The morning of Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the center of attention was Kevin Durant, as the future Hall of Famer was finally traded to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green, the 10th overall pick in next week's draft, and 5 second-round picks.
But one interesting element of the reporting on the deal by Shams Charania, of ESPN, was that the Nuggets "emerged" as a "wild-card suitor" for KD. Charania revealed that the Rockets, Timberwolves, and Heat were the teams primarily engaging in serious talks with the Suns, but that several wild-card teams were involved, including Denver.
Nuggets would have gutted depth to trade for KD
While the prospect of landing a superstar like Durant is obviously appealing, realistically, this was never going to make sense for the Nuggets. The trade would likely have centered around Michael Porter Jr., but just to match Durant's $54.7 million salary, Denver would have had to send out another $16+ million in salary.
The Nuggets would surely have pushed Phoenix to take Zeke Nnaji and Dario Saric, but even then, they'd be short by several million dollars. Furthermore, both of those players have negative value and would hinder the offer, if anything.
Phoenix was almost certainly asking for some combination of Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther, Jalen Pickett, DaRon Holmes II, and Denver's first-round pick in 2031 or 2032. So you're looking at a four (or five) for one swap, plus the only remaining tradeable first-round pick capital.
The Nuggets already have a depth problem, a financial problem, and a draft equity problem, and any Durant trade would have made all of those problems worse. The Nuggets would have had an incredible starting lineup, but they already do. The bench would be a disaster, and you'd have a very old core with no margin for error and zero ability to add depth. It's just not a recipe for success.
Durant's age and contract major concerns
There are players in the league who would justify a move like this from Denver's side, but Durant, at age 36, is not one of them. Durant is also set to become a free agent at the end of next season, and is seeking a massive two-year extension that would make him one of the highest-paid players in the league until he's almost 40.
Durant is still playing at a very high level, but he's not the MVP supernova two-way force that he once was. Beyond those concerns, there would also be concerns that KD wouldn't even agree to an extension in Denver.
So this massive risk for the Nuggets would possibly have been for a one-year rental. The Raptors went for it, and it worked. They won a title in Kawhi Leonard's only season in Toronto, but then he bolted for LA, and the Raptors have been rebuilding.
Ultimately, it's simply too much risk for this Nuggets team in the heart of Nikola Jokic's prime. Between the coaching and front office shake-ups, this is clearly a big offseason, and the team is focused on improving the roster and winning another championship, as evidenced by this reported KD pursuit.
But that doesn't justify pushing in all the chips to rent KD for one season. These NBA Playoffs and these Finals have shown that teams win with depth, balance, versatility, and some youthful energy. Trading for Durant would have basically created the exact opposite situation in Denver.
So, as incredible as it would have been to watch Durant and Jokic sharing the floor as teammates in Denver, the downside was catastrophic and could have led to the beginning of the end for the Jokic era.