The Denver Nuggets were eliminated from the NBA Playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder last week.
The Nuggets outlasted the Los Angeles Clippers in an epic seven-game series in round one but came unstuck in Game 7 against the Thunder.
Since winning the championship in 2023, the team has lost Bruce Brown to the Indiana Pacers and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the Orlando Magic.
This left them without enough depth to contend this year, and now they desperately need to make some offseason moves.
One former NBA All-Star has called for Denver to trade away one of their starters this summer to extend the team’s championship window.
Jeff Teague thinks the Nuggets have no chance of winning another title unless they significantly shake up their roster.
And, after his terrible playoff performance, Teague has urged Denver’s general manager to trade Michael Porter Jr.
Porter Jr. went from averaging around 18 points, seven rebounds, and two assists in the regular season to nine points, 5.5 rebounds, and not even one assist in the playoffs.
“Yeah, it’s over. They’ve got to make a big trade. MPJ. We’ve got to get rid of MPJ first,” Teague said on his podcast.
His co-host then suggested keeping Porter Jr. and trading Jamal Murray instead, perhaps in exchange for Trae Young.
“Trae Young to Denver? I hate it,” Teague responded. “If I’m the Atlanta Hawks general manager, I hate Jamal Murray for Trae Young. Hate it. I would turn that down with the first…
“I think they need another guard, but I think they need to get rid of MPJ. I don’t think they need to trade Jamal Murray.”
The Nuggets made the surprising decision to fire head coach Michael Malone before the playoffs and put David Adelman in interim charge.
Adelman didn’t embarrass himself by any means under immense pressure, but many feel that Malone would have given them a better chance to progress.
“Nah, they probably would’ve done better with Mike Malone,” Teague added. “He had a better post with that team, obviously.
“I mean, I guess you can’t say that because they were having locker room problems. But he would’ve played some of those other guys.”
The “other guys” referred to shooting guard Julian Strawther and backup center Zeke Nnaji. Strawther played some minutes off the bench, while Nnaji barely featured in the Thunder series besides garbage time.
