The Nuggets head into their game on Saturday with the season resting in the balance. Denver trails 2-1 to the Clippers with game 4 in LA. You can never rule Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray out of a series, and if the Nuggets can just steal game 4, they’ll even things up and win back homecourt advantage in the process. But game 3 was damning.
Hopefully, there is a lot of series left. Hopefully, the Nuggets can even mount a comeback and win the series, advancing in the playoffs and making much of the discourse over the past couple of days look fairly stupid.
But whether they can rebound in this series or not, it seems like they’re not long for these playoffs. However far they’re able to get will largely be a result of Jokic’s brilliance, with some help from Murray and Aaron Gordon, and ideally, some timely plays from the role players and a random hot-shooting night here and there for someone.
That’s the only recipe for this current Nuggets roster. Much like the team brass wasn’t afraid to blow things up a few weeks ago by firing head coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth, no matter how the playoffs end, they need to have a clear and focused agenda heading into this offseason when it comes to roster moves.
Nuggets must trade Michael Porter Jr. this offseason
Every hot Nuggets rumor for the past year and change has completely revolved around MPJ. He was the only movable contract large enough to bring back anything of value, and the only “young-ish” player with any potential value on the trade market. There were plenty of floated deals, but nothing ever felt worth it on Denver’s end.
Well, that ship has sailed, and the Nuggets need to change their tune this summer with great urgency. Mike has had a nice run in Denver, but the reality of the situation is that the Nuggets have all of their money invested in four players, and one is clearly underperforming.
I want to give him some grace because he is clearly hurt and likely playing through a shoulder injury that should keep him sidelined, but this problem has been evident before game 3. Porter Jr. just hasn’t been reliable and hasn’t improved enough to be a reliable, core player for the team, as he is paid to be.
He disappears in huge spots, has been a liability on defense, his rebounding has fallen off, and if the shots aren’t falling, he’s not making much of an impact. The shot hasn’t been falling nearly often enough lately, and it’s hard to argue that the Nuggets wouldn’t be better suited diversifying his $38.33 million salary next year by spreading it among other players.
Clippers a perfect example for Nuggets to follow
It’s not a perfect analogy, but just look at the team that dominated Denver in game 3, the Clippers. It wasn’t exactly a trade, but in a similar utilization of assets, LA chose to let Paul George walk last summer as he signed a max contract with the 76ers in free agency. The Clippers seemingly lost a star in George for nothing and were mostly written off at the time.
Instead, the Clippers smartly used George’s money for multiple deals for depth, signing Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr., and Nicolas Batum last summer. Those are three key role players who bring a lot to the table for LA and have all made a major impact in this playoff series already.
The Nuggets may not have as many options, as they’ll have to find a taker for MPJ’s contract, but that’s the kind of return they should realistically be looking for: two or three players who combine to make a roughly equal amount to Porter Jr.’s $38.33 million.
That’s the key to making a trade work, and there will be plenty of time to assess the various options, monger rumors, and speculate wildly, but for now, the focus must remain on this series. However, whatever happens in this series, and whoever is the GM of the Nuggets, goal number one must be trading MPJ.