As fans know by now, the Nuggets are open for business this summer and are desperately looking to fix the roster and save the Nikola Jokic era before it’s too late. Sadly, fans also know that the path to accomplishing that goal isn’t going to be easy. They are saddled with negative value contracts, are strapped for young talent, and may have the worst future draft capital outlook in the league.
These issues have led to much speculation about the team finally breaking up the once iconic Jokic-Murray two-man game and actually trading Jamal Murray. He’s one of the only players with a real contract that may have positive, or at least neutral, trade value.
Breaking his deal into multiple good players could be the best option to fix the team’s deficiencies without breaking the bank, something ownership seems extremely unlikely to do. We’ve had a number of trades floated, but one that was proposed almost a month ago by Tom Haberstroh of Yahoo! Sports continues to gain steam.
The original mock trade had the Nuggets sending Murray and their 2026 first-round pick to the Pistons in exchange for Ausar Thompson, Duncan Robinson, and Caris LeVert.
Trade would be replacing one problem with another
While it would be nice to get three rotation players for one, that’s where the logic on this one ends. Thompson is one of the best defenders in the league, and is still just 23 years old, but on offense, he’s a borderline liability with no jump shot to speak of, and will be seeking a massive payday a year from now.
There’s still room for him to grow, but as of now, he’s a guy defenses are happy to ignore in the playoffs, and Denver can’t afford to swap their only reliable guard and second-best player (especially on offense) for that.
Robinson would add shooting, but his defense is a major concern, and his contract is only partially guaranteed for next season. LeVert’s defense is also an issue, and his streaky offense is unreliable. These are two one-way players who make you hold your breath come playoff time. The Nuggets already have plenty of that, and they have cheaper versions available to them.
The idea of trading Murray isn’t a non-starter for me, but it has to be the right deal, and this just isn’t it. I love Ausar as a player, but he’s not close to being a number two option on a championship team, and Robinson and Levert are fringe rotation guys on a contender. Murray had a brutal playoffs, but he just had an All-NBA season and is still the Nuggets’ only reliable guard and scoring option outside of Jokic.
He’s still extremely valuable to the team, and his chemistry with Jokic is the only thing that has kept the team in the mix. If they do decide that they are ready to move on from that pairing, the front office better make sure it’s for a clear upgrade.
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