So, what now?
After a whirlwind day of trading Thursday, the Nuggets walked away with another first-round draft pick, $12 million of salary carved out, and nearly $19 million in two traded player exceptions.
All of that sounds productive. But the net effect of it left many asking: What’s next?
“It’s a short- and long-term vision, certainly,” Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly said. “But the ultimate goal is to figure out how we can get 15 guys in that locker room that can play at a high enough level for us to compete for a championship.”
It’s likely a long process.
There are a number of variables in which the Nuggets can start the process. Take the two traded player exceptions (TPE) first. They were created with the trades of Arron Afflalo and Alonzo Gee to Portland, and JaVale McGee to Philadelphia.
The Portland trade created a $7.5 million TPE. The Philadelphia trade created an $11.2 million TPE. While they are spoken of in combination, they can’t be combined to acquire a single player. So, each stands on its own.
They allow the Nuggets to acquire a player without having to give any salary in return, which is huge because salaries usually must be near matches for NBA trades to be completed. The Nuggets can’t sign a free agent into the exception, they can only have a player traded into it. So, in free agency, for the Nuggets to fit a player into one of those exceptions, it would have to come as a result of a sign-and-trade deal.
Nuggets Mailbag: Pose a question for Christopher Dempsey
The exceptions could also be used in a three-team trade, so there are options there too.
Unloading McGee’s $12 million salary for next season helped create flexibility, but the Nuggets still project to be near the salary cap this summer. So more salary would have to be slashed for the Nuggets to free up significant cap space. If they did, though, they couldn’t use the exceptions because those are in place to help teams over the cap do business.
Helping matters is the Nuggets having four first-round draft picks in the next two years. Expect some of those to be used as trade assets. Two are their own (including one in 2016 that gives them the right to swap first-round picks with New York) and two are from trades in the past two months.
“Certainly I think with the financial flexibility and some of the trade assets that we picked up in the way of draft picks over the last several months, I think maybe we’re in a better position now than ever,” Connelly said.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that the Nuggets, with 28 games left, are buried deep in the Western Conference standings, much closer to a chance at a top-five lottery pick than a playoff berth.
That’s not necessarily exciting to the players playing out the string.
Asked what the point of the remaining games is, veteran guard Ty Lawson shrugged his shoulders.
“Um … just try to win all of the games,” he said.
Said forward Wilson Chandler: “You just got to get better. It’s tough to say you’re trying to fight for a playoff position, because we’re kind of out of that. But just get better as individuals … and just try to get better as a team.”
Players will be evaluated at the same time, Connelly said, to “try to figure out who in that locker room has what it takes to win at the highest level. And to be brutally honest with those decisions.”
In the last two months the Nuggets have traded a third of the roster that started the season. Timofey Mozgov, Nate Robinson, Afflalo, McGee and Gee are all gone. Word around the NBA is that the Nuggets want to bring Gee back after his season ends with the Trail Blazers. He is playing out a one-year deal that he signed before the season.
The Nuggets also are interested in re-signing one of their best locker room leaders, forward Darrell Arthur. They’re fond of point guard Jameer Nelson too. Nelson has a player option at the end of the season. The Nuggets hope he opts in, or if he opts out that they are able to sign him to a multiyear contract.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets will continue their star search. Last summer, they made a run at acquiring Kevin Love. Connelly insists he will continue to try to get that caliber of player in a Denver uniform, whether it’s through a trade, the draft or free agency.
“We’d love to get a superstar,” the GM said. “We’d love to think we potentially have one on our roster, or we can get one in the draft. I think that’s the most tried-and-true model. And we’ve been pretty active trying to get ‘that guy’ in the last 18 months.”
And while he says “I don’t think we’re tied to any one model,” Connelly isn’t as pessimistic about going the free-agency route as much of the Nuggets fan base is.
“I think Denver is a destination place for free agents, sure,” he said. “The city is fantastic. It’s so vibrant right now, and we look forward to being able to sell that.”
DENVER AT OKLAHOMA CITY
5 p.m. Sunday, ALT; 950 AM
Spotlight on Enes Kanter: After forcing a trade out of Utah, talented center Kanter, 22, started Saturday night for his new team, the Thunder, in its game at Charlotte. He’s expected to play a big role in whatever run through the playoffs Oklahoma City will have. And he’ll be motivated to show the Thunder he’s worth it.
NOTEBOOK
Nuggets: Point guard Ty Lawson is expected to return Sunday after being a healthy scratch for Friday’s game at Milwaukee. He was held out after an unexcused absence from the team’s first practice after the all-star break because he missed a flight coming back from Las Vegas. Jameer Nelson started in his place against the Bucks but will return to his normal spot as the top point guard reserve. … In an expected move, the Nuggets waived forward Victor Claver, one of the three Portland players involved in the trade to Denver. Thus, only one of those players — Will Barton — will actually suit up for the Nuggets.
Thunder: This is the second of a back-to-back set for the Thunder, which played Saturday night at Charlotte. Kevin Durant (foot) and Steven Adams (hand) did not play in that game. They are questionable for the Nuggets. … The Thunder has won three straight home games against Denver.
Christopher Dempsey, The Denver Post
