Grading Denver Nuggets' Trade Deadline Performance
It took until the final moments before the NBA trade deadline, but the Denver Nuggets finally made two moves.
The first one involved shipping Andre Miller in a three-team transaction. According to Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, Miller moved to the Washington Wizards, the Nuggets received Jan Vesely and the Philadelphia 76ers picked up Eric Maynor to go with two second-round picks (one is from Denver in 2016).
Ken Berger of CBS Sports reported Denver's second move—obtaining Aaron Brooks from the Houston Rockets for Jordan Hamilton.
Besides Miller, much of the attention surrounding the Nuggets and the trade deadline involved Kenneth Faried.
According to ESPN's Marc Stein, the New York Knicks tried to swap Iman Shumpert for Faried. This potential trade was originally brought up in November, per Frank Isola of The New York Daily News.
Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reported that former Nuggets and now Toronto Raptors General Manager Masai Ujiri was also interested in acquiring Faried. Ujiri drafted Faried with Denver's 22nd-overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.
But nothing went down, and the Manimal remains in Denver.
For the trades that did happen, neither one is a splash, nor does either make you think Denver is any kind of a threat in the Western Conference.
However, both do at least serve a purpose.
(All contract information is from Basketball Insiders unless noted otherwise)
Jan Vesely for Andre Miller and a Second-Round Pick
There can only be one reason this was done—cap space.
After Miller showed his frustration with head coach Brian Shaw during the Jan. 1 loss to the 76ers, the veteran point guard was suspended the next day. Wojnarowski and Spears reported that the Nuggets were actively shopping him and that the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings were interested.
On Jan. 8 according to Berger, the Kings offered three separate deals for Miller. While Berger mentions that the details are unclear on one of them, the other two sounded much better than the trade Denver just made, especially the one involving Jimmer Fredette and a future second-round pick.
But time kept passing and the Nuggets couldn't find a deal that excited them enough to pull the trigger. It even got to the point that Denver would possibly waive Miller had he not been dealt, according to Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post.
Since the Nuggets didn't move Miller for a backup point guard, they went another route—opening up some cap space.
Miller will make $5 million this season and $4.625 million next year, but according to Wojnarowski, only $2 million of next season's paycheck is guaranteed. Vesely will earn just over $3.3 million this year, but becomes an unrestricted free agent in the upcoming offseason.
While freeing up some cash is important since they went from a little more than $61 million to just over $59 million in 2014-15 guaranteed money, this wasn't an ideal move for the Nuggets.
Vesely, the 6'11" power forward who was the sixth-overall draft pick in 2011, has posted a mere 3.5 points and 3.4 rebounds in 15.2 minutes for his young career. He has great athleticism and playmaking skills on the defensive end, but needs much development offensively with and without the basketball.
Sound familiar to other Denver players? It should—Faried and JaVale McGee both fit that description, and they have more polished games.
But according to a release on the team's website, Nuggets General Manager Tim Connelly announced Thursday that McGee went under season-ending surgery for the stress fracture in his left tibia.
So, it makes some sense that Denver brought someone in who is posting two steals and 1.5 blocks per 36 minutes this season.
At the same time, it's hard to imagine Vesely getting any significant playing time. Faried, J.J. Hickson, Timofey Mozgov, Darrell Arthur and Anthony Randolph are all at least somewhat in the primary rotation at this point, and the Nuggets' depth issues are more in the backcourt.
Maybe Vesely will be given a few opportunities to see if he can bring some energy off the bench. The Nuggets have given up countless easy baskets inside.
But with other big men Shaw and the coaching staff need to work with moving forward, odds are Denver will let him walk at the end of the year. Add that to what perhaps the Nuggets could have had in January, they lost a second-round pick instead of getting one and that they would've had an option to turn to when Nate Robinson and Ty Lawson suffered their respective injuries, this didn't work out nearly as well as it should have.
Grade: D
Aaron Brooks for Jordan Hamilton
This swap made a lot more sense.
According to Basketball Insiders, the Nuggets didn't pick up Hamilton's 2014-15 option before the regular season started. Plus, while Hamilton has played some decent minutes as of late, that's primarily because of other injuries and he's partially involved in the second unit at best.
Essentially, the Nuggets were likely to part ways with him one way or another, and they addressed a more immediate need before the deadline.
At first though, Ian Begley of ESPN reported that the Nuggets and Knicks were in discussions about a potential exchange of Hamilton for Beno Udrih. But Denver went a different direction and Udrih was never moved.
Brooks is a better fit behind Lawson as the backup point guard. He may not have Lawson's talents, but he has a similar skill set.
He has great speed and loves to attack in transition. Brooks can also shoot from outside and play effectively in the pick-and-roll.
By putting up a career 11.1 points and 3.2 assists in only 16.7 minutes, he can make things happen quickly. He's not superbly efficient at 41.4 percent from the floor and 36.8 percent from three, but it's not horrible either.
Brooks also has an expiring contract at the end of the season of $884,293. There is little financial restriction.
But Brooks is a subpar defender and is another short point guard at 6'0". He'll also likely pick up decent minutes out of the gate with Lawson still sidelined with his rib injury, and chemistry could be a factor with the Nuggets already struggling in terms of turnovers without their floor general.
While Hamilton should be a factor as a backup 2-guard as the Rockets make their playoff push, this was a solid move all things considered. Denver still has plenty of assets it can trade in the future in a bigger deal and getting a point guard like Brooks will work to at least finish this season.
Grade: B
How the Nuggets Did Overall Before the Trade Deadline
When dealing with neverending injuries, it's tough for any team to win consistently. Danilo Gallinari won't suit up this season, McGee and Robinson are done for the year and Hickson and Mozgov are the only Denver guys to play in every game this year.
Connelly has been a busy GM as a result, and the Nuggets made some noise before the deadline.
But this is hardly anything Denver fans should be excited about. Mark Deeks of SB Nation clearly did not like what the Nuggets' front office did.
The trade involving Miller was certainly a loss for the Nuggets, even if they didn't have a ton of leverage with their displeased point guard.
There were several teams interested in Miller once the dispute took place. Then the injuries piled up, and the Nuggets looked like a bottom-five team in the NBA on their road trip before the All-Star Game, which might ultimately cost them a chance at the playoffs.
Now, the Nuggets lose a second-round pick for a guy they probably won't use and did it just to make a little cap room.
As for adding Brooks, this was a minor, yet appropriate move. Assuming Shaw will continue to allow Lawson to attack early in the shot clock and give Brooks a similar green light like Robinson had, Brooks should do just fine.
Grade: C
Looking Ahead
Why didn't the Nuggets make a bigger move?
It's hard to make a blockbuster type of trade when two of your guys (Gallinari and McGee) are getting paid over $10 million annually through the 2015-16 season and neither are healthy.
Faried also has a guaranteed 2014-15 year of just over $2.2 million and a qualifying offer of just over $3.2 million in 2015-16. There's plenty of time for Shaw to continue developing his game, or for Connelly to put together a better deal involving him since Berger reported that everyone except Lawson was available for trade negotiations at the deadline.
The Nuggets are six games out of the eighth spot in the Western Conference. What's worse is 13 of their final 18 games are against current playoff teams (only three in the East), and two of the matchups outside those 13 are against the surging Memphis Grizzlies with a healthy Marc Gasol.
Before the trade deadline, I would've given Denver a 5 percent chance at making the postseason. With the acquisition of Brooks, it still doesn't go higher than 10 percent.
Realistically, the Nuggets' only hope of making the playoffs is if Lawson comes back soon, stays healthy the rest of the season and goes on a ridiculous hot streak. Even so, it probably won't be enough.
If momentum doesn't turn soon or Lawson needs more time to rest, Denver should tank.
The Nuggets have two 2014 first-round picks (one via New York), but must give up the less-favorable pick to the Orlando Magic (per RealGM). Even though the Knicks were quiet before the trade deadline and are 3.5 games back of eighth place in the East, the odds of them making the playoffs are much greater since their conference is much weaker.
Yes, Denver has been to the playoffs 10-consecutive seasons, and there have been some bright moments.
But even if the Nuggets found a way to make it to the postseason, they aren't going to win a first-round series. Plus, that's what Nuggets fans are used to and are tired of anyway.
With three season-ending injuries, potential for offseason moves and one of the most highly-anticipated drafts in recent memory on its way, Denver should try and increase its odds for the lottery.
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