The Denver Nuggets make big off-season moves this past week

At the start of the NBA off-season, the Denver Nuggets have made four big moves with the goal of increasing our depth and excellence in mind.

The start of it came on Monday when the Nuggets traded starting Small Forward, Michael Porter Jr., and an unprotected 2032 First-Round Draft pick to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Small Forward, Cameron Johnson. Johnson is a very similar player to Porter and a reliable three-point shooter with 39.0% of threes made. Trading Porter allowed the Nuggets’ office to free-up $17 million of cap space, something that was much needed to reach the goal of increasing their depth.

This move paved the way for the Nuggets to trade Power Forward, Dario Saric, in exchange for the Sacramento Kings’ Center, Jonas Valanciunas. Valanciunas was a starter on the Kings and is a consistent performer, compared to Saric, who would not perform well when put into a game. He averages 10.4 points per game and a field goal percentage of 55.0%, possibly filling a much-needed scoring void when star Center Nikola Jokic is on the bench.

Unfortunately, there is a chance that Valanciunas may not come to Denver and may leave the NBA altogether to play for the EuroLeague in Greece. Even if that happens, there is still time for the Nuggets to sign another backup Center, and the depth of the team will still increase due to two great veteran players who were signed this week, Small Forwards, Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr.

The Nuggets signed Brown and Hardaway to 1-year contracts on Tuesday. Brown has played for Denver before, helping them win their 2023 title by giving the bench a well-needed boost. He averages 8.3 points per game, plays great defense, and is extremely versatile. Hardaway can also hopefully add to the depth of the team, averaging 11.0 points per game, and has a three-point percentage of 36.8%. Combined with Brown’s defense and Hardaway’s sharpshooting, the number of points off the bench and the overall depth should increase.

Overall, these decisions increased the Nugget’s depth, options available in games, and brought in some new leadership onto the bench to help out First-year Head Coach David Adelman. The bench should also have more points per game, and there should be less pressure on the starting five. The Nuggets definitely got better in the past week, no question about it. Now it is time to see if Denver receives positive results in the coming season.