Denver Nuggets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Michael Porter Jr. Signs Rookie Deal With Nuggets

July 3rd, 2018 at 4:49pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Nuggets have signed first-round pick Michael Porter Jr. to a rookie contract, the team announced on its website.

Porter was projected as high as No. 2 in the draft, but concerns about his the condition of his back caused him to plummet all the way to 14th. He suffered a back injury that required surgery in his first college game, then played limited minutes in a pair of SEC and NCAA tournament contests.

Porter will receive $2,411,800 as a rookie and $2,824,500 in his second season. As with all first-rounders, his contract will have two guaranteed seasons, followed by two team option years.

Nuggets A Suitor For Tony Parker?

July 3rd, 2018 at 8:39am CST by Luke Adams

A report from French outlet L’Equipe (hat tip to Amico Hoops) suggests that Tony Parker isn’t necessarily a lock to return to the Spurs, with the Nuggets and Hornets among the “five or six” teams that could make a play for the veteran point guard.

Nuggets To Aggressively Pursue Meeting With LeBron James

July 1st, 2018 at 2:46am CST by Luke Adams

While the LeBron James sweepstakes increasingly look like a two-team race between the Lakers and Cavaliers, a wild-card club is trying to force its way into the mix. According to Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports, the Nuggets have been in contact with James’ agent Rich Paul and will aggressively pursue a meeting.

The idea of James choosing to join the Nuggets is a long shot, which the team itself recognizes, per Mannix (Twitter link). However, Denver’s “ultra-aggressive” front office wants an opportunity to sell the four-time MVP on the idea of playing with Nikola Jokic, Will Barton, and Jamal Murray, even if it’s just for one year.

Of course, the Nuggets’ lucrative new agreements with Jokic and Barton present another roadblock to the team’s pursuit of James — Denver currently projects to have a team salary well over the tax apron for 2018/19, which would make the club ineligible to acquire a player via a sign-and-trade. So even in the unlikely event that LeBron wants to play in Denver, the Nuggets would have to jump through several cap-related hoops to make it happen.

While James almost certainly won’t play for the Nuggets, the team continues to display a willingness to go after star free agents. Two summers ago, Denver made an aggressive play for Dwyane Wade before he ultimately chose to sign with his hometown Bulls.

Nuggets Looking To Trade Chandler, Arthur, Faried

June 30th, 2018 at 6:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

With a potentially huge luxury tax bill looming, the Nuggets are hoping to find someone willing to take on the contracts of Wilson Chandler, Darrell Arthur or Kenneth Faried, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times. He adds that Denver isn’t finding many interested teams and may have to put center Mason Plumlee on the trade block too.

Chandler contributed to the cap crunch when he decided to opt in to the final year of his contract at $12.8MM for next season. Combined with a sizable new deal upcoming for Nikola Jokic and the apparent decision to re-sign free agent Will Barton, the Nuggets could have a team salary in excess of $140MM, well above the projected $123MM luxury tax threshold for 2018/19.

Denver can reduce that figure by unloading Faried, who will make nearly $13.8MM next season, or Arthur, whose salary is set at nearly $7.5MM. Both are on expiring contracts, as is Chandler. Plumlee has two years left on his current deal at $12.9MM and $14MM.

Pacers May Pursue Doug McDermott, Joe Harris

June 30th, 2018 at 6:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

With Will Barton expected to re-sign in Denver, the Pacers will turn their attention to Doug McDermott and Joe Harris, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

McDermott, 26, became a free agent on Wednesday when the Mavericks withdrew their qualifying offer. He split this season between New York and Dallas, playing 26 games for the Mavs after a February trade and averaging 9.0 points per night while shooting 49% from 3-point range.

Harris, also 26, is coming off his best NBA season. He averaged 10.8 points and shot 42% on 3-pointers in 78 games for the Nets.

Nuggets Likely To Re-Sign Will Barton

June 30th, 2018 at 6:09pm CST by Arthur Hill

Free agent Will Barton should have a new contract with the Nuggets shortly after free agency begins, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who cites “strong momentum” toward getting a deal done.

The 28-year-old guard is coming off his best NBA season, averaging career highs in points (15.7), rebounds (5.0) and assists (4.1). He appeared in 81 games, starting 40, and helped Denver stay in the playoff race until the final night of the season.

The Nuggets are set to take on a lot of money with Wilson Chandler opting into the final year of his contract and Nikola Jokic due for a significant raise. Even so, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly insisted that keeping Barton “was still a priority” for the organization.

All these moves could leave Denver with a team salary in excess of $140MM, which would result in a massive luxury tax bill.

Wilson Chandler Available In Trade Talks

June 30th, 2018 at 2:03pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Wilson Chandler, who officially opted into his 2018/19 contract with the Nuggets last week, is available in trade talks, David Aldridge of NBA.com reports (Twitter link). Chandler will make slightly over $12.8MM this upcoming year.

Nuggets May Show Interest In Jamal Crawford

June 29th, 2018 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

We heard on Thursday that multiple Warriors players are lobbying for the front office to go after Jamal Crawford in free agency, but Golden State isn’t the only team that will kick the tires on the veteran scorer. According to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, the Pelicans, Sixers, Cavaliers, and Nuggets are also expected to show interest in Crawford, who is focusing on finding the right fit.

Trade Rumors: Clippers, Mavs, Richardson, Lakers

June 29th, 2018 at 7:37am CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers aren’t overly interested in taking back Wesley Matthews in a trade sending DeAndre Jordan to the Mavericks, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (via Twitter). Los Angeles’ reluctance to accept Matthews makes some sense — while his salary is a little more affordable than Jordan’s, his contract expires at the same time, and the veteran swingman doesn’t really fill a major need for the Clips.

In order to work out a deal with the Clippers, the Mavericks will have to come up with an alternative trade scenario for Jordan, Stein notes. However, if the two sides can’t reach an agreement, that doesn’t necessarily mean Dallas is out of the running for Jordan, since the standout center could always decline his player option and sign with the Mavs as a free agent. If Dallas can work out a trade for Jordan, the team could theoretically preserve a good chunk of its cap room for another signing.

Here are a few more trade-related rumors from around the NBA:

Several teams called the Heat to inquire about Josh Richardson during the draft, but Miami showed no interest in moving him, sources tell ESPN’s Zach Lowe. If the Heat hope to re-sign Wayne Ellington or use their mid-level exception, they’ll almost certainly have to shed salary, but Richardson isn’t a player the club is willing to lose.
The Suns made Marquese Chriss available in trade talks on draft night, according to Lowe. The ESPN.com scribe adds that the Suns, who are in the market for a point guard this summer, have yet to show any interest in trading for Dennis Schroder of the Hawks.
Multiple sources tell Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post that the Lakers and Nuggets have discussed a trade that would send unwanted salary and a draft pick to Los Angeles. Reports earlier this week indicated that the Lakers were exploring ways to acquire another first-round pick to sweeten a potential offer for Kawhi Leonard.
In a piece for ESPN.com, Bobby Marks examines some of the more intriguing expiring contracts and trade chips around the NBA.

Lowe’s Latest: James, Thunder, RFAs

June 28th, 2018 at 7:56pm CST by Austin Kent

The Lakers may not necessarily need a star in place to lure LeBron James, Zach Lowe of ESPN writes in a massive round-up of free agency notes. If James were to sign in Los Angeles alongside the team’s existing young stars and plethora of cap space they’d immediately become one of the league’s most appealing destinations for the next 12 months.

The comment comes in response to the notion that the Lakers are growing desperate to acquire Kawhi Leonard from the Spurs prior to James’ opt-in deadline tomorrow at 10:59pm CST. As things stand, both the Celtics and Sixers appear poised to offer better packages than what Lowe speculates L.A. might.

The King’s decision will have a ripple effect on the rest of the league, especially the Eastern Conference. If the Raptors, for example, were to watch James head to the West, it would make keeping their current core in place more appealing considering that their path to the Finals would be hypothetically easier.

Here’s a taste of the rest of Lowe’s findings:

If the Thunder can convince Paul George to return to Oklahoma City, it will be a monumental victory for general manager Sam Presti. If he leaves, the club would be forced to at least think about blowing the current squad up and trading Russell Westbrook.
Only six teams have notable amounts of potential cap space and half of those – the Hawks, Bulls and Kings – are telling teams that they’re interested in using that space to absorb bad contracts and pick up assets.
It’s unclear that there will be much of a market for Derrick Favors beyond, potentially the Mavs. It may make more sense for the big man to stay with the Jazz after finally starting to click alongside Rudy Gobert in Quin Snyder‘s offense last season.
The two best candidates to sign a qualifying offer this summer and approach next summer as unrestricted free agents are Celtics guard Marcus Smart and Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic. Lowe writes that Nurkic turned down a “rich” four-year extension last fall but might have a hard time finding a team willing to offer more than the mid-level exception this summer.
It stands to reason that Aaron Gordon, Zach LaVine and Jabari Parker will yield significant offers from the Magic, Bulls and Bucks respectively but none of those teams have reason to offer a max contract right away.
The Pacers could make life harder for the Magic by putting together an offer in the $20MM range for Gordon. Lowe writes that there has been “mild discontent for years” about Gordon’s role in Orlando’s offense.
The Nuggets tried “feverishly” to trade for a second first-round pick last Thursday in the hopes of nabbing Zhaire Smith. Denver’s 2019 first-rounder was on the table in those talks.

For more free agency notes, including some potential contract extension candidates and the reasoning behind Nikola Jokic not getting a player option in the fifth year of his new deal with the Nuggets, check out the full feature at ESPN.