The Nuggets made a lot of great moves this offseason, totally rebuilding their rotation and adding meaningful depth. But perhaps their biggest win of the summer was getting off of Dario Saric’s contract without surrendering an asset.
Saric was signed last offseason for the taxpayers' midlevel exception and inexplicably given a player option in year two by Calvin Booth. Saric proved to be completely unplayable a few games into the season and was glued to the bench for most of the season.
He eagerly and obviously opted into his $5.7 million guaranteed contract for this coming season and was set to be dead money and a waste of a roster spot for Denver. However, the good old Kings came to the rescue and bailed the Nuggets out.
Saric salary dump lost in shuffle of Valanciunas saga
The main story to come out of that initial trade report, and rightfully so, was that the Nuggets were finally gaining a backup center in Jonas Valanciunas. That story was immediately derailed by the rumors that JV was leaving the NBA to join a Greek club in the EuroLeague.
The saga played out for over a week, but the trade finally went through, and Valanciunas announced that he will be playing for the Nuggets. But that whole drama completely overshadowed the fact that all Denver was sending out in the deal was Saric and his useless contract.
The Kings were able to save some money in the deal by sending out Valanciunas, who makes $10.4 million this season, but now they have a guy who can’t play on the roster. The Nuggets have been wasting roster spots for years, and when faced with this exact same situation last offseason, they used three 2nd-round picks to dump Reggie Jackson after opting into his TPMLE contract.
Getting an asset back for Saric is unbelievable business
This move just perfectly captures the difference between the new front office and the old one. Not only did they get rid of Saric and dump his bad money, not only did they do it without paying to do so, but they even got an asset back in return. That’s just an incredible piece of business.
Upgrading the position in a massive way while dumping arguably their worst contract is amazing and should be celebrated. Frankly, even if Valanciunas had left for Europe, this still would have been an excellent trade just for being able to wash their hands of Saric.
So, while the additions are very exciting, the subtractions may end up being just as meaningful. It has been a great offseason already, and hopefully it will continue into the regular season, but Nuggets fans can sleep well knowing the franchise is in good hands now.