With exactly one month to go before the NBA trade deadline, the Nuggets’ biggest blemish on their roster is Zeke Nnaji, a big man who has fallen completely out of the rotation despite being in just the second year of a four-year, $32 million contract. He’s taking up a critical roster spot, he’s the sixth-highest paid player on the team, he’s been unplayable, and worse, untradeable.
Nnaji has felt like a walking bad salary since before his extension even kicked in, and the Nuggets have tried to move him to no avail. Last season, it was even reported that a deal for Zach LaVine was held up because the Bulls refused to take on Nnaji’s contract.
And yet, on Monday night, thanks to the Nuggets ruling seven players out with injury, Nnaji finally got his chance to shine, and he balled out. Zeke showed all the traits that made him an intriguing young prospect and earned him that disastrous contract in the first place.
In 31 minutes, Nnaji put up 21 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals, shooting 7-11 from the floor and 4-5 from three. Put simply, he was everywhere. He made plays on both ends of the floor, inside and outside, and had several big moments in crunch time during the Nuggets’ improbable 125-124 overtime win over the 76ers.
Nuggets can solve all problems by trading Nnaji
It’s not like the Nuggets are suddenly going to elevate Nnaji into the starting lineup after this one performance or anything like that, but what it might do is catch the eye of some other teams around the league. Despite the contract, Nnaji is still just 24 years old, he’s 6’9” with solid strength and athleticism, and a real ability to space the floor.
A lot of the raw skills are there, and while there’s no room for him to develop and battle through growing pains on this contending Nuggets squad, a young, rebuilding team could talk themselves into taking a shot on Zeke. You could do worse.
Any young team with financial flexibility could take on Nnaji and his contract pretty easily, and it’s not like the remaining two years at roughly $15 million are going to destroy a team’s books. For the Nuggets, moving Zeke’s salary is the key piece to the roster puzzle. They are currently $402,000 over the luxury tax, a number they’d love to duck under without making the team worse.
That’s really only possible by moving Nnaji. Unfortunately, due to his value around the league, it’s looking like the Nuggets will have to attach an asset to move Zeke, which won’t be easy with their lack of draft capital. But if Nnaji can put together another game or two like this one, perhaps a team will be more willing to take him on.
In that dream scenario, Denver would free up a roster space, get under the tax, and create the flexibility to add another vet and convert Spencer Jones’ contract. It’s almost too good to be true.