JULY 6: The trade is now official, according to a press release from the Wizards.
“We’re very excited to add Monte and Will as proven players at the point guard and shooting guard positions, two areas that were top priorities for us to address during this offseason,” president of basketball operations Tommy Sheppard said in a statement. “Monte has steadily improved his all-around game and is coming off a career year while Will has been a consistent scorer and three-point threat during his time in Denver, and both are obviously familiar with Coach Unseld’s system and style.”
JUNE 29: The Wizards and Nuggets have reached an agreement on a trade that will send point guard Monte Morris and wing Will Barton to Washington in exchange for swingman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and point guard Ish Smith, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) first reported that the two teams were nearing an agreement.
The Wizards, who had previously been linked to Morris, will get a much-needed point guard upgrade in the trade, adding a player who was considered one of the NBA’s best backups before being thrust into a starting role last season as Jamal Murray recovered from ACL surgery.
In his first year as a full-time starter, Morris averaged 12.6 PPG, 4.4 APG, and 3.0 RPG on .484/.395/.869 shooting in 75 games (29.9 MPG). The Nuggets received calls from more than 20 teams about the 27-year-old, per Mike Singer of The Denver Post.
Washington will also acquire Barton, a solid shooter and scorer who has averaged 14.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 3.3 APG with a .362 3PT% in 479 regular season games for the Nuggets since arriving in Denver in 2015.
Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. is very familiar with both players, having previously served as a Nuggets assistant.
The move reduces the likelihood of the Wizards seriously pursuing a point guard like Tyus Jones in free agency or Malcolm Brogdon via trade.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets will add a player they had been targeting since the trade deadline in Caldwell-Pope, according to Singer. Denver views Caldwell-Pope as a two-way upgrade on the wing, values his championship experience with the Lakers, and would be interested in retaining him beyond next season, Singer adds.
Caldwell-Pope, 29, averaged 13.2 PPG and made 39.0% of his three-pointers for the Wizards in 2021/22, while playing his usual strong defense.
As for Smith, he’ll provide depth at point guard for a Nuggets team that should have Murray back this fall and saw Bones Hyland enjoy a breakout season as a rookie. Assuming Smith plays in at least one game for Denver, it’ll be his 13th NBA team, breaking a league record, tweets Matt Williams of ESPN.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN notes (via Twitter), if no more players are added to the four-player deal, the two teams will have to wait until after the July moratorium to make it official, since the Wizards are taking on several million more dollars than they’re sending out, while the Nuggets save a little money on next season’s payroll.
Caldwell-Pope ($14MM) and Smith ($4.73MM) entered the offseason without fully guaranteed salaries for 2022/23, but Caldwell-Pope locked in his guarantee on Tuesday and Smith is on track to receive as well in order to adhere to salary-matching rules and make the deal legal. Non-guaranteed salary doesn’t count in trades for outgoing purposes.
Caldwell-Pope, Smith, and Barton ($14.38MM) will all be on expiring contracts next season and are eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2023. Morris will earn $9.13MM in ’22/23 and $9.8MM in ’23/24 before becoming an unrestricted free agent.
The Nuggets will likely absorb Smith’s incoming contract using part of the $8.2MM trade exception they created in last week’s JaMychal Green trade. That would allow them to create a new larger trade exception, worth at least Morris’ outgoing salary ($9.13MM), per Marks.
Seems like Denver is giving up too much?
Yea seems like they should get a couple seconds back too, but KCP fits their needs better than Barton (3&D as opposed to shot creator), and Smith fits better w Murray and hyland as he won’t clamor for starters minutes like Morris. Wonder if the nuggets didn’t get more bc other teams knew they weren’t trying to keep Morris
Is this a salary dump?
Jesus Wizards fleecing the Nugs
Wiz still got the mid level to use 2
Gonna be a much improved team next year
Wouldn’t say fleecing, I think Morris will regress a bit without playing w jokic and KCP fits their needs better than barton as a 3&D guy. Plus Denver will be fine w smith since Murray is coming back and hyland is emerging
Monte is gonna do the opposite of regress. His #s are about to go up. I agree with everything else you said tho
Barton and Morris are turnstiles on D. Great guys but Denver badly needed an upgrade at guard defense and if Murray stays healthy, Smith will be the third-string point guard. He could see some minutes alongside Bones in the second unit but that’s doubtful.
This. Barton is a huge negative at his salary. Morris is about neutral. If you don’t realize how bad the two of them are on defense, you haven’t watched much Nuggets. And Morris’ fine looking shooting percentage last year is mostly because he plays with a unicorn who gives him wide open shots all game long.
KCP is the best player in this trade by a fairly wide margin.
KCP is a bum
I agree. He’s an ascending player.
Damn
Knee-Jerk reaction is that DEN isn’t getting back enough for Morris.
Morris for KCP w/ cap filler?
However, I’m not too familiar with the Nuggets roster.
I think Hyland can replace Morris’ production and maybe they are in desperate need of a wing and KCP is solid (even if unspectacular).
Hyland is a significantly different player than Morris. Hyland is more of a Jamal crawford type, while Morris is a defender, playmaker, more consistent shooter, and can play off the ball/with Murray. Obviously, another year of development for Hyland, he might be more consistent with his decision making/shot selection, and just be better overall, and they can use his scoring off the bench around the defenders they’ve added/might continue to add if they get someone like Oladipo
Morris is not a defender. He gives effort for sure but he’s too small to be effective. Bones can really pass the ball. He was struggling playing next to Morris but thrived once the keys were handed to him mid season. He also has the physical tools to be a plus defender – long arms, quick, desire – once he’s stronger.
I think part of it is lineups Morris was in at times b/c he can defend. He isnt going to defend wings, but he can defend the guard spot. That’s part of why you needed wing help too. It would have looked a lot different of they had that, and also a backup big who can defend pick and roll and protect the rim would be nice
OMG no. Morris is one of the worst defensive point guards in the league.
Playing next to Barton, Jeff Green, Hyland, etc…but he did have his worst defensive year this most recent season, so I’ll say that. He isnt a great defender, but he isnt bad either. He has had a positive net rating every year of his career, although ya, he was better defensively a couple of years ago
Again though, they have avenues to fill his spot, and they finally got a 3 and D wing they’ve needed for a few years, so no point in arguing since we both agree on the trade lol
With Murray back they are fine with Hyland backing up or they will just add someone on free agency
Well, Denver gets a 3 and D wing they’ve needed, and Washington gets rid of the one they’ve needed for a long time before they got him, after they finally had options there with KCP and Krispert, but they get the playmaking defender at PG they need as well in Monte Morris, who I’m a big fan of, and more scoring for some reason in Barton…
I also think Denver might be in line to sign Oladipo after this to replace Morris
They must have a second play here because this makes no sense
I kinda agree in the Oladipo thing, Denver will need another scorer off the bench.
I really like Monte Morris but KCP fill a major need for them, and while IMO is little value for Morris it solves a problem for Denver.
Jamal – KCP – MPJ – Gordon – Jokic.
That lineup look really good in terms of fit.
…I also forgot they got Christian Braun in the draft, so that’s multiple pieces at that wing spot that has been an issue for them, and they also drafted Peyton Watson, who is very raw, but can potentially give them some defense and playmaking there, if he gets any opportunities
So Nuggets are shedding some payroll so they can sign a free agent is the only way it makes sense for the Nuggets. Nuggets need some outside shooters to give Jokic some help.
I’m glad Barton uis gone but the green trade and this are the cheap nugs owners shedding salary. Doubt they add anyone else but I hope I’m wrong
Big L for the Nuggets. Drinking that sauce a few days too early out there. Maybe they made the call after the Cup finals game?
Not if they sign or trade for an elite superstar…
No it’s not. You clearly haven’t watched many of their games. They needed a defensive two guard, which KCP is and Morris did an admirable job as a stand in for Murray but is an inconsistent shooter, can’t finish at the rim and is too small to defend effectively. He’s very good as a safe pair of hands on a second unit but Denver has Bones on a rookie contract who looks like an all-star in the making.
Morris is dirty and a bad guy, so its a net gain to get him off the team, even though he’s a productive player.
Has Ish Smith played on all the teams yet?
Wrong Morris, unlike the Morris twins Monte is pure class
Omg you really are clueless
“Morris is dirty and a bad guy”
You really seem to know a lot about basketball.
I’ve never heard of Morris being dirty. The twins yes but not this guy. Where did that narrative come from?
FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Nuggets need to re-sign Cousins and add another back-up center. KCP works better with the starters, but now the Nuggets bench lacks shot creation. With Murray back, Monte and Barton could have contributed a lot to their bench shot creation. Now, the Nuggets have Bones and Rivers and Ish…lots of pressure for Bones. Cousins is a great shot creator tho he can only play limited games/minutes. Maybe Bones can work out some pick and roll/pop chemistry with MPjr and Zeke to create bench offense. Long story short: great starting 5, but need to shore up bench shot creation and back up center minutes (Jeff Green and Zeke cannot be the only back up centers)…need Cousins and another big body that can rebound and play in games when Cousins or Jokic is out sick.
Tyus Jones is most likely a Toronto Raptors fit @ 4yrs and $36Mand will be a great fit for him as well as the team. More minutes and touches than he’s likely to get from another up and coming team that are closer to contending than most of us know.
KCP is the best player in this deal so I’m not sure how the Nuggets got “fleeced”.
Barton had run his course in Denver. A decent enough scorer, his shot selection, defense and effort regressed every year and bottomed out this past year. Nuggets fans hate him for a reason.
I like Morris, but he wasn’t needed with the emergence of Bones. They could have gotten a second round pick or two, but meh. Barton stinks, so they had to give the wizards something with value.
KCP is as good of a shooter as Barton, a MUCH better defender, has a better attitude and has championship experience, for whatever that is worth.
Denver has shed salary. I wouldn’t mind a flier on oladipo and a defensive minded big.
Agree
I’m surprised DEN dealt Morris away in a trade that doesn’t yield them a real SF solution, but I like Smith as a backup PG (he typically overperforms his role), and getting rid of Barton is a plus. KCP is up and down, but I guess is more physical than their current wings (although not a true 3). Not sure Booth is in a position, yet, to make major moves. Probably at the deadline.
The small forward situation is Porter/Gordon, no?
A lot rides on the health of Porter Jr and Murray, but if they’re set it’s gonna be:
Murray/Bones/Smith
KCP/Rivers/Reed
Porter Jr/Braun/Watson
Gordon/Nnaji/Cancar
Jokic/Cousins/Green
As far as I’m aware, the status of Rivers, Reed, Forbes, Cancar, Cousins and Campazzo is still unresolved but I’d like to see Rivers, Reed, Cousins and Cancar back.
They probably still need a backup defensive big.
Part of sending Morris out is to expand what they can offer in the MLE, I think.
Not sold on Oladipo, he’s a potentially great addition but I’m done with the Nuggets having a glut of 6’2″ and under guards. Thybulle would be nice.
As others have said, I expect more movement near the trade deadline but I’m happy rolling this lineup out for next season.
At first I thought like everyone else, Denver gave up to much. However it’s not that bad really.
Denver needs wing defenders and KCP is a solid defender and offensively can just sit in the corner and space the floor or cut to the rim off Jokic and get easy points. They don’t really need Barton’s scoring and ball handling ability with Jokic Murray MPJ and Gordon they needed defence.
Wizards need a starting point guard and didn’t need the KCP as much as a starter. So getting Morris makes sense in that perspective but it’s not like he’s an amazing quality starter. He’s an improvement but now a wow guy and getting Barton is nice for depth.
Overall I’d rate it,
Wizards: B
Nuggets: B-
Denver got smarter with KCP & Braun (eventually) and finally dropping Barton. If they play Braun, the difference should be notable by the playoffs.
Morris finally got a starting job last year accidently due to injuries. He proved himself but it came out average overall, no thanks to those same injuries. I suspect he saved his energy on defense, with the additional minutes.
The trade is perhaps a year or two late, given the fast ascension of Hyland.
Ish Smith usually outperforms expectations.
Denver also made money, so Booth wins.
Again I think Nugs made out, getting their POBO poached earlier. IDK if Booth is smarter than Donnelly, but less sentimental can work too.
For Wizrds, Morris will be more help than KCP or Smith, but he is not as tall as I expected them to get.
Somehow, I would expect Morris to help get their 4&5 situations worked out, which would be worth getting him for, even if Unseld gets the credit for sorting things out.
I expect them to play their rookie before Barton. He’s expiring.
How about the Nuggets pursue Montrezl Harrell? He would provide scoring, defense, rebounding, and shot creation (offensive rebounding) for the bench unit.
The Nuggets bench needs another big and more shot creation. They need to re-sign Cousins but they can’t expect Cousins to play 82. When he sits their bench will be Bones, Rivers, Braun, Nnaji, Green. That’s 3 rookie contracts, a 36 yr old journeyman, and an ok shooting guard. Too much pressure on Bones. And I can see them getting steamrolled.
Harrell caught a case and nobody dealing with him till he gets his personal stuff in order.
Interesting statement by Sheppard lol.
“We’re very excited to add Monte and Will as proven players at the point guard and shooting guard positions, two areas that were top priorities for us to address during this offseason,”
*trades away a pg and a sg* Is he trashing smith and kcp on the way out? Is he saying he fleeced the nuggets? Is he saying kcp and smith aren’t “proven players”?? Lol.