Nikola Jokić is crushing worlds, what about the trade deadline?, with Jake Coyne and Jordan Scott

Nikola Jokić is crushing worlds, what about the trade deadline?, with Jake Coyne and Jordan Scott

Get oh boy this is a big one so fasten your seat belts and let’s fly hello everybody and welcome to the 81st episode of the highest rated Denver Nuggets podcast among those whose host is not speaking in his native tongue welcome to the dmvr Nugget’s Serbian

Corner my name is Miroslav chuk and I will be your guide through the Maze of memories this past week has created in the Nuggets worse first the NBA champions hosted the Milwaukee Bucks welcoming their favorite opposing coach Dr Glenn Rivers who was debuting on his new team getting ready to spend another

$40 million guaranteed by his new employers kudos to yanis for not ducking this game I guess playing at altitude is possible even for MVP candidates it was a good game yic was yiing a triple double in three quarters Jamal was on fire 35 points on great efficiency Aaron Gordon kcp and Payton

Watson were amazing on defense and I have to admit I was super comfortable in the clutch in this game Denver just has tops in them number one clutch defense paired with 118 offensive rating in the clutch two my favorite detail though were Rie Jackson and Jamal Murray hunting switches against Dame Lillard

Yeah not sure there’s a coach that can save the bucks from that after that there was a game in the infamous Chase Center in s Francisco and again a high-profile player got injured Jonathan kuminga fell on Joel and bid’s leg and Joel had to leave the game his

Knee suffered a meniscus related injury and it is unclear how it will be treated and what is the timeline for his recovery this event will most probably prevent the Sixers Superstar from competing for the MVP and that is okay nobody in Philadelphia should be mad about the 65 game limit the MVP should

Not be the ultimate goal but in case it will make somebody’s day better here I take full responsibility for Joel’s injury it is obvious he got injured because I was making some jokes about him online I apologize speedy recovery big guy after that the Nuggets traveled to

OKC Nikola yic missed that game he ducked CH Chad hren the Thunder was missing Jay dub and it was a great game well maybe not great but exciting and tough the Nuggets started strong home team responded it was a neck and neck battle and some bad late game execution

Costed the Nuggets this game great defense most of the game but pretty pedestrian offense without the best player in the world at last the Nuggets h Ed the Jeremy grants Trailblazers Nicola returned to the lineup and this was one of those games where you can see 10 guys on the court

But one of them seems to be of other species just incredible Domination by him another triple double this time with 22 rebounds and this was this was a big one for me since it was just Nicolas third uh triple double against Portland in 30 regular season games other than

Him we’ve seen some great roles from Aaron Gordon kcp Reggie Jackson and especially pton Watson Jamal and mpj on the other hand did make six threes but on 25 combined attempts that that looked rough and kept the Blazers in the game for way too long win is what counts on to the next

One okay that’s enough of my big giant head on the screen it is time to bring in some help first a guy that loves movies and the Denver Nuggets he is a sales guy by day but one of my favorite Nikola yic numbers guys by night he also

Introduced me to one of the best trade machines out there from fpo and we’re going to use that one heavily later today welcome to the re returning offender Jordan Scott what’s up Jordan hey not too much thanks for having me um is it is it a slow Saturday for

You or or is it upbeat yeah it’s uh it’s been pretty relaxed we’ve got like six inches of snow still coming down on us so oh that’s exciting well we are already in the springtime in Serbia man I don’t know if winter is ever going to come back it

Will probably at at some point but right now we’re we’re experiencing some really nice weather like like 60 degrees if I calculated the Fahrenheits right okay so first of all tell me how do you feel about this particular part of the season two weeks before Allstar break and close

To the trade deadline you know that time when the teams deal with a lot of injuries and having players that are ineligible to play because they just arrived after a trade so basically bad bad games yeah it’s just weird like it’s you don’t always get bad games you just

Can’t really take anything from the games you get just because there’s for one guys are tired like they’re they’re ready for a break by this point in the season and I like you said guys are injured or they’re trading guys so half the team can’t play like it’s just

Weird yeah I agree I agree it’s it’s been dragging for me a bit to be completely honest but but we’ll get through it next week is going to be uh super filled with you know V bombs and Shams whatever you call those so it’s G to be interesting and uh one of the

Things we want to talk about today or at least I want to talk about maybe I’m forcing you into it is possible trades the trade destinations for some nuggets players and possible players that could come come into the mile high but before that let’s let’s talk about the the game

That that’s just uh the week that just happened so we’ve had a great win in Boston last week and this week we got a fully loaded Bucks team in Denver it was a fairly close game but Nicola did his thing he does very often against Milwaukee recorded a triple double and a

Win for his team now Jordan did you know that Milwaukee is the team yic records a triple double against on two out of five occasions like I made this this small graphic and it’s crazy so 120 regular season triple doubles six of them against Milwaukee that’s

40% the most he has actually against New Orleans Pelicans 10 but on 29 OCC that’s 34% and may I remind you this is so 19% of his games end up in a triple double and this includes you know his rookie season and his sophomore season it’s like I didn’t like filter out the

Last you know four seasons and and get these numbers are gonna are gonna get higher but by the end of his career do you have a favorite team yic play against you know having seen this kind of table well it’s got to be Milwaukee like there’s been some big triple doubles

Against Milwaukee um including the fastest and I think his first was against Milwaukee and the first one yeah and the first one too yeah so like those are like the two big ones like if you were to like name like two of his triple doubles those would probably be you know

You know probably top three at least with maybe the uh the seven is the other but yeah I I I don’t take into account the Eastern Conference teams he plays rarely against so there’s a big percentage I would say of his early games against them but Portland and

Dallas at 10 and 11% you know that that feels kind of kind of low so I really hope he he will improve on that U soon so so come on Nicolai do do as a solid so um what was your biggest takeaway from from the buck

Game um if you remember it still nuggets yeah the nuggets are still the Nuggets like they’re still the team we know they are they’re just I mean they didn’t even shoot well in that game I don’t think but that’s right no they’re four of 18 from three and they won that game like

They they didn’t even play their best and they still beat one of the best team I don’t know what’s grazier four or 18 like are we in the 90s again like what’s going on well well they took a bunch early too and then like they weren’t hitting so it just seemed like they’re

Like okay let’s just score and yeah it worked so we we can score inside it’s not a big deal yeah how how do you feel about Milwaukee how do you feel about Milwaukee after this game I think Milwaukee is a very good team that I think has the Fatal flaw of

A no perimeter defense basically and like they might skate by some teams just on the power of an offense but that gets tougher come playoff time times yeah I I don’t know what the they they need to improve their back cour significantly on defense and I’m just

Not sure that’s that’s going to happen I mean Atlanta tried with with u um with Deonte muray and Deonte suddenly turned into a much worse Defender next to Trey young so you know it’s it’s kind of a you know connected uh pieces on the court that that make people look better

You know at the beginning of the season I saw some report from Adrien Griffin press conference where he mentioned Malik Beasley as a guy they’re gonna send on their best player of the opposing team and I I think most nuggets fans just kind of shook their heads at that and said uh oh

So I mean Malik is fine if he’s playing next to like Drew holiday he would probably be a pretty good Defender but yeah next today he’s got good length and stuff just no discipline yeah that’s true that’s true okay let’s let’s fast forward through the through the following two gamees so

In a game versus Portland okay first OKC it was interesting mostly because we got to see what those eight minutes per game of yic L basketball in the playoffs could look like pton Watson slided in for Nicolas so we got Aaron Gordon at the five mpj and pton playing the

Forwards that looked insanely good on defense is there any other takeaways for you from that game I mean that’s kind of the weird game like we talked about for this time of year we just it’s hard to take a lot out of it both teams had guys missing I

Mean I think the non yic minutes should be good defensive minutes we’ve seen that a lot this year but I don’t know it’s uh I mean they also didn’t shoot that well in that game either so um I don’t It’s just tough to take anything away from weird games like

That where guys miss but I I feels like our defense can keep us in games so yeah my main main takeaway there was that Michael Malone really tried to win that game and and kudos to him for that because you know he he is he’s not a not

A a guy that will just uh fall down because he’s missing his his superar so kudos to him and and I think I think the Nuggets looked really good for like 44 minutes of that game it was kind of a dodgy and end game but that’s not

Something we plan on on playing without Nicolas so that’s that’s fine okay the game versus Portland another triple double from the big guy but abysmal shooting from Porter and especially Jamal we’ve talked and talked about Jamal getting up only for the big games but what is going on with Mike’s shot

Recently he is 12 of 39 that’s less than 31% in the last six games from Beyond Beyond The Arc is it just this part of season or are you maybe nervous a bit I mean I mean it could be he could just be tired his legs are running out on him right

Now and he needs the all stair break to recoup I mean it could be I don’t know Shooters go through slumps like it it does happen um feels like we’ve had a number of games where a few of our guys have had had slumps and yeah I don’t I’m

Just not too concerned it’s like when people were questioning his shot after the finals and he said oh I’ll just fix it it’s fine like I he’s a good enough shooter I think he’ll get there so I’m not too concerned yeah I believe Mike needs to

Be in a good physical uh state to to be a dead I shooter and and I hope that the All-Star break will will help him heal whatever is ailing him well he was sick for a while too like I think he hit the injury report with an illness for a

Little bit so that might be it too but yeah yeah sure sure it it can mess up the the legs so in this game Jamal attempted 15 three-pointers like the whole team against Milwaukee took 14 and Jamal had 15 here and that’s the most he ever shot from the outside uh of the

From the outside in his regular season career and ties his biggest attempts um in a game he actually shot nine of 15 in that Utah Series in the bubbles in the bubble when he scored 50 in a loss is this a good sign that Jamal

Is willing to fire at will or is it a bad sign meaning he’ll shoot threes so he doesn’t have to dribble into the paint like I do when I’m exhausted at the end of my Saturday’s pick pickup game I think what that was is that they were playing Portland and he realized he

Could take that many shots then they would still be fine and he was just going to shoot him try to shoot himself out of the slump and I don’t know I mean he also almost had a triple double in the game so it’s not like he did that’s contribute other

Ways okay we have already some ideas pitching in for the for the trades uh so let’s let’s take one short break bring in another guest and then we’ll we’ll start uh with the trade deadline talk don’t go anywhere okay second segment I wanted to talk today about the trade deadline from the

Nuggets perspective and since I really try not to spread misinformation on this show I decided to call the biggest expert I know for the NBA collective bargaining agreement which is a fancy name for something we all call the CBA so he can tell us what the Nuggets can

And what the Nuggets can’t do in the week in front of us he is the NBA data analyst working at Stats perform it’s Jake coin AKA bronos quatch welcome to the show Jake hey guys uh that was High Praise but I’m happy to be here uh kind of

Crazy how quick this week came up on us so it’s been pretty quiet maybe we’ll see some fireworks if not from the nuggets from somebody this week so so from your uh St point of view is the trade deadline more busy time of the year for

You or is it just you know the regular week as as all all the others yeah that’s a good question um I mean for what I’m doing right now currently um we’re less involved in like team operations and things uh so the trade deadline isn’t uh make work any more or

Less busy really um but uh you know I did take over our our NBA research this season so uh this season has been busy overall um but obviously with players moving and everything it’ll it’ll make it inevitably more busy uh even if we’re not you know directly involved with like deadline stuff

So okay so the prevailing sentiment around the nuggets before this trade deadline is that they’re going to be pretty quiet and may maybe making a deal on The Fringe of rotation if even that uh Jake please tell me what are the limitations the Nuggets will work under

In the days in front of us like what can they do yeah so I’d say there’s two main categories of limitations that the nuggets are looking at um the first one is really just lack of assets um and that really comes down to first round picks uh the Nuggets won’t be trading

One this week uh they’ll have to wait until the off season if they’re wanting to move a first round pick uh so don’t expect to see that this week um and then in in addition to the asset issue uh there’s also just kind of the um salary

Matching issue that the nuggets have uh they don’t have like you know if you look at like the Clippers roster or maybe the Sixers roster they have kind of a lot of Middle ofth Ground salaries that they can kind of play around with uh can build certain trades with the

Nuggets it’s a lot more difficult uh just because they’re a lot more topheavy and then they have a lot more lower end salaries as as well um Zeke is a unique situation that I’m sure we’ll dig into his contract contains a certain clause in it I guess you could say currently

That makes trading him kind of hard but he is the one guy that’s sort of in the middle that they might consider moving uh because I doubt they’ll move kcp who’s who’s kind of that other middle of the ground salary right now so you you’ve mentioned uh Zeke Naji and you

Know when he signed that extension at the beginning of the Season people were talking like okay so he’s not tra tradable this season but that’s not true it’s what are the difficulties about trading him during this season yeah so when a player on a rookie contract signs an

Extension um which means they sign the deal before their current one is up so Zeke is still on his rookie deal until the end of this year but he has that extension behind it what that triggers is something called a poison pill um historically in the NBA we haven’t

Seen guys with that be moved and the reason for that is uh his outgoing salary so his salary for the Nuggets is his current year salary uh which is about 4.3 million and then for whatever team is getting Zeke it is the average of his current year salary and his

Extension so in Zeke’s case uh that would be about 7.2 million and so you know typically you haven’t seen these guys get moved um but I think part of the reason is that rookie extensions have historically been less common when a player isn’t getting like a Max for

Example or getting paid quite a bit and so when you have a player that’s getting paid quite a bit on that back end that poison pill becomes really hard to move because of the difference in outgoing or uh with zek specifically it’s not as big of an issue because we’re only talking

About 2 point 9 million in difference and especially under this new CBA I think it makes the player movement a lot more fluid uh so for teams that are under that first tax apron so if their entire team salary is under a certain Mark they can uh obtain more salary for

What they’re giving out so historically you’ve seen a lot of things like 125% matching 150 um but it’s a little different under this new CBA what teams can get for what they’re sending out and I think we’ll see more guys on poison pills get moved um than we have in in

The past and we’ll see if that changes this year so basically if a team wants to trade for Zeke they need to be under the salary cap so they have space to get more millions of dollars uh than what they’re uh giving back to the nuggets basically or maybe

Including a third team that will help the the cash flow let’s call it like that yeah be possible yeah I’d say I’d say it’s a little bit of a caseby casee thing uh if a team’s under the salary cap that obviously would make it easy to

Do uh if a team has a traded player exception which is uh a salary exception where you can absorb salary without sending a certain amount out that makes it easy uh but then the other thing is teams that are under that first tax apron right now which is a majority of

Teams in the NBA um if they were to send out a guy making $5 million for example um they could get back a guy making a little over 10 million uh because right now it’s a 200% match plus 250k if you’re sending out a salary up

To about seven and a half million and so that makes it kind of easy for Zeke for example because if a team were to trade a guy making four and a half they could trade that guy to Denver Denver could send Zeke back and it works

MoneyWise uh so in the past that might not have been the case but with these new salary matching rules there is some flexibility in there and so you know like I said even if Denver isn’t Super Active this week I do think these new rules will see a lot more fluidity uh

And movement you mentioned the the traded players ex um exceptions the Nuggets you have a couple of them right now available can they use them at all at this point in time at this trade headline yeah so I think I mean they can use them so

They do their biggest one is from the bones Highland deal it’s about $2 million um and it’ll buy if they don’t use it by this trade deadline uh the bigger thing with those is that they can’t be combined and so you only have to look at the one so you can bring back

A player making about $2 million in that bones Highland one um but that would be the maximum amount and then you also have to take into account that the Nuggets roster is full right now yeah and so if they were to just absorb a contract they would need to get rid of

Somebody and so that also brings in a little bit of difficulty there um but yeah certainly they can use it if they did a bigger deal you could certainly use a see a TP be used in that just to kind of make the math work um but yeah there’s guys we’ll talk about

That that Denver could get that would fit into that TP if they have an open roster spot yeah the other traded player exception is like $1 million and that’s for a very very limited number of of guys that can fit into it right yeah that one would be pretty difficult

To use um you’d be talking about maybe like a another team’s version of like a jayen picket you know that type of contract might be what you could get back but uh yeah that one I would guess I would guess both of them go un use but

For sure that smaller one yeah ju just one more question in this kind of a dry part of this show but we need to explain the basics before we can start chucking the fake trades left left and right so right after the the trade deadline there

Will be the period of time when guys are going to be able to be signed on a on a buyout on after a buyout what are the limitations the nuggets are are facing there you know except uh needing to to get one roster Spot Free yeah so teams

That are over the first tax apron uh which includes Denver and several other teams uh they can only get guys on the buyout Market who make less than the non-t taxpayer mid-level exception which is about 12.4 million so I don’t know like we saw some rumors a while back that Gordon Hayward might

Get bought out Denver can’t get Gordon Hayward if he gets bought out um players like that definitely not um but there are certain players that you know I could see getting bought out that Denver could potentially have a shot at um the right from Washington maybe someone

Moves for him in a trade if not I think he gets B out but yeah several examples of players like that making under a 12.4 million that Denver could sign if they open up a roster spot oh they’re are some guys they’re are some interesting guys even under

12.4 and uh we’ll get into the into those uh pretty soon let’s take one short break and then we can we can start with the the funnest part of this show don’t go anywhere okay segment three let’s fake some trades or let’s make some fake trades I I don’t know what’s the right

Phrase it’s my second language so Jordan and I are going to present to Jake some of our ideas and Phil please feel free to mock us if they are bad and give us your probably more realistic solution so let’s start with some guards wings and smaller forwards oh yeah of course I

Have the presentation ready for this one so first this is this is my my idea and it’s a trade for kenri Williams from from the Oklahoma City Thunder now he is a guy that has a four years contract with Oklahoma at six million my idea was

To trade zek Naji Vlad ker and three second round pick for kendri because I’m guessing they like kendri more than Zeke so they need to get some Hefty compensation for this what do you think Jordan about this kind of trade is it too much for kenri I mean probably but

It’s also probably what it would take so I I don’t it’s one of those no- win situations I think so yeah Jake do you have any any not oh sorry wait no I was just saying I love Kendrick Williams so I would love to have him but I just don’t see them

Giving him up he’s on too cheap of a deal well let me ask both of you guys what what type of role do you think kenri would play in Denver especially in the playoffs maybe something similar to to Jeff Green last year it’s like it’s I’m just searching

For a for a kind of a beefy guy to to to put potentially in the Nuggets uh rotation for playoffs problem here good yeah the interesting thing with kenri is is his role is reduced this year um I think he’s hovering around 15 minutes a game last year I know he was

Above 20 and he is a guy that a lot of nuggets fans have uh been enthralled with in the past um as far as your deal here I do like the two players for one uh opening a roster spot I like that for Denver because of some of the guys who

Might be on the buyout Market um looking at this deal I’d probably say it’s a little light for OKC um when I think azeke naagi I think it’s probably going to take one or two second round picks just to offload his contract uh by itself so then you’re

Talking about you know one to one and a half in a way second rounders for kenri Williams uh along with trading away vco um I’d say that’s probably a little light just because kenr is still at least kind of in that rotation for OKC um but not too far off um I would

Say I don’t know if this is a guy you guys will talk about later but one Thunder player who um I’ve looked at for Denver is actually Trey man um there’s there was a lot of talk about oh the nuggets should go get Jordan

Clarkson uh and I do get the I get the uh the idea behind that but that’s not really possible given what they can trade away um and I also think Clarkson’s probably a little too good for what they can trade away and so Trey man I think is a little bit similar to

Clarkson where not the most efficient but he can definitely light it up and give you some scoring uh he is a guy that would probably come a little cheaper than Ken rich I think um and he was he would be a thunder player I’d watch out for but but good bones of a

Deal there I’d say so uh the Nuggets can trade up to I think five second round picks they have enough of those I believe to do it it’s just that I think Calvin Bo will just murder me for suggesting to lose five second round picks because he’s so good with

Those I guess so what would be what would be the the the the the frame of the treay man uh trade what would the Nuggets need to give away yeah that treay man one um I would say you know you could probably get away with something like what would I

Say because to match the salary uh you’re going to have to give away one of your young guys or and so probably the bones of a Trey man deal might have to involve like a Julian Strather you know and I know that would be hard for a lot of people to give up

Just because he’s like this new thing and especially for Calvin boo who I know believes in him uh that’d be difficult to do um but I think you’d be getting a more um playoff Ready Player in a way and so so it’d be hard to do but I think

He’d be having to give give away someone like St yeah that’s that’s tough but you you cannot get good players unless you give away good players so that’s that’s that’s the name of the game okay let’s move to the second trade we’ve prepared and this one is actually by Jordan and

It’s Alex from the from the Kings for vlat Cher so Jordan why do you think the Kings would do this well and a lot of these I kind of forgot to look picks you’d probably have to throw in a pick to make this happen just because they’re getting a guy

That’s out this year uh but it’s just I mean he’s not Alex Lyn’s not really getting used he’s not a I mean he’s not a particularly like sought after guy right now but he’s solid he’s big he’s just a guy that nuggets could use as an option at Center and frankly backup

Center’s still a big problem for the Nuggets so so so do you think this is a solution more for the regular season or maybe potentially for the playoffs as well um I mean more for the regular season but I’d probably feel more comfortable with Alex Len out there in the playoffs

Than DeAndre Jordan if I’m honest but again that’s largely just because I think he’s gonna do fewer things that will make us pull our hair out like DJ does sometimes so so Jake do you have uh any thoughts on this deal yeah I mean I think

Uh this type of deal including this one is is very realistic I mean it’s not jumping off the page to anybody and it’s not a huge Improvement um I do think there’s some concern about giving away vco uh you know especially for somebody who I’m not sure Alex Lyn would be a playoff

Player um in fact I’d probably say he wouldn’t be would be my guest right now and so you’re kind of weighing you know do we want to give away vatco who has shown like some flashes here and there of maybe being able to play some minutes

Uh for someone like Alex Len who might not play in the playoffs and is probably gone after this year you know that’s what you have to weigh and so that’s the question the front office will have to ask themselves but uh I do think this deal is realistic and I think there are

Similar deals like this um maybe not doesn’t even have to include vco but similar deals where you know you’re just doing a one for one see if we can get some front Court depth yeah I mean uh one thing we should say right now is most of the guys we’re going to talk

About here are going to be two months rentals three months rentals it’s like you’re not going to get a guy on a good contract for for three or four seasons if if uh if you’re not giving uh away too much okay next trade uh this one is by me so Xavier

Tilman of the Memphis Grizzlies who are I’m waiting for them to blow it blow it up or at least you know get some of their guys off he is in his last season of his contract so maybe if they don’t want to give him another one maybe they

Will take a second rounder in the Andre Jordan the only reason I I use the Andre Jordan here is because you don’t really need three centers on on your or four if you count J half I mean but I I’m I’m guessing they they would probably uh

Lose DeAndre Jordan this kind of deal what do you think Jordan um I don’t know if that’s worth it honestly um I think DeAndre Jordan is a big locker room presence and I think losing him for a guy that similar what Jake said may or may not play in the

Playoffs it’s tough especially if you’re having to give up a pick along with it so yeah so it’s just that vatco is also important for the locker room at least for the big guy so I don’t know it’s we we are just talking about parting with

Some guys we really like and we want them to be on the Nuggets forever what about you Jake do do you think trade for Xavier dman that includes either dander Jordan or Vlad Co chanter would be a good idea yeah so I like I like this one um

Xavier Tillman’s one of just a handful of names that I picked out for the Nuggets that I said oh if they do a deal maybe it’ll be for this guy Tillman is one I think a second round pick is the going value there I don’t think you need more um and I

Think because Tillman fits in to the Nuggets trade exception from the bones Highland deal um if they have an open roster spot from another deal they could just absorb Tillman or you could also see you know maybe they give away like a hunter Tyson or like a Jaylen pick it instead of

DeAndre Jordan here I don’t know I mean it could be any of those Maybe by doing Tyson or pick it instead of one of these vet minimums maybe that allows them to give away a less favorable second round pick something like that but uh but yeah good overall deal here agree with the

Motivation I think Tillman is more likely to be a playoff player than a lot of other centers that Denver could get so uh yeah I like it okay let’s move to the next one and this is Dario sharich my favorite player we’re going to talk

About today so he is also on the his last season of or his only season of contract with the Golden State Warriors and I thought to offer the Warriors Vlad coer in two second round picks because I think he’s been probably their third best player this season or maybe that’s

A bit of a hyperb but definitely one of the best players on Golden State Warriors this season but if they if they see they’re not going anywhere they might want to to get some assets for some guys that will probably not be on their roster next season what do you think

Jordan yeah I honestly thought about him I just didn’t think it was particularly realistic to get him so I didn’t include him in any deals but I’d love to have him I mean I I think he’d be a solid fit for our bench just a guy who knows how

To play the game and could probably adapt pretty quick which we saw isn’t always the case like last year with Thomas Bryant so yeah it’s tough what what what do you think Jake yeah this is another one I have to ask you both let’s say theoretically they did do this

Deal um and they have a ninan playoff rotation what do you think that bench rotation would look like would it include him would it not not include him oh I I I believe Dar Dario could be a part of a eight-man rotation like you have Dario and you

Have pton and you have oh this is difficult actually yeah you cannot I I don’t know man it it honestly could be a rotation without Reggie Jackson completely or just spot minutes for regie Jackson because you know you can try to get away with some uh minutes

Without real point guard on the court with with Nikolai yic uh handling the business but yeah you’re probably right he would more probably be a part of a ninan rotation than a than a eight-man rotation yeah lot of what he would do I think sorry would be give him options

With rotations in the playoffs like I think he could be part of a rotation but not necessarily be part of every rotation if they were to switch it up at a series or something yeah maybe not in every series as well yeah yeah yeah so I kind of think when I look at

It I think your your value here is accurate I think that’s a fair deal for sarich um if I’m sitting in the Nuggets position if I’m going to give away multiple seconds I think I want someone who I know is going to be able to hold

Up for 10 15 minutes in like a eight or nine man rotation sarich could be that guy you know I don’t know for sure you know do they think there’s too much overlap with pton Watson and they’d rather get someone bigger I don’t know

It could be um so I think your value is accurate I would probably say no personally to the deal just because if I’m going to send out a couple second round picks I’ll probably look for a different type of player if that makes sense okay okay let’s let’s go on to the

Next one Andre dammond like every year he is he is a guy we’ve seen is these tra in these trades uh I believe this one was was made by me as well so DeAndre Jordan Hunter Tyson both of them to make the money work and

Then a second round pick I guess to to I I I believe this is just to sweeden the deal because of Hunter Tyson’s Four Seasons I’m not sure how how much how much Chicago would value Hunter Tyson in this kind of deal what do you think

Jordan um I mean I think Drummond would help a bit I’m not sure how much and I also don’t know that he would play in the playoffs so it does make it a little hard to swallow losing like a young guy and a pick but i he’d certainly be

Helpful I think he’d give us more than DJ does right now but Jake yeah so I think I think uh another one here where I think that’s pretty fair value so you guys are definitely doing a good job on on the value here with Drummond specifically I think the fact I’m only

Giving away one second for him and Tyson um I’d feel pretty decent about him playing 10 minutes in the playoffs against most teams maybe not every team but against most teams and I don’t know that he would price himself out of your range in free agency you might be able

To keep them around um so for all those reasons I I think I would do this deal yeah yeah I I agree I’m not sure how much Andre would play in the playoffs but you know if he helps you survive the regular season some of the games without Nicol yic maybe and you

Know have just a more reliable bench in general uh to to get a couple of extra wins that that could be very useful okay uh next one one I did was trying to to find a guy nobody’s talking about and it’s trendon Watford of the of the

Brooklyn Nets he used to play for a couple of seasons for Portland and had a pretty good minutes of the bench over there his uh role reduced on the Nets but what is interesting about him to me is he’s of course in the last uh year of

His deal and he might just you know maybe the Nets just don’t want to extend him to to give him another contract so they may maybe want to get a an asset uh out of this and I I like trendon because he per 36 minutes are pretty pretty good it’s like 17 points

Eight and a half rebounds and and almost five assists per 36 which is pretty good for a for a bench power forward Jordan do you have thoughts on on this deal honestly not a lot um I mean again it’s the type of guy we can actually get by sorry

Yeah yeah it’s the type of guy we could actually get like that’s reasonable that he would be available but I I don’t have a lot to say other than yeah maybe um I feel like at that value I’d almost rather hold on to Zeke and see if we can

Use the bigger salary next year for something different but what do think Jak yeah so I think um I can definitely see them doing something like this depending on their state of mind and so what I mean by that is um Denver at this point is probably

Going to be a second tax apron team next year and that involves a lot of restrictions and so a deal like this is kind of them maybe saying hey maybe we can get under that second apron and so getting off of that Zeke contract for a second round pick even if you’re getting

Back a player that um you know for all you know might not even be here next year uh I could definitely see them doing that uh just because you’re taking that tradeoff where you’re saying you know maybe we’re losing a little bit of value here um but we’re going to be able

To stay under that second apron next year um but definitely Watford fits that kind of that mold that I think Calvin’s going for a little bit of younger cost controlled guys behind all of our expensive you know title pieces and so I think Watford definitely fits

That bill and so exactly like you said Watford and players similar could definitely be something they end up going for yeah and I I think that would be the the the thing that would U uh have the worst you know uh sound among the the fans because you know who what for yeah

But but I agree with you that that that could be an interesting guy to trade trade for okay let’s let’s take one last break and then we’ll move into some uh smaller guys don’t go anywhere okay so before the the beginning of the third segment I said we

Were going to talk about some guards wings and smaller forward guys but in fact we did talk about the biggest guys on this list so now we’re going to talk about some smaller guys and uh first guy uh this is actually by made by Jordan so Houston Rockets give

Away J shate and Bobby marianovich a dream combination for me to be honest and in the other direction goes zek Naji and Vlad kanta and I’m guessing some picks as well right yeah yeah you’d have to have probably two picks I would guess at uh seconds um and really that would

Still just depend on if the Rockets are ready to move on from Jan Tate but basically gives him a couple of bigger guys that that’s kind of a they don’t have a lot of depth at the front Court among the younger guys so it gives them some younger guys that can fill

Some of those roles but um I mean Jan Tate’s a guy that I think a lot of nuggets fans have been interested in for a while and honestly bobon thrown in there is just mainly just to uh uh make nice with yic after trading away vatco

So so Jake is Jason Tate the kind of guy you would be willing to part with multiple uh second rounders for yeah yeah I do think so uh so Jan is another one of those players on on my little list I have of guys that maybe

I’ve circled that they could look at um it’s just like you said um you know for the Rockets cam Whitmore is coming on really strong since January 1 um they obviously have other draft picks that they’re going to want to play Tate makes a good little chunk of money for a guy

That would just be sitting on your bench and not playing at all so I could definitely see the motivation from them to move him um I would definitely say you know two two second rounders in here as kind of a uh a little bit of a favor for

Taking on the Zeke contract especially for a team like Houston um there are certain teams that I think would be more willing to take the Zeke deal um and teams that are trying to make that jump into contention I think would have a harder time with it so two second

Rounders might even be a little light for them uh you might have to see what else you can throw in here um but but yeah for sure like this deal um I definitely think that you know with Jackel hasn’t performed as well as they would have wanted him to there and he’s

On a contract that’s like non- guaranteed after this year so getting them another look at a front Court guy could be something that they value a little bit so I definitely like it yeah partis on belade Legend Jo landale okay let’s let’s now move uh into the next

Trade and this is again from me so Jaylen McDaniels the the worst McDaniel brother uh from Raptors uh to the nuggets for Zeke Naji and one second rounder Jordan do you like this this trade I mean I like J Jaylen McDaniels um I didn’t realize it till now but zek

Nji seems very much like a raptor player so um maybe not the most skilled but big and long and switchable like it just seems like somebody they’d actually really like so that might be reasonable but um I don’t know I feel like Jaylen McDaniels would War at more value than

That but it’s hard to know where his market’s at yeah Jake so Jaylen has two more seasons on his rookie deal is is one second round pick enough to to get him from the Raptors do you think yeah uh I I would think so um Jaylen jaylen’s really struggled

This year um because of some work stuff I tend to watch a majority of the Raptors games and so uh I do know a good little bit about how he’s playing and how he fits into that rotation and stuff and uh I think this deal makes sense

That contract from Jaylen isn’t like a great one um I mean it’s it’s very small in value but when when you’re talking about pushing up against tax aprons and stuff it can become a little bit more problematic so I think value wise uh this works I it’s really just a question

Of you know what can Denver do to bolster some front Court depth if they’re going to move Zeke Nagi who is front Court depth for someone who’s more like a wing okay let’s move on to the next one this one is from so Dwight Powell and partisan Belgrade Legend Dante

Exum who by the way has a higher NBA 2K uh ranking than let’s say kcp good good for Dante Dante is a really good player it’s I was a bit surprised to be honest so the framework here is for Zeke Nagi Vlad K chanter and a couple of

Second rounders now Jordan do you think the this is this is enough for both Dwight Powell and Dante Exum who I I could see both of those guys playing playoff minutes I mean yeah but I don’t know the the Mavericks are hard to figure out because they’ve swapped guys in and out

A lot um Dwight Pal’s a guy that they always seem to like reluctantly keep ping with the contract and like they still got he still got a couple years left on a deal that they may not want to pay him is kind of my thought on him um and then exm is yeah

He’s had kind of a Resurgence but um it just depends again I think uh it depends on what they’re trying to do I mean I don’t know that this is enough but I made I actually more made this trade as a example of what I feel like most fans

Think is possible and would probably actually require those picks to be more of a uh probably at least a first is probably what would actually take to get something like this done but yeah um I don’t know it’s the type of thing you can catch a team at a bad moment and

This would be the type of thing you could maybe pull off because I could see them seeing like a Zeke for Powell as a potentially even swap still long-term money but Zeke is younger and gives him more potential and a little more defensive versatility but um yeah I

Don’t know it’s Mavericks are hard to figure out too because I really don’t know what they’re trying to do so true what do you think Jake yeah I think this one you’d probably need a first round pick to get this done um exom I think has started uh maybe a dozen games or

Something for them this year and he’s done he’s kept his turnovers real low uh really doing everything he could ask and he’s on a really nice contract so um when you take into account the players you’re getting and you’re kind of getting off that Zeke Nagi long-term

Money I’d say this one probably needs a first round pick involved uh so this would probably be a little bit above Denver’s uh ability ability to pull off before this deadline yeah it would be nice it would be nice though yeah and ultimately I just don’t

Think there’s going to be much in the way of a trade that is really possible for tener unfortunately yeah okay let’s move to the next one maybe clearing roster spot yeah so I’m not sure if if if I’m really serious about this one but this is zck

Nai and Justin holiday for Danilo galin and I’m not sure how well galinari Gallo is playing right now it’s just I I want Gallo to get one Championship with the Nuggets so maybe this is the main sentiment why I made this kind of a fake trade what what do you think

Jordan I mean I’ve brought up get bringing Gallow in because at this point he can practically play like small Bell Center for you because he’s got the height and he can’t move like he used to so you almost have to play him there um but I just don’t know that he has much

Left in him um I mean if all you’re giving up is Zeke and Justin holiday sure why not but um I also don’t know if the Pistons are looking to move him because I thought they brought him in to kind of help be a little bit of a veteran presence

But I don’t know it’s uh I I’d do it probably so what Detroit does love their uh project BS though right so maybe give them Zeke and yeah what one more project yeah that that’s a good idea that’s what they need yeah this is a this is an

Interesting one I think this one to me reads like a salary dump basically yeah uh of Zeke when we’re talking long-term salary just because everyone else here is an expiring deal true uh I’d probably have to throw in an extra second rounder from Denver uh to make this feel like it fits

Um but I don’t know that Detroit would do it I think they so they traded uh Marvin baggley right to Washington and I think they were trying to shed some of that front Court depth to kind of make things a little clearer on how they want to move

Forward with that front Court uh so I’d say they probably wouldn’t want a guy like Zeke for that reason um but yeah I mean it’s a salary dump is basically how I’d read it there are other salary dumps that maybe Denver will look at so okay I believe we we have a couple

More maybe this is the last one not sure so this is this is this is just because there was a rumor that the nuggets are interested in Roy oil from the Nets and it’s really difficult because his contract is quite large is 9.5 million so I was just trying to make some kind

Of a framework how how that could be possible and it’s probably impossible because I had to give away four guys from the nuggets Zeke Naji and vlatko chantra to the Nets and then Jaylen picket and Hunter Tyson to the Spurs and then the Nets get the Sandra

Maku mukash from the Spurs and a second rounder from the nuggets and the Spurs also get the second rounder from the Nuggets um I I I’m I I believe Jordan likes Roy O’Neil I just want to ask Jake is this completely impossible to make like to get four guys off your roster

And get only one back well I mean it’s not impossible but uh I would I would bet against it happening uh three team deals are notoriously difficult to pull off uh the other thing you have to take into account is the amount of open roster spots that this would leave because then

You have to sign guys to make up those those holes and that adds to your cap and Denver has to stay under the second tax apron because they signed Reggie Jackson uh using the mid level so it just becomes really sticky um on how to pull something like this off um and I

Don’t think Denver is needy enough that they can move you know a quarter of their roster I don’t I don’t think they need to do that at most I think maybe two guys they’d move this week and and I don’t even know that they’ll do that

So yeah that’s this seems like the type of trade that is that is the sign that you need to step away from the trade machine for a little bit so yeah it’s time to take a break it’s time to take a break okay I believe we have

One more no two more actually so this is from Jordan so again the Bulls both Andre dammond and Tori Craig and the Bulls again probably some picks involved zek Naji vlat chanter and some picks so uh Jordan how many picks do you think this would take Bulls are another team that are

Hard to figure out but it would probably be two just one to kind of take on Zeke and a second to kind of the value of those two guys um I the Bulls I feel like are trying to roll some are might be at the point where they need to roll some dice

With their you know their Fringe guys just to see if they can find something that works if they’re not going to trade the big names so they’re a team that’s probably worth giving a call to and see what’s what’s available and what they’re looking for

So yeah Jake what do you feel about Tory Craig returning to the Nuggets would he be instantly in the playoff rotation because he’s like Michael Malone’s favorite guy yeah yeah I think um if you kind of take away the the Michael Malone element I don’t think Tori Craig is a

Rotation guy in the playoffs would he be under Michael Malone maybe uh just because of the past relationship and style of play there but um yeah I I’m kind of bouncing back and forth would it take three second rounders would it take two I know it

Would take at least two yeah um but Tory Craig cheap on a couple uh couple years on his deal so you do like that little bit of cost control talked about Drummond earlier so no need to dig into that super hard um but yeah um I think

Definitely there could if they were to look at a Drummond deal uh there could easily be someone else involved in it uh coming back to Denver uh that makes just a little bit of money and and Craig is an example of that so got some breaking news that might be

Relevant to this uh okay Zack LaVine is undergoing season ending surgery so oh yeah that’s that’s that’s bad news bad news for Zach and might make the Bulls more interested in trading guys off so maybe but they’ve been playing pretty good without Zach so I don’t know about

That it’s true that that might push them into into trying to get into play playing again okay one last trade I believe we have and it’s it’s my Allin move so it’s rgie Jackson first time first time appearing on the trade machine and zek Naji Alex kuso and Tori Craig coming

Back to to the nuggets and the Nuggets giving away five second round picks because I believe Alex kuso will be high Comm commodity on this trade deadline so they they can probably get at least one first round pick for him so this is why I I I inflated the amount

Of second rounders here what do you think Jordan um I mean I would do it I don’t think the Bulls would um I think uh they’d be looking for at least a first if not more than one first um whether they’d get that or not I think that’s what they’re looking for

And um I don’t think they’d probably trade him otherwise so so Jake is there any way any scenario you could you could see Alex kuso coming to Denver uh I would say no unless you’re trading like a Payton Watson um you know maybe you could work something around that where he’s kind of

The first round value maybe some second rounders in there um but barring that which I don’t think the Nuggets will do uh I would say everybody can take their Caruso trade and just throw them in the trash because I don’t think it’s happening um one name I would watch for

Not necessarily for the Nuggets but just overall uh if a team isn’t able to get Caruso I think Davian Mitchell from Sacramento might be kind of like a good secondary option like oh we missed out on Caruso you know maybe let’s go over here and see this guy’s a

Little cheaper what can we do to get him so um that’s a name I’d watch for teams that either can’t afford Caruso um or failed to get him um but yeah I I do not believe Caruso will be coming to the Nuggets this week so yeah davan Mitchell had a really

Really good rookie season and he kind of fell down after that but yeah he’s he’s a bit on a smaller side but but I I I could see a good team talking themselves into trading for him Jordan you mentioned to me before the show that there’s one guy the Nuggets would not

Need to trade for and he’s not a buyout guy as well so I’m guessing it’s a guy that’s not in the NBA at all right now so yes but he was uh uh well what they said they were in the market for they they kind of leaked that recently was that they

Needed a big man and offense Off the Bench is kind of what they’re hoping for Blake Griffin hasn’t signed to a team this year he’s a guy that is smart he’s a solid passer he’s a big guy could play center for you i’ feel relatively comfortable him getting a few minutes in

The playoffs even at his older age and he’s out there and you know if you could create the roster spot I he’d come back and join his Lob City buddy too with DJ so um I don’t know he’s just a guy I’ve seen all season as a potential option to

Help with their front Court dep but yeah I really like that interestingly enough when he was playing on for the Celtics he wasn’t playing small minutes he just played small number of games he would play play like for 15 18 minutes but like every fifth

Game of the season and I guess that that was the way to manage his health yeah okay so Jake just just quickly what’s the easiest way for the Nuggets to free up a roster spot in order to sign anybody that’s not you know under contract yeah well I think the easiest

Way would just be um you know waving somebody that’s it gets really tough trying to pick out who you’d want to wave uh my first instinct would be probably Justin holiday but you know he’s getting minutes here and there you know I don’t know if you want to cut him

The other thing you could look at is uh you know I know we you just drafted him but like a hunter Tyson Jaylen picket could you trade those somewhere one of those guys somewhere and just get a heavily protected second rounder back you know maybe maybe there’s a team that

Likes what they’ve done in the g-league and and uh would take on one of those guys for a protected second round pick um I’d say those would be the two easiest ways to free up the spot okay okay that that’s enough fake trading uh unless Jake you have a some

Uh hot guy you would like to talk about that that came out wrong some somebody who would you really like to see on the nuggets before the trade deadline yeah it’s interesting I feel like every year there there’s one guy I kind of pick out and I say he’s probably

Attainable but I don’t think they’ll get there for him and I think the guy this year for me is Corey kispert from the Wizards um apparently outside of a couple of their young guys that whole roster is up for sale basically uh I think Corey kissper gives you a lot of

What Julian strawther gives you but just in a more ready right now like he can play for you right now in the playoffs um and I think that would be a deal that would cost you Julie and Strather I think you could sell that to

The Wizards and say hey this is like a younger version of what you’d be giving us you know this deal makes sense for both of us to do um so Strath Strather for kissper that’s kind of like again I don’t think it’ll happen but that’s kind of like my

Highest value deal that I feel like the Nuggets could theoretically do um couple other names either on the buyout Market or via some small trade I had written down um where Jaylen Smith who’s a front Court depth piece uh Patty Mills who’s just a shooter uh that one could definitely be a buyout

Situation uh and then Dennis Smith Jr who’s in Brooklyn uh he’d be like your third string point guard kind of insurance in case you know Reggie gets hurt or you know knock on wood Jamal gets hurt and you have to put Reggie in the starting lineup it’d be really hard

To slide Gillespie or pick it in there for a lot of minutes so uh Dennis Smith could be kind of some insurance policy but uh yeah those are the only names that I had yeah the guy I was thinking about and I have no idea why Orlando would

Would buy him out would be Joe Les like I would really like to see Joe Engles on the nuggets and you know get more support from from our crazy Aussie fans na nuggets fans from from Australia okay so uh this was super fun for me and everybody knows uh who are

The who is the Nugget each of one hate the more because of the trades we just uh showed I’m I’m kidding this is the premise of the show we did not come here just to say we love everybody keep everybody and add a bunch of former

Nuggets back too that’s not how the NBA rosters work Jake would you like to promote something before we go no I don’t think so um you know you can follow me on my uh X formerly known as Twitter account uh I’ll post out cool stats there and um definitely keep

People updated on what I’m doing so yeah some some really cool stats over there Jordan any any parting words um no I mean this was fun like I said I think it’s gonna be kind of a boring deadline for the Nuggets but it’s kind of fun to think about and um who

Knows I mean it’s you know we’ve got our main guys it’s just figured out the what could fill in the gaps if we need them to so yeah I I’ve said it many times I don’t expect anything to happen and sometimes something always happens like some small thing always always happens

We got Reggie Jackson last last buyout and that was pretty exciting before he didn’t play a lot in the playoffs but now we see why he was brought there okay to you my dear listener thank you for staying with us for all these 70 minutes have a great fun trade deadline and meet

Meet me again next week when we’ll discuss the Fallout of the NBA’s trade market give us a like on your way out andag

The NBA trade deadline is 5 days away. Miroslav is joined by Jordan Scott (@jordandan53) and Jake Coyne (@BroncoSquatch) to talk about the Nuggets’ week behind us, and what options the Nuggets have before the trade deadline, and in the buy-out market. How realistic is it for them to make any sort of move that would influence the playoff rotation?

– Games versus Milwaukee, OKC, and Portland
– CBA limitations the Nuggets face before February 8th
– Trade targets among big guys
– Trade targets among guards, wings, and forwards

An ALLCITY Network Production

PARTY WITH US: https://thednvr.com/events

ALL THINGS DNVR: https://linktr.ee/dnvrsports

SUBSCRIBE: / dnvr_sports

BUY GOLDEN ERA: https://www.triumphbooks.com/golden-e…

WATCH THE NUGGETS ON ALTITUDE: https://www.fubotv.com/dnvr – Start your free 14-day trial and receive 15% off your first month!

Head to https://factormeals.com/dnvr50 and use code dnvr50 to get 50% off.

Download the Circle K app and join the Inner Circle or visit https://www.circlek.com/inner-circle! Get a FREE Any Size Polar Pop from Colorado Circle K’s by texting DNVR to 31310

Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code DNVR for $20 off your first purchase.

Check out FOCO merch and collectibles here https://foco.vegb.net/DNVRNugs and use promo code “DNVR10” for 10% off your order on all non Pre Order items.

DraftKings (in all shows): Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app with code DNVR. New customers bet just FIVE BUCKS and get TWO HUNDRED INSTANTLY IN BONUS BETS. Only on DraftKings Sportsbook with code DNVR. The crown is yours.

DraftKings Basketball: Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler or visit w w w dot 1 800 gambler dot net. In New York, call 877-8-HOPE N Y or text HOPE N Y (4 6 7 3 6 9). In Connecticut, Help is available for problem gambling call 888-789-7777 or visit c c p g dot org. Please play responsibly. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & Resort (KS). 21 + age varies by jurisdiction. Void in ONT. Bonus bets expire one hundred sixty eight hours after issuance. See sportsbook dot draftkings dot com slash basketball terms for eligibility and deposit restrictions, terms, and responsible gaming resources.

When you shop through links in the description, we may earn affiliate commissions.

Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing.

#Nuglife