Trade season is officially in full swing in the NBA now that December 15th has passed. Rumors are flying left and right and we’ve already seen a couple of deals come to fruition with the Pacers acquiring Thomas Bryant and the Warriors adding Dennis Schroder.
It has also become clear that the Nuggets need an upgrade in the frontcourt. The non-Jokic big-man minutes have been a disaster. DeAndre Jordan is too washed up to play meaningful minutes, the DaRon Holmes injury was a killer, and Dario Saric and Zeke Nnaji have quickly proven to be unpayable at this point in his career.
Unfortunately, Denver has extreme limitations on its ability to make trades. They don’t have draft picks to throw around and they have no young players to dangle around the league. They are going to have to be creative and opportunistic if they want to tangibly upgrade the roster this season.
Pistons waive “B-Ball” Paul Reed
Well, perhaps that opportunity will come knocking for the Nuggets as we got some surprising news over the weekend as the Detroit Pistons waived newly signed big man, Paul Reed. B-Ball Paul was drafted by the 76ers and became a fan favorite in a limited role, backing up Joel Embiid.
But as the Sixers tried to free up cap space for the last offseason, Reed became a casualty and the team was forced to let him go. The Pistons happily added him, a promising young player for their rebuilding squad. But Reed has struggled to find a path to minutes in Detroit on a crowded depth chart.
The Detroit Pistons are waiving center Paul Reed, sources tell ESPN. In 12 games, Reed has averaged 4.8 points and 2.3 rebounds in 10 minutes. The move was made to give Detroit roster and salary flexibility with the NBA trade deadline less than two months away. pic.twitter.com/93AOdymJXP
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 14, 2024
The Pistons chose to let him go to free up a roster spot and a little bit of money before his guarantees kicked in and trade season truly gets going. Reed is making his way through waivers and will hit the open market as a free agent, available to sign with any team in the league.
Reed would instantly become the Nuggets’ best backup big man
The Nuggets are one team that should be at the front of the line to try and sign Reed. He may be nothing more than a league-average backup center, but that would be a massive upgrade over anything Denver has at the moment.
Reed’s hustle, energy, and size off the bench would be a welcome addition and he could be able to keep the team afloat whenever Nikola Jokic has to sit. The Nuggets would have to waive someone on the end of the bench, likely either Jalen Pickett or Hunter Tyson, but that should be a small price to pay in order to fix the disastrous backup big-man situation.
Whether they’ll actually do it or not is another story. They may not be willing to take on even more money or waive a player with a guaranteed contract. But they likely won’t get a better opportunity to improve the rotation this season for a lower cost.