The Denver Nuggets have all the opportunity and ownership makeup to just pay a hefty luxury tax bill next year and spend to win-now around Nikola Jokic. But the rumors point to penny-pinching through salary-dump trades, and perhaps even ducking the luxury tax to reset the Nuggets' repeater status. Meanwhile, the Minnesota Timberwolves may be going for broke this summer, and that dichotomy of the two makes it tough to stomach.
The latest rumors from Sam Amick and Eric Nehm at The Athletic show that the Timberwolves haven't just been interested in Giannis Antetokounmpo, but in a few current or former All-Stars.
The Wolves have been close enough for three years now that former Nuggets GM Tim Connelly knows he needs a reset, and he's been exploring trades for players like Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ja Morant, on top of Giannis. It sounds like the Timberwolves are prepared to give it a win-now feel as much as they can around Anthony Edwards, and it makes the Nuggets' possible plan to save money instead of doing the same around Jokic that much more difficult to digest.
The Nuggets' path forward could be frustrating for fans
It's going to be hard as a Nuggets fan to sit back and watch the rivals make a huge move to improve while you watch Cameron Johnson hit the market for a serviceable defender with limited offensive upside.
Johnson wasn't the answer, but he was what the Nuggets got by dumping Michael Porter Jr. He showed in the final two games against the Timberwolves that he can still be a potent rim attacker and sniping three-point shooter, but he's on an expiring contract and is probably the easiest Nugget to move.
Of course, that's dependent on the Nuggets actually bringing back Peyton Watson. The restricted free agent is expected to be courted by the Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets, among others, and a bidding war could break out, further hampering the Nuggets in the salary department.
It's very possible a healthy Watson could have been a series changer against the Timberwolves, but the Nuggets still lost to a team that was without its starting backcourt by the end. The Nuggets weren't too close and changes to improve need to be made.
The Nuggets feel like they are about to go backward
Instead, it feels as if the Nuggets are inevitably going to go backward and make the roster less competitive to save money. Which is unfortunate, considering they have the world's best basketball player on their team. Jokic can't do it all, but he can make many of the players around him better.
The Nuggets should just eat some taxes to win-now with Jokic and let the draft rebuild begin when he retires. Anything else is tough to stomach.
Add us as a preferred source on Google