If a genie could grant three wishes to the Denver Nuggets front office, one of them would probably be for them to be out from under Zeke Nnaji's bad contract. They aren't a genie, but the Milwaukee Bucks could come out of the blue to do exactly that. But at Peyton Watson's expense, of course.
What seemed like an impossible contract to get rid of may no longer be, according to a report by HoopsHype and Michael Scotto. I mean, if the Nuggets are already going to send out P-Wat in a trade, at least attaching Nnaji to it would soften the blow.
"While the Bucks haven’t offered a first-round pick yet, they’d consider absorbing Nuggets forward Zeke Nnaji as part of a Watson sign-and-trade, HoopsHype has learned," says Scotto.
Sure, not getting the first-round pick would sting, but jettisoning Nnaji in the deal would feel just as good as getting that pick in return from my standpoint.
Nnaji is probably never going to crack the rotation
The Nuggets drafted Zeke Nnaji with the 22nd pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and signed him to a very player-friendly, four-year, $32 million extension that came with a player option year in year four, after they won the 2022-23 NBA Championship. At the time, the Nuggets were hoping to get Nnaji more playing time, but that never developed under former head coach Michael Malone.
Nnaji hasn't broken into the rotation in his six years in Denver, and if he didn't during the Nuggets' injury-riddled season of 2025-26, he isn't going to. My fear was that Nnaji would just be an expensive paperweight attached to the end of the bench for the next two years. But this development at least gives us hope that there could be a light at the end of the tunnel for escaping Nnaji's contract.
The Nuggets need to target a point guard from the Bucks
The Nuggets could solve their backup point guard problem if they could get the Bucks to part with one of their point guards. Preferably, Ryan Rollins over Kevin Porter Jr., but either would fix that current need.
Rollins started 67 games last year, and he averaged 17.3 points, 5.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds, plus provided excellent defense, supplying 1.5 steals per game as well. Rollins is under contract for $4 million this year and next year, but 2027-28 is a player option. Rollins finished up his 2024-25 on a two-way contract, but showed he deserved a better deal and was rewarded with that prior to the start of last season.
Both teams would have to get creative to make the trade work by the numbers, and it could even need a third team, perhaps, but acquiring really good guard depth and getting off Nnaji at the same time would be a big win, and the Nuggets need to inquire more about making this deal work.
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