It’s not often celebrated when a team sheds $18.7 million in salary by trading away three players, but Denver Nuggets fans have reason to celebrate general manager Tim Connelly as he officially started the Nuggets’ reconstruction before the trade deadline expired yesterday…and he did it spectacularly.
As expected, Arron Afflalo was the first piece to fall, and in shipping him and Alonzo Gee in a five-player deal, Connelly successfully got the first and second round pick he was looking for in shipping the veteran whose contract expires at the end of this season (and who was on his way out of Denver anyways).
Connelly then pulled off what Nuggets fans saw as “the impossible” by shipping JaVale McGee and his $12 million contract along with a protected first-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers.
He actually managed to get rid of that terrible contract, and he did it without jeopardizing the Nuggets’ future. As neither deal returned any big players for the team, this deadline was definitely about rebuilding.
The Afflalo deal did return a few Portland benchwarmers — Thomas Robinson (who got bought out), Victor Claver and Will Barton — along with a 2016 lottery-protected first round and future second round pick. The McGee deal didn’t return anything but a Turkish prospect Cenk Akyol, who’s very unlikely to step foot in Denver.
But either way, Connelly positioned the Nuggets to rebuild quickly and begin their new quest to return to the Western Conference playoffs sooner rather than later.
In shedding almost $19 million (and creating two trade exceptions for that value as well), the Nuggets and Connelly made themselves flexible in just about any situation. If the right free agent comes along in the offseason, or a superstar trade emerges after this season ends the team, the Nuggets can pounce and bring the proper checkbook with them. Nuggets fans have been wanting another Carmelo Anthony, but it’s impossible to sign a franchise changing player if you don’t have the money to pay him.
The trade exceptions also mean the Nuggets can take on a significant amount more in salary in any trade than what they send away, allowing them to pounce if the right deal emerges. Given that Connelly still has a lot of assets at his disposal — Ty Lawson, Kenneth Faried, Wilson Chandler, Jameer Nelson, and Randy Foye all garnered trade interest — he’s giving the Nuggets a chance to make any move that becomes available.
While continuing to impress despite ESPN calling him inept, Tim Connelly played the deadline perfectly. On top of the financial flexibility he added (while saving his owner the trouble of overpaying an underperforming team), Connelly still managed to add the draft picks the Nuggets need to retool.
Yes, they did give up a protected first round draft pick in dumping JaVale McGee’s contract. However, it was the protected pick Oklahoma City Thunder pick that Connelly grabbed when trading Timofey Mozgov to the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier this season, and its protection reduces the value on it tremendously.
The pick had to be higher than 18th in 2015, higher than 15th in 2016 and 2017, and if it failed to be that high the pick became two second rounders A.K.A worthless to the Nuggets. Given how the Thunder’s roster is built, the odds are stacked toward it becoming a mid-to-late first round pick in 2016.
Plus, the Nuggets are sitting pretty when it comes to the draft. The Nuggets own all their own future first-round picks, plus a protected first acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies, the right to swap firsts with the New York Knicks in 2016 and the 2016 first rounder acquired from Portland for in exchange for Afflalo. If they can produce a few more Jusuf Nurkic-caliber players with those picks, the Nuggets will be aiming for more than just the playoffs soon.
Not to mention, the youth already on the team now has a much better chance to build their own talents. Given that the Afflalo trade frees up about 35 minutes of playing time, rookie guard Gary Harris is now in line to play alongside rookie phenom Jusuf Nurkic, and thanks to Tim Connelly’s deadline moves the Nuggets’ future looks as bright as it has since George Karl left.
Connelly, didn’t quite shake up the roster as much as rumored – Wilson Chandler, Kenneth Faried, Randy Foye all remain on the roster for example – but all of the sudden… the “worst contact since Kiki Vandeweghe’s disaster deal for Kenyon Martin” and with it JaVale McGee is gone.
All of the sudden Masai Ujiri seems like a distant memory, and now the Nuggets can really put the George Karl era behind them.
More from Hoops Habit
- The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout