The Nuggets are creating some $18MM in trade exceptions from their pair of deals today, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes, so it appears they’re using some of their existing trade exceptions to accommodate Thomas Robinson, Will Barton and Victor Claver in the Arron Afflalo deal. That would allow Denver to create a $7.5MM exception for Afflalo. With JaVale McGee headed out to the Sixers with apparently no players coming back, the Nuggets stand to be able to make another exception worth $11.25MM, the equivalent of McGee’s salary. Trade exceptions can’t be combined, but those would nonetheless be powerful weapons. Of course, neither of the trades are official yet, so details could change. In the meantime, here’s more on the busy Nuggets:
- The Celtics took the Nuggets’ temperature on a few deals this week, but Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated (on Twitter) hears that the inquiries were more “probing” than anything. Needless to say, those talks didn’t get far.
- Now that Barton is officially with the Nuggets, the feeling is that he could last with Denver as both he and GM Tim Connelly are Baltimore guys, Jabari Young of Comcast SportsNet Northwest tweets.
- The Nuggets are unlikely to move Wilson Chandler today, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). The Blazers and Clippers were the main teams in the mix for him but they’re both out of the running for different reasons. The Blazers already got Arron Afflalo and the Clippers don’t have the assets necessary to pull something off.
- Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) heard that the Nuggets were seeking two first-round choices for Chandler.
- Chandler made a change in representation and he will now be represented by Roc Nation NBA agents Rich Kleiman & Joe Branch, according to Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal (on Twitter). To keep up on everyone’s representation, check out Hoops Rumors’ Agency Database.
- Several teams, including the Kings, are waiting to see if Denver’s asking price for players drops, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweets. Mannix also identified the Blazers as a team waiting to see if the sticker price would drop, but that was before the Afflalo deal.
- The Kings were interested in Afflalo, but Denver’s asking price of a first-round pick and a good young player kept them at a distance, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.