It's no secret by now that the Denver Nuggets are probably going to be making moves to cut salary cap space to avoid the NBA's second apron threshold and get as far under it as they can to lower their tax penalties. Their decision to trade down the draft may have just sneakily been another exercise in cost-cutting moves that the Nuggets will likely be embarking on as the offseason progresses.
That's right, the Nuggets could have had an ulterior motive to trade the 26th pick to the San Antonio Spurs for the 35th pick of the draft, a second-rounder, plus two additional future second-round picks.
The Nuggets were trying to attach Zeke Nnaji to the 26th pick for anyone who wanted off his contract to shed $7.4 million per year, and they have been rumored to be searching for a trade to dump salary to re-sign Peyton Watson in free agency and not be in the second apron zone. Of course, cost-cutting on the margins by the million is on the minds of the Nuggets front office.
The second-round picks can sign for much less
The 26th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft was set to make a little more than $3 million for the 2026-27 season. But second-round picks can sign for the rookie-level minimum, which is $1.3 million and change.
The phone rings, it's the Spurs. There's no one left on the board that the Nuggets were enamored with. They were offered two future draft assets to start reloading from years of prior mistakes of trading second-round picks away, and as a bonus, they probably shed $1.7 million and get the cheapest possible roster filler if they can get their 35th pick to sign for the minimum. Of course, they said yes.
When it's laid out like that, it's easy to see why it's a no-brainer for a franchise that's going to be looking to avoid every last dime of the extra taxes levied by being labeled a repeater by surpassing the luxury tax threshold in three out of the last four years. Of course, there was likely an ulterior motive involving the cap space savings. There always seems to be with the Nuggets.
The two second-round picks could also be two-way players
The Nuggets brought in a bunch of players for pre-draft workouts who weren't even on many mock drafts, even mocks that went all the way through the second round, indicating they are on the lookout for some bargain youth and someone that could maybe be the next two-way talent like Spencer Jones was, and Collin Gillespie before him.
It wouldn't be shocking to see the Nuggets sign the 35th pick to a minimum contract and the 49th to a two-way contract. It makes practical sense from a cost-cutting perspective.
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