The Nuggets are faced with quite the conundrum this offseason. Their roster clearly needs to improve to vault into contention, but they have virtually no means of making those improvements.
The team is already over the first apron and will have extremely limited financial flexibility. They can sign free agents to minimum contracts, and they can use the taxpayer midlevel exception, which is roughly $5.7 million. Beyond that, they have no means to sign any new players and won’t be able to compete for free agents beyond veteran role players.
Beyond that, Denver is currently the only team without a single draft pick in this year’s NBA Draft. They are as limited in their ability to add players this summer as any team in the entire league.
Nuggets desperate for internal development
In Josh Kroenke’s most recent press conference, he preached internal development as a means to improve the roster. Some of that is wishful thinking. At this point, we’ve seen who most of these young players are, their strengths, and weaknesses.
Sure, some young players were buried under Michael Malone and may be able to grow given an expanded role. But banking on any of these young players on the roster taking a major leap and becoming reliable starters may be a pipe dream.
Only route to major improvement is trade
By process of elimination, that leaves the only path to improvement for this team to be trades this summer. They can improve on the margins via free agency and internal improvement, but any major changes are going to have to come from trades.
Realistically, Nikola Jokic isn’t going anywhere, and an Aaron Gordon trade seems extremely unlikely. Jamal Murray and Christian Braun could have some value, but they are very important to the team; it’s hard to imagine either one being dealt this summer.
That leaves Michael Porter Jr. as the only player in the rotation with a substantial contract and any actual value to an NBA team. MPJ won’t be a hot commodity, but a team could talk themselves into a 26-year-old 6’10” wing with elite shooting skills.
The team could also float their first-round pick in 2031 or 2032 along with some combination of their young players. Some combo of picks and young players, along with the salary of Dario Saric and/or Zeke Nnaji, could potentially bring back a solid player as well.
But that’s pretty much it for options. If the Nuggets want to make a tangible upgrade to the roster, it’s trades or bust.