The NBA Trade Deadline is less than two months away, but that shouldn’t stop teams like the Denver Nuggets (12-10) from making moves that should help their team.
The biggest move Denver could make right now is to give star center and league MVP contender Nikola Jokic more help.
Forward Michael Porter Jr. has been a valuable player who impacted Jokic by creating scoring opportunities for the Nuggets and assists for Jokic. And the team must decide whether to stick or twist.
With the Nuggets running out of opportunities to get younger and surround Jokic with more talent, the Nuggets might have to make a difficult move.
The goal for the Nuggets is to contend for their second potential title in three seasons. They aso want Jokic to remain as one of the top players in the league.
Jokic’s scoring, rebounding, defense and passing make him one of the top five players every year. The Nuggets have done a good job of surrounding Jokic with talent, youth and production. But their middling record suggests more help is needed.
ESPN NBA analyst Bobby Marks talked about the trade that the Nuggets could make to help Jokic the most, admitting their options are limited.
Marks explained: “They’re challenged. In my list of teams with the draft assets, they are ranked in the bottom. They have no first-round pick they can trade. They have one second-round pick so they are limited in what they can go out and do.
“Listen, if they wanted to go out and explore… they have the contract of Michael Porter Jr., that’s their biggest trade chip right now.
“When you look at Denver, they put a lot into their young players a conservative effort with Julian Strawther and Christian Brown. Certainly, letting Kentavius Caldwell-Pope go. This is kind of who Denver is now. They’re a luxury tax team, they’re an apron team. They’re really limited as far as what they can go out and do as far as make a trade.”
Porter has been on the trade rumor block for a while based on the surrounding talent already on the team, his trade value as a young playmaker and the Nuggets’ need for more picks. He has great value as he could be a second star for several teams.
His value to the Nuggets has only increased more this season, however, after Denver let KCP walk and the injury to Aaron Gordon.
Porter is second on the team in points per game (19) shooting a field-goal percentage of 51.2%. He also averaged 7.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 0.9 steals per game.
There are a lot of options for Porter to be traded to another team based on their level of need.
Potentially, a team could trade a first-round and multiple second-round picks for Porter. Porter could allow Denver to receive two first-round picks, allowing greater scope to build around Jokic long term. If the Nuggets keep Porter healthy and playing well, he could tempt another team to create an extensive package.
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