The Nuggets have been mentioned on the periphery of trade rumors involving Jaylen Brown, but there has been a prevailing belief that, given their lack of draft capital, they can’t make a reasonable offer to improve the team. But things have changed in the past few days for a couple of reasons, and Denver may be more in the mix than it appeared.
For starters, a report came out indicating that Nikola Jokic may decline his extension this summer and kick the can down the road until next year, when he could decline his player option and become an unrestricted free agent.
While there has still been no substantial evidence that Jokic wants to leave Denver, this report should apply a level of pressure and urgency that the franchise hasn’t felt. Jokic may be intending to sign and stay next summer, but there’s no guarantee. If he watches his team dump salary this summer, and the roster doesn’t improve, why should he stay?
The other factor that could push Denver to make a play for Brown is that his trade market seems to be fairly underwhelming for the 2024 Finals MVP. The Celtics went from being in talks for Giannis Antetokounmpo to suddenly looking at packages for Brown that are built around young players and draft picks that would clearly have the team taking a step back.
On Sunday, Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype added some fuel to the fire, reporting that the Nuggets are one of four teams actively pursuing Brown, along with the Trail Blazers, Raptors, and Nets.
Nuggets the only trade partner that can keep Boston in contention
Those other three teams can offer Boston lots of pick equity, which Denver cannot, but the Nuggets have an advantage in that they can offer proven NBA talent that can help the Celtics immediately and keep them in contention. Maybe that means a deal based around Jamal Murray, or maybe it’s some combination of Aaron Gordon, Cam Johnson, and others.Â
The same Scotto report revealed that the Celtics have shown interest in Johnson, so when you add all this together, it’s safe to say the Nuggets are squarely in the hunt. Marc Stein and Jake Fischer reported that the Nuggets would rather keep Murray and Gordon, instead of dealing one of Johnson or Christian Braun, in order to make space to keep Peyton Watson, but that was separate from a deal for Jaylen.
If the Nuggets actually have the chance to acquire an All-NBA two-way wing in his prime who’s coming off the best season of his career, that should certainly change the math on their end. It would require a major transformation and reshaping of the team, but maybe that’s exactly what they need.
It’s fair to say they should at least be monitoring the situation. If Boston is determined to deal Brown this offseason, and the offers don’t move them, the Nuggets need to get aggressive and give Jokic a new superstar sidekick.
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