The Nuggets need to make some moves this offseason. Unfortunately, the rest of the NBA world knows that as well, and it’s going to work against Denver. The Nuggets have had a habit, dating back across multiple front offices, of telegraphing their moves needlessly, somewhat hurting their own leverage.
And they’ve done it again this summer, making it clear that they want to shed money to re-sign Peyton Watson in restricted free agency. That means they must trade away a starter making real money. Knowing that everyone but Nikola Jokic is available, that meanest hey’re looking at parting with Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Cam Johnson, or Christian Braun.
The Nuggets should be able to get decent value for Murray or AG, probably close to neutral value for Cam, and maybe slight negative value for CB on the open market. The problem is that it’s no longer an open market. Every team knows that Denver is motivated by money and, at the end of the day, they have to get a deal done.
Teams will know that Nuggets are motivated by money
Teams can use that knowledge against the Nuggets, getting into a game of chicken where they are unwilling to meet demands, daring Denver to walk away from a deal. Maybe it doesn’t matter, and they are able to find a package they like for one of their starters, but that task may be much tougher than it should have been.
Nobody believes that the Kroenkes are suddenly going to splurge and spend into the second apron, and nobody believes they are prepared to let Watson walk. Teams are smartly going to call their bluff and force them to get uncomfortable.
Sadly, for that reason, it may make more sense for them to end up dealing one of their premier stars in Murray or Gordon, where there will be a better market, and they can perhaps stir up some kind of bidding war. That way, at least teams will be bidding against each other, and the Nuggets will have that working in their favor.
Otherwise, the savvy front offices around the league will simply balk at Denver’s offers and continue bargaining and trying to squeeze them, ultimately knowing that they have a financial goal to meet, and they won’t reach it without a deal. That’s less than an ideal predicament, but here we are, and it’s entirely a product of the team’s own doing.
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