The latest NBA rumor to be bouncing around again is that Zach LaVine will be going to the Nuggets. This was a hot story around the February trade deadline when LaVine was still playing for the Bulls, and it was clear they would look to move him.
LaVine is known for his explosive athleticism combined with elite shooting. He’s an electric offensive player, and it’s easy to fantasize about what he could do in Denver alongside Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray.
The Nuggets definitely poked around at the deadline, but a deal never got done, and LaVine ended up getting shipped to Sacramento as part of the De'Aaron Fox trade. Believe it or not, the LaVine/DeMar DeRozan reunion didn’t go so great with the Kings, who lost in the Play-In Tournament and missed the playoffs.
The Kings are now stuck in no-man’s land, facing another tumultuous offseason, and LaVine may be on the trading block yet again.
Yahoo! proposes LaVine for MPJ swap
For Yahoo! Sports, Vishwesha Kumar made up a trade proposal that would send LaVine to the Nuggets in exchange for Michael Porter Jr., Zeke Nnaji, and Hunter Tyson. This deal would seemingly improve Denver’s star power, giving them a true ‘Big 3’, especially on the offensive end.
They’d also be able to get off the MPJ and Nnaji contracts and free up a couple of roster spots in the process. In that sense, it seems like a no-brainer for the Nuggets, but it’s really not that simple.
Adding LaVine would create same old problems for Denver
This deal may seem like a quick and easy fix, but it may actually create more problems than it solves. LaVine’s contract is even larger than MPJ’s, and it’s also an extra year longer. The team would be just as stuck financially, and now for one more season.
Also, for as great an offensive player as LaVine is, he’s a brutally bad defender, he’s constantly injured, he’s older than Porter Jr., and he’s a very different type of player. For all of MPJ’s flaws, he fit in very well with the offense, adding elite movement shooting while taking very little off the table.
LaVine, on the other hand, would need lots of on-ball reps, and while his creation would be a boon, it may take time to find a balance between Jokic, Murray, and LaVine. Those are three-star-caliber offensive players who all like to operate with the ball in their hands.
Furthermore, the Nuggets’ three biggest issues this season were shooting, defense, and depth; LaVine may not help with any. Denver’s rotation would get even tighter after sending out three players for one, and their top four would be even more expensive. Nnaji hasn’t been great, but he’s a young big man who can play in a pinch.
So, Denver’s rotation would shrink even more by sending out MPJ and Nnaji. They’d be making a big bet on an injury-prone player, and one ankle roll for LaVine or Murray would derail things in a major way. The defense would also be catastrophically bad, and a LaVine/Murray backcourt wouldn’t be stopping anyone.
On top of all that, for all of Porter Jr.’s flaws, he’s been surprisingly durable the past few seasons and has been an elite shooter. The Nuggets badly need bodies out there who will space the floor and make shots. Taking away Mike’s elite movement shooting at his size would just create one more hole for this offense to solve.
So while the upside of adding LaVine is great, overall this deal creates more problems than it solves for the Nuggets, and they would be wise to consider other options.