Nuggets see another all-star trade target snagged by a conference rival

The Nuggets have bridesmaids this season as they’ve seen trade targets that would have been impactful additions instead dealt to other teams. For the most part, it’s simply been an issue of lack of assets. Denver doesn’t have the picks and young talent to grease wheels and make plays in the market.

They saw Dorian Finney-Smith get snatched up by the Lakers, then Nick Richards got poached by the Suns. Other Western Conference playoff contenders have been improving their rosters while the Nuggets are forced to sit idly and watch because they’ve already burned almost every single asset.

This frustrating trend continued on Sunday night as yet another NBA blockbuster trade was completed. First, on Saturday night, we saw the Lakers acquire Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis and a first-round pick (among other assets).

Then on Sunday, for the second straight night, the NBA world was stunned by a massive three-team deal that saw the Spurs acquire De’Aaron Fox from the Sacramento Kings. The Luka deal certainly will have some impact on the Nuggets as the Lakers and Mavs are teams frequently doing battle with Denver. But the Fox trade may have an even more direct impact.

Nuggets lose out on Zach LaVine sweepstakes to Kings

The other big piece of the Fox trade was the Bulls getting involved as the third team and sending former All-Star guard Zach LaVine to the Kings. This is a huge development in Nuggets Nation because LaVine was perhaps the most commonly rumored player on the trade market that Denver was in on.

LaVine is having an excellent season, averaging 24 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game with absurdly good efficiency, shooting 51% from the field and 45% from three-point range. The Bulls have been trying to deal LaVine for years, but have had no suitors thanks to Zach’s injury history and large contract.

But he’s played so well this year and has managed to stay healthy that he was starting to look like a solid asset again. He’s still just 29 years old and makes $43 million this season, $46 million next season, and has a player option for $49 million for 2026-27.

Nuggets trading for LaVine would have been massive gamble

While LaVine is playing some great basketball, dealing for him would have come with serious risk and may not even have been possible at all. LaVine’s ability to play on or off the ball and shoot the lights out would have been a boon and he would have been incredible playing off of Nikola Jokic.

But to acquire LaVine, they would have had to deal Michael Porter Jr., their best shooter and a great fit on the team who has years of great chemistry with Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon. MPJ is also three years younger than Zach and makes significantly less money. At 6’10” he brings more defense and rebounding as well. There’s a chance this would have been closer to a lateral move than people might think.

LaVine’s fit also would have been murky on the defensive end where he’s not great. Pairing him with Murray in the backcourt would be disastrous defensively and this trade would make them significantly smaller.

On top of that, the Bulls would have had to take on more money to make this deal work and reportedly weren’t willing to take back Zeke Nnaji and his four-year, $32 million contract. Without that concession, there was likely no realistic path to making this deal happen anyway.

So maybe there’s nothing the Nuggets could have done. And maybe even if there was, this wouldn’t have benefitted the team. But still, it’s an all-star trade target who was basically given away and snagged up by another team that’s competing for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.