If Nuggets fans thought the trade deadline would come and pass without one last twist of the knife, they were wrong. The reports and rumors started coming out months ago about how the Nuggets knew they needed to improve and Calvin Booth and company were aggressively looking to upgrade, even talking stars like Zach LaVine and Jimmy Butler.
As the season went on, those talks fizzled as it became clear the Nuggets didn’t have the capital to go big game hunting without giving up too much to make it worthwhile. But the team clearly still needed to upgrade on the margins and the rumors continued.
We heard the Nuggets were attached to players like Dorian-Finney Smith, Nick Richards, Jonas Valanciunas, Cody Martin, Guerschon Yabusele, Chris Boucher, and others. But one by one, those players were dealt to other teams who actually had movable contracts and second-round picks to bargain with.
It has become a tired trope but it doesn’t make it any less painful. And with every trade that Denver misses out on, it’s a painful reminder of their many mistakes of the past, from bad signings to bad trades and everything in between.
Terance Mann final swing and miss before trade deadline for Nuggets
One of the final deals to go down before the deadline saw the Hawks send close friend of Nikola Jokic, and fellow Serbian Bogdan Bogdanovic and three second-round picks to the Clippers in exchange for Terance Mann and former Nugget Bones Hyland.
Bogey would have been a fun add for the Nuggets, but he’s having a really rough season and his contract would have required Michael Porter Jr. in the deal. That was never a realistic option for Denver.
But just after this trade was finalized, NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the Nuggets had “serious interest” in Mann. It makes sense as Mann is a 28-year-old 6’5” defensive-minded guard/wing with playoff experience. He’s having a down year and has largely fallen out of the Clippers' crowded rotation, which presented an opportunity for him to be moved.
Three second-round picks heading from Atlanta to Los Angeles along with Bogdan Bogdanovic, per source: 2025 Minnesota, 2027 Clippers' own, 2026 Memphis (protected 43-60).
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) February 6, 2025
Denver was another team that had serious interest in Terance Mann, sources said.
For his career, Mann has shot 37% from three-point range, he’s always been a plus defender who can guard some of the best ballhandlers in the league, and he can make a read and run a bit of secondary offense in a pinch.
He would have been a great addition to the Nuggets and a player who would have fit well and helped the Nuggets improve in some of their biggest areas of weakness. But alas, it’s another player who was available but wasn’t attainable.
The Nuggets have neither the second-round picks nor the potential rotation player that it took to land Mann. Denver must have been offering Zeke Nnaji, salary, and future pick swaps, which have little appeal as long as Nikola Jokic is on the team. That’s a pretty pitiful package and it’s no surprise the team wasn’t able to get a deal done before the deadline, but those moves will almost certainly come back to haunt them again at some point.