It feels like the Nuggets have had a near-perfect offseason, and truthfully, it’s probably going even better than most fans realize. On the Locked On Nuggets podcast, Ryan Blackburn revealed that he spoke with new lead executive Ben Tenzer after the Cam Johnson presser Friday, and Tenzer clarified that the team is officially not hard-capped at the first apron.
That means that even with all the wheeling and dealing this offseason, Denver has still retained the maximum possible amount of flexibility going forward. The Nuggets were able to absorb Jonas Valanciunas’ contract via a traded player exception. That move doesn’t hard cap the Nuggets, so tehy can keep on spending.
They now have options as they can use the remainder of that TPE to take on another $5.8 million in salary for this season. They also created a separate TPE in that deal by sending out Dario Saric and his $5.7 million contract. The team can use either one of those tools now to add another salary to the team that is larger than a minimum contract.
Denver also still has access to the taxpayer midlevel exception, which allows them to sign another free agent for more than double the minimum at any time during the season. And they also have the option to stay under the apron, and have access to signing any player who is bought out during the season, even if their salary exceeds the $14.1 million midlevel exception.
Nuggets can continue adding to the roster
If this all sounds confusing, that’s because it is. The new CBA is absurdly complicated, and on the podcast, Blackburn even stated that Tenzer himself had to reach out to the league for additional clarity on the situation.
But the bottom line that fans need to know is that the organization has basically pulled a rabbit out of a hat this offseason. They’ve restructured the roster in a masterful way for the team to win now, adding multiple role players who should fit well and add immediate depth and diversity to their rotation.
At the same time, they’ve managed to save money and fix the salary glut that existed on the roster, mostly by getting rid of Michael Porter Jr. But beyond that, they’ve manipulated the cap in an extremely savvy way that has left their options open and created the kind of flexibility that Calvin Booth used to preach about.
There are strategic reasons for the Nuggets to be done spending for now, and other reasons for them to keep it up. Either way, the point is, they have these options now. The lineup arguably goes 10-11 guys deep, which would have sounded impossible just a month or so ago. The team has one remaining roster spot, so we’ll likely see another move at some point.
Whatever that move may or may not be, the new front office leaders, Tenzer and Jon Wallace, deserve an insane amount of credit for what they’ve accomplished in such a short time, both in terms of the players on the floor and the accounting behind the scenes.