The Nuggets are engaged in trade talks regarding Randy Foye, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com writes at the bottom of a story about today’s Celtics-Nuggets trade. Windhorst echoes a Monday report from ESPN colleague Ramona Shelburne indicating that the team is fielding multiple inquiries about Arron Afflalo.
Foye hasn’t played since November 23rd as he recovers from a torn ligament in his right quadricep. The 31-year-old is making $3MM this season, but he’s on a de facto expiring contract, since his $3.135MM salary for 2015/16 is non-guaranteed. The Celtics have been seeking expiring deals from the Clippers in return for Austin Rivers, though it would seem that if Boston had interest in Foye, the Celtics and Nuggets would have made him part of an expanded Robinson-Nelson swap.
Denver has been active of late, receiving a pair of first-round picks in last week’s deal that sent Timofey Mozgov to the Cavs and shipping Nate Robinson to Boston for Jameer Nelson earlier Tuesday evening. The Nuggets are also making a hard push to trade Wilson Chandler, as TNT’s David Aldridge reported early Tuesday. The acquisition of Nelson appears to be a move with an eye on the present, in contrast to the future-focused Mozgov deal. The Nuggets are just 17-20, but they have won four in a row and are just two games in the loss column behind the Suns, who occupy the final playoff position in the Western Conference. Nelson will presumably move into the backup point guard role that Robinson had occupied and that Foye would man at times if he were healthy. Robinson is reportedly expected to reach a buyout deal with the Celtics, and Windhorst suggests that the Cavs are among the teams interested in him should he hit free agency.