The Denver Nuggets' new front office did a lot of work over the summer, but one thing they couldn't do was trade Zeke Nnaji. Denver signed Nnaji to a four-year, $32 million extension before the 2023-24 season, and, as Adrian Wojnarowski worded it at the time when he was still with ESPN, Nnaji was "expected to play a more prominent role in the defending champions' lineup" that season.
Nnaji played a career-high 58 games for the Nuggets in the 2023-24 season, but he averaged 9.9 minutes per game, his lowest since his rookie season in 2020-21. He finished the season averaging 3.2 points and 2.2 rebounds per game. It didn't take long for the extension to look like a bad idea.
Nnaji averaged 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds in 10.7 minutes per game last season, so his minutes played increased slightly from the previous season.
As much as Denver fans would've loved for the team to enter the 2025-26 season without Nnaji on the roster, there wasn't a team interested in picking up the remaining $23 million left on his contract.
Nuggets wish they could trade Zeke Nnaji
In case you forgot, his four-year extension with the Nuggets included a $7.5 million player option in the 2027-28 season, making a trade even more impossible.
Nnaji has played in three of Denver's games so far this season, totaling 10 minutes. He played six minutes in the Nuggets' blowout 122-88 win over the Pelicans on Wednesday, in which he had four points (2-of-3), one rebound, one turnover, and three fouls.
In today's penny-pinching NBA world that is dominated by the CBA, it would be nice if Denver could move off Nnaji's contract and free up some space. The Nuggets would have to attach draft assets to entice a team to show some interest in Nnaji, but the issue there is that Denver could only offer a 2032 second-round pick in a trade.
For now, the Nuggets are stuck. They're a little more than $400,000 over the luxury tax (Nnaji is making $8.2 million this season). And then there is the Peyton Watson decision. They didn't extend him before the deadline earlier this month, signing Christian Braun to a five-year, $125 million extension instead. Watson has played well for Denver to start the season, but with the Nuggets becoming even more expensive with the Braun extension, he may play his way out of Colorado.
Denver will have to find a way to cut its finances, if only that could be done with a Nnaji trade.