Getty The Denver Nuggets celebrate with the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy after a 94-89 victory against the Miami Heat in Game Five of the 2023 NBA Finals to win the NBA Championship.
With its core becoming more expensive, the Denver Nuggets are limited in what they could do to address their lack of depth and retool as a second-apron team.
Moving one of their top players for more depth could be the solution if they want to win another championship. Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley proposed a trade that would bring back a key member of their 2023 championship team and more for Michael Porter Jr. who has cratered in their second-round playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Denver Nuggets receive: Bruce Brown, Kelly Olynyk, pick No. 31 and a 2026 first-round pick (top-four protected, via IND)
Toronto Raptors receive: Michael Porter Jr.
“The Nuggets’ lack of depth was exposed in that series [against Minnesota]. Porter, who managed only 25 total points over the final four outings, was unsettlingly quiet for a $30 million-plus player who largely makes his money on the offensive end.
Denver has to at least consider moving a player or two around, or this roster will become too pricey to keep. If Porter becomes the odd man out, this could be the kind of package the Nuggets pursue: two plug-and-play rotation players for next year’s playoff run in Brown (a member of Denver’s title team) and Olynyk, plus an early second-round pick and future first-rounder to either grow the young core or sweeten a trade offer down the line,” Buckley wrote.
Bruce Brown ‘Wanted to Stay’
Brown averaged 12.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists during the Nuggets’ playoff run to win the franchise’s first title.
But financial constraints kept the Nuggets from keeping him.
“I want to stay,” Brown said after the Nuggets won the championship last year. “Look at us. Celebrating the Finals, winning the Finals. This is what you come to the NBA for, to win at the highest level. It’s a perfect fit. And money is not everything. The money will come. So, I’m not worried about that right now.”
But in the end, the Indiana Pacers‘ life-changing offer was too good to pass up.
Brown parlayed his championship season with the Nuggets to a huge payday, netting a two-year, $45 million with the Pacers. That deal trumped his combined earnings in his first five seasons in the NBA.
He was later moved to the Toronto Raptors as the salary ballast in the Pascal Siakam trade.
Returning to Denver and ending up with another ring is Brown’s dream scenario to earn another big payday.
Kelly Olynyk Is Poor Man’s Nikola Jokic
Nikola Jokic‘s brilliance carried the Nuggets to push the Timberwolves to the limit. But they blew a 20-point second-half lead in Game 7 to end their season in a disappointment.
Porter’s struggles epitomized what kept the Nuggets from defending their title — their inability to win the non-Jokic minutes.
The Nuggets were outscored by a staggering 20.1 points per 100 possessions in the playoffs when Jokic was off the court, per Basketball Reference.
Olynyk, a poor man’s Jokic, could keep the Nuggets’ offense from stagnation with his floor-spacing and playmaking skillset.
The Canadian center averaged 9.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists this season. After going home to Canada at the trade deadline, Olynyk’s all-around game was on full display: 9.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists.
The Nuggets could use some of that when Jokic gets his breather.
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Nuggets Trade Proposal Brings Back Key Vet in Championship Run