Grade the mock trade: Nuggets shed salary and add former NBA MVP

At this point, it seems to be one of the worst-kept secrets in the league that the Denver Nuggets and Russell Westbrook have mutual interest. But unfortunately, the pesky LA Clippers stand in the way as Westbrook opted into his $4 million contract for the season.

The Clippers are on board with getting rid of Westbrook, but they want to trade him, ideally for some sort of return instead of just waiving Russ, eating his salary, and letting him become a free agent. There’s a game of chicken going on as the Clippers are intent on dealing Westbrook and the Nuggets are calling their bluff and waiting for a buyout.

It’s hard to say which team is more desperate at this point, but the Nuggets badly need a reliable, veteran, backup point guard and there aren’t many feasible options available. On top of that, Nikola Jokic has expressed an interest in playing with Westbrook and has pushed the team to add him. Can the Nuggets really afford to risk losing their best option for guard depth and irritating their franchise player?

Andy Buckley of Bleacher Report proposed a mock trade between the two teams that would end this game of chicken and get Westbrook to the Nuggets in exchange for Zeke Nnaji and a 2nd-round pick in 2025. 

Fake trade sends Westbrook to Denver for Nnaji and a pick

For starters, the Clippers are hard-capped and wouldn’t be able to absorb this much salary so they would have to add another player to make this work. But let’s ignore that for the moment and analyze the fake trade as currently constructed.

Getting rid of Zeke Nnaji and his four-year, $32 million contract in year one would be a pretty good piece of business, but adding one of their few remaining tradable draft picks to do it would be tough. Nnaji had a rough season last year, but he’s still just 23. A fresh start in LA could do him wonders.

This also gets a little trickier after the season-ending injury to DaRon Holmes which may force the Nuggets to rely on Nnaji more than they were expecting this season. But obviously, the backup point guard is the biggest weakness on the team at the moment. Flipping Nnaji for Westbrook in a vacuum would be a very good move for the team. Keeping Jokic happy makes it even more valuable.

Russ’ energy and athleticism would be a nice boost for the second unit and they really don’t have anyone capable of doing it at the moment. But Russ has his share of warts and being able to sign him to a minimum contract as a free agent would be far more palatable. That would also allow the Nuggets to keep Nnaji and the pick for another trade down the road that could bolster the rotation. This move would just about dry up their only remaining movable salary.