For a moment there, it seemed like there was so much smoke around the Denver Nuggets that fire seemed inevitable. The trade hysteria was running rampant with rumors swirling left and right. Everyone from the fans to the front office could see that the team needed some kind of upgrade, but nothing material happened.
And now the whispers have quieted a bit. It’s not like anything has changed on the trade front. The Nets dealt Dorian Finney-Smith to the Lakers, but that’s not a deal that will alter the landscape of the league.
Nothing has changed on the Nuggets’ end either; they still have a thin roster that’s short on talent and depth around Nikola Jokic. If anything, Aaron Gordon’s calf injury should raise the team’s urgency to make a deal. But nothing has come to fruition.
Zeke Nnaji contract a toxic asset around the NBA
According to Michael Scotto, of Hoops Hype, there is “pessimism” that the Nuggets will be able to land Zach LaVine in exchange for Michael Porter Jr. But the reason for that is because the Bulls don’t want to take on Zeke Nnaji’s contract - which would be necessary to make the trade legal for the Nuggets.
Scotto also reports that the Bulls don’t want to spend anything to move Nnaji to a third team, and since the Nuggets don’t have the draft capital to get it done, the teams are essentially at an impasse.
This is an all too familiar story for Nuggets fans, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. Offering Nnaji a 4-year, $32 million fully guaranteed extension when the team did was borderline malpractice, even at the time, and the decision is aging worse and worse by the day.
Nnaji is now completely unplayable and buried on Michael Malone’s bench. That’s especially damning when considering the paltry frontcourt of the Nuggets and the fact that a completely washed-up 36-year-old De’Andre Jordan is getting the backup big man minutes in lieu of Zeke.
In the era of this new CBA with first and second-apron punishments and heavy restrictions on spending, bad contracts are going to be untenable for most teams. The Nuggets are hamstrung with this Nnaji deal and this is only year one. Paying to get off his deal would be another familiar disaster as the team has already wasted picks dumping players like Reggie Jackson.
This situation is infuriating and it was very predictable. The Nuggets have given out some very questionable contracts and wasted assets getting off them. The chickens are coming home to roost now as the Nuggets need to make a roster upgrade badly, but they have no picks, no prospects, and negative-value contracts. Fun times.