Denver Nuggets Should Trade Faried Before The Season

A new era is beginning for the Denver Nuggets, and Kenneth Faried is deadweight that must be disposed of.

The Denver Nuggets are one of many teams that figure to take a big step forward this season. Equipped with a roster full of young talent, they will continue to try and grow together as a unit. Considering their youth, many players on their current roster figure to be mainstays on the team for the foreseeable future.

But for some players that isn’t the case. One such player is Kenneth Faried, and the Nuggets would be smart to dispose of him sooner rather than later. Specifically, they should get rid of him before the season starts.

Faried is considered the face of the franchise, so this may not be something many fans want to hear. He’s the most marketable player on the team, he’s a hero to kids who love his flashy style and majestic hair, and more than anything he’s a fun player to watch. But with the direction the team is heading, it would be a smart move to send him packing.

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Although they don’t have a supremely talented roster just yet, the Nuggets are full of potential. Nikola Jokic finished third in Rookie of the Year voting last season. Emmanuel Mudiay made the All-Rookie second team and figures to be the point guard of the future.

Jusuf Nurkic and Joffrey Lauvergne are extremely promising young bigs. Will Barton and Gary Harris figure to take steps forward next season after solid campaigns in 2015-16. And finally, the recently drafted Jamal Murray, Juan Hernangomez and Malik Beasley will all have varying levels of impact next year as well.

While the Nuggets’ future is bright, they’re unlikely to be serious contenders in the immediate future. With this in mind, keeping someone like Faried around seems counterintuitive. His contract expires after the 2018-19 season, so there’s a good chance he walks away before Denver is in real playoff contention. However, this alone isn’t reason enough to trade somebody. For Faried, there are multiple other reasons to trade him.

Aside from his unlikelihood to be a presence on an eventual playoff team, he’s a very one-dimensional player. In an era where stretch-4s are becoming more prevalent, Faried’s percentages outside of the paint are not pretty.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets have plenty of other bigs who are comfortable stepping out of the paint. On two-pointers outside the paint last season, Darrell Arthur shot 44.1 percent, Joffrey Lauvergne shot 50 percent, Nikola Jokic 45.1 percent, and Jusuf Nurkic 44 percent. Faried, combining all of the zones pictured above that are outside the paint but inside the three-point line, shot 32.2 percent.

As far as three-pointers go, only Arthur (39.3 percent) and Jokic (31.1 percent) have any business behind the arc, but they’re still better than Faried. He attempted two threes last year and just 13 over the course of his five-year career.

Out of place is a good way to describe Faried on the current Nuggets team. With all the youth on the squad, this season will be pivotal in acquiring an identity for the future. With so much emphasis on this growth in 2015-16, the Nuggets should dispose of Faried.

His presence could impede the development of players who are more likely to be around in the future. And more importantly, it could impede the development of players who are better than him.

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Denver would be smart to ship Faried to another team, ideally before the season starts. That way, they can maximize their ability to develop their young talents without an energetic but flawed player like Faried standing in the way.