3 free agents slipping through the cracks that Nuggets should pursue
By Ben Handler
The free agent market is slowly but surely drying up and the Nuggets have still yet to sign anyone. Things are looking fairly grim for the team’s pursuit of new talent, but all is not lost. There are still a number of players out there, many that could help the Nuggets immediately and make a large impact.
Every year we see players get squeezed out and end up with no partner to dance with. This ultimately leads to players settling for discount contracts, usually for one or two years, giving them an opportunity to prove their worth and hit the market again in a year or two.
This is exactly how the Nuggets ended up signing Bruce Brown a few years ago and with any luck, they can pull another rabbit out of the hat this offseason. There are a few players in particular who are sitting on the open market, wondering what team will sign them.
Nuggets must aim for discount shopping
These guys were surely expecting and hoping for big contracts and long paydays, but the money has dried up and it doesn’t appear that those offers are coming. The Nuggets don’t have much to work with, but they can offer the $5.2 million taxpayer midlevel exception or try to swing a sign-and-trade using Zeke Nnaji’s $8.8 million and maybe attach some smaller contracts.
In reality, the Nuggets can’t offer any of these players what they would ideally like to make. But they can offer them a large role on a contending team, an opportunity to play alongside Nikola Jokic. They’d have a chance to show their worth to the world while possibly winning a ring (or at least competing for a title) and then hitting free agency again next year for another shot at a big payday.
There’s certainly no guarantee that any of these players would be interested in that situation, but it can’t hurt to ask. Chances are these players are frustrated and annoyed with their markets. They are all proud players who may now have a chip on their shoulders and embrace this type of role and opportunity.
Here are three players that are still out there waiting to be snatched up by the right team. They would all garner huge roles for the Nuggets and this could be seen as a mutually beneficial situation for the team and the players.