The Nuggets made a complete mess of the NBA trade deadline, but I’m not sure there was much they could have done in a vacuum. The team failed to make a move, but this was largely due to their lack of assets and wasted opportunities during previous transaction cycles.
Calvin Booth and the front office have made poor decisions in free agency, handed out inexplicable contract extensions, and given away draft picks like the league was about to fold. They have nobody to blame but themselves for coming up empty at the deadline as they essentially brought a butter knife to a gunfight.
Regardless, the team’s roster needed an upgrade and was unable to make it happen. But those problems don’t magically end with the trade deadline; the team must now focus on free agency and the buyout market to make an impactful addition to the team.
Pelicans intend to keep Bruce Brown beyond this year
One dream buyout candidate that the Nuggets had been eyeing was a former Nuggets from the 2023 championship roster, Bruce Brown. Brown left the team in free agency after the 2023 season and has since been traded twice.
This year at the deadline, he was sent from the Raptors to the Pelicans as part of the Brandon Ingram trade. The Pels are in a weird place right now as the team is built to win now, but they’ve had a nightmarish injury season that has derailed those plans and knocked them to the bottom of the Western Conference standings.
Brown’s contract is expiring and he was clearly involved in the trade for his $23 million matching salary. There was some speculation - and perhaps hope - that the Pelicans had no interest in keeping Brown and would buy out his contract, allowing him to hit free agency and sign with a contender.
The Nuggets would have had to clear salary to get under the first apron and sign Brown to a minimum deal, but that would have been well worth it and Brown would have been a near-miraculous in-season addition for a team that desperately needs it.
But shortly after the trade, reports came out that the Pelicans were intent on keeping Brown, and GM David Griffin confirmed as much on Tuesday. In a press conference, Griffin announced that Brown and Kelly Olynyk (the other player in the deal) would not only stay with the team this season, but they hope to make them part of their long-term plans.
The Pelicans like the way Brown and Olynyk fit into their team around Zion Williamson and want to extend Brown and build with him going forward. This officially marks the end of the dream scenario for the Nuggets and closes the door on this last whim of hope.
Even if New Orleans had bought it Brown, the chances of a reunion were long, but it was by far the best hope Denver had of making a meaningful upgrade. Now, the team must pivot to other options and scour the market for other options.