Highlights Denver Nuggets face roster shake-up and potential trades to maintain championship contention.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope looks likely to leave, and the team is interested in Klay Thompson as a replacement.
Trading Michael Porter Jr. may not address the team’s shortcomings, and they need to find the right deal for him to make it worthwhile.
A poor title defense for the Denver Nuggets as they bowed out of the NBA playoffs in the second round has left the front office scratching their heads over what to do going forward in order to keep them in championship contention.
One possibility could be to shake up the roster, with league insider Mark Medina stating that Michael Porter Jr. is ‘not untouchable’ as a potential trade candidate for the Nuggets, who are bound by financial constraints and could be forced into making a big move this summer.
Shaking Up the Nuggets’ Supporting Cast
Traded Reggie Jackson, may lose Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Klay Thompson linked as potential replacement
The Nuggets face the harsh reality that they may be about to lose one of their key pieces from their 2023 championship run in their 3-and-D specialist Kentavious Caldwell-Pope after he declined his $15.4 million player option to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
With the two-time champion set to generate a robust market, it looks increasingly likely that the Nuggets will be unable to retain him due to their salary cap constraints, where they are on the verge of the second apron luxury tax, and their Western Conference rivals, the Dallas Mavericks , are thought to be looking to pursue him this summer.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Career Stats Category Statistic Seasons Played 11 PTS 11.4 3PT% 36.9 TS% 55.0 DEF RTG 111.0
With Caldwell-Pope’s future uncertain, one player that will definitely not be with the Nuggets next season is Reggie Jackson , who, after opting into his player option, was traded to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for second-round draft assets. The Nuggets cleared $5.3 million off their books with the deal.
Despite being limited in what they can do in free agency, there are reports that Denver are interested in acquiring sharpshooter Klay Thompson , but in order to do so, they may have no choice but to trade a player like Aaron Gordon or Michael Porter Jr. in order to facilitate a deal, with Porter Jr. arguably their top trade candidate due to his drop-off in the Nuggets’ series loss over the Minnesota Timberwolves .
Trading Porter Jr. May Not Address ‘Fundamental Part’ of Nuggets’ Shortcomings
When discussing whether the Nuggets could look to trade Porter Jr., especially after a playoff campaign in which the 25-year-old did not perform well, Medina is unsure what they would be able to command in return that would address their shortcomings from the last season where they lacked the same level of depth they had the season prior.
“On one hand, Michael Porter Jr did not play well in the playoffs. He didn’t shoot the ball well from three, and he had to play better. Nuggets coach Michael Malone mentioned ‘we lost as a team’, but it didn’t help that he was a complete no-show against the Minnesota Timberwolves. But with that said, I don’t know what you’re going to get in return – if what you’re getting in return is just a handful of role players and draft picks, I think that makes the Nuggets worse, and it doesn’t address the fundamental part of the Nuggets’ shortcomings that compared to the championship season, they didn’t have the same dependable depth as they had. They lost some key bench players because of luxury tax concerns, as well as the hope that they could develop some of their younger players into bigger roles.”
Nuggets Won’t Trade Porter Jr. As Long as It’s the ‘Right Deal’
Furthermore, Medina argues that if they were deciding whether to trade Porter Jr. or not, the Nuggets would have to operate under the guise of whether a trade would make the team better, and keep them in championship contention for next season, as opposed to whether it would bring them assets to build with.
“He’s not untouchable, but it has to be the right deal. It can’t be about getting off a big contract. It has to be about ‘would this trade make us a better, not just for assets down the line, but to win a championship next season?’, and that’s a very tough gray area, because Michael Porter Jr, he’s further removed from all the health concerns. He’s finally consistently healthy, and he is a great two-way player. He’ll have to rectify those playoff shortcomings against Minnesota. But in fairness, that was one series, and unfortunately, it’s the playoffs. But, I have optimism that that’s behind them too. So, tough question for the Nuggets to answer, and I’m glad I’m not part of their front office, because that will be a tough one.”
Returning to Full Health
Played a career-high 81 games this season
Now two seasons removed from the 2021-22 season in which he suited up only nine times for the Nuggets before undergoing a third back surgery which kept him out for the remainder of the campaign, Porter Jr. looks back to full health, where he played in all but one regular season game.
During those 81 outings, the 25-year-old established himself as Denver’s third-leading scorer behind three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray , averaging 16.7 points shooting at a 48.4 percent clip, and shot marginally below 40 percent from three-point range for 39.7 percent.
He also became the Nuggets’ second-leading rebounder, averaging 7.0 per contest, behind Jokić’s 12.4 per game.
Michael Porter Jr. – 2023/24 On/Off-Court Splits Category Regular Season Playoffs On-Court Off-Court On-Court Off-Court OFF RTG 120.2 108.6 113.1 92.0 DEF RTG 112.1 108.8 114.4 93.8 NET RTG 8.1 -0.3 -1.3 -1.8 REB% 53.0 48.8 48.9 52.5 TS% 59.5 57.6 56.8 49.6
However, while he was again the third-leading scorer on the team in the playoffs, in which he averaged 15.8 points on 46.6 percent shooting, along with 6.8 rebounds, he suffered a complete drop-off in the Nuggets’ second-round series against the Timberwolves.
There, he would record only a reduced 10.7 points, shooting 37.1 percent from the field and a lowly 32.5 percent from three-point range as Denver bowed out in seven games, despite holding a 20-plus point lead going into halftime of that pivotal Game 7.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Michael Porter Jr is the first player in NBA history to start the playoffs averaging: 20+ PPG, 4+ 3PM, 60%+ 2PT, 45%+ 3PT.
In that same series, the Nuggets were more effective when Porter Jr. was sitting on the sidelines, in which they outscored their opponents by 3.0 points per 100 possessions.
When he was on the court, however, they were outscored by 7.3 points per 100 possessions, an overall swing of 10.3 points.
While this series could be viewed as an anomaly, having proved so effective when in the Nuggets’ lineup during the regular season, fading away in the post-season could be viewed as a cause for concern going forward, and thus, the Nuggets may decide that it is in their best interests to part ways with their wing, both from a financial standpoint, and for their title chances.
All statistics courtesy of Statmuse, ESPN, NBA.com and Basketball Reference.