from a subpar defense into one of the elite defensive units in the NBA.
Jakob Poeltl is a versatile defender and a sneaky facilitator on offense
Not only did Poeltl contest more shots per game (14.2) than any other player in the league a season ago, but he’s continued this strong showing into the early part of the 2022-23 NBA season. Through 17 games, Poeltl is averaging 13.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, one block, and one steal per contest, shooting better than 64% from the field.
While he’s not an elite shot blocker by any stretch of the imagination, he’s far above average and incredibly mobile on defense. Meanwhile on offense, his 3.6 assists per game rank seventh amongst NBA centers, above perennial All-Stars like Bam Adebayo and Nikola Vucevic. This elite level of passing could pair beautifully with Nikola Jokic‘s efficient three-point shooting as well, meaning they could both share the floor together.
He’s the complete package from an offensive and defensive standpoint, the question becomes what would Denver need to give up, and would it make sense? Poeltl is just 27 years old and playing some of the best basketball in his NBA career. He’s also in the final year of his three-year $26.3 million contract with the Spurs, and he’ll be due for a big payday this upcoming offseason.
Given the Denver Nuggets’ current cap restraints, the team likely won’t be able to resign him this offseason even if they were to trade for him right now. However, the mere thought of starting him next to Jokic, or even bringing him off the bench alongside Bones Hyland, is downright scary and could be exactly what the Nuggets need to regain their footing.
Above all else, if trading for Jakob Poeltl improves the Denver Nuggets’ odds of winning their first-ever NBA championship, G.M. Calvin Booth should strongly consider it.