Hoops Rumors is breaking down the 2017 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2017/18 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Denver Nuggets.
Signings:
- Paul Millsap: Three years, $91.5MM. Third-year team option.
- Mason Plumlee: Three years, $41MM.
- Monte Morris: Two-way contract. Two years. $50K guaranteed for each season.
- Torrey Craig: Two-way contract. One year. $50K guaranteed.
Camp invitees:
- Josh Childress: One year, minimum salary. Summer contract. (Waived)
Trades:
- Acquired Trey Lyles and the draft rights to Tyler Lydon (No. 24 pick) from the Jazz in exchange for the draft rights to Donovan Mitchell (No. 13 pick).
- Acquired the Wizards’ 2019 second-round pick (from the Hawks) in a three-way trade with the Hawks and Clippers in exchange for Danilo Gallinari (signed-and-traded to Clippers).
Draft picks:
- 1-24: Tyler Lydon — Signed to rookie contract.
- 2-49: Vlatko Cancar — Stashed overseas.
- 2-51: Monte Morris — Signed to two-way contract.
Extensions:
- Gary Harris: Four years, $74MM. Rookie scale extension.
Departing players:
- Danilo Gallinari
- Roy Hibbert
- Mike Miller (waived)
Other offseason news:
- Exercised 2018/19 rookie scale options on Emmanuel Mudiay, Jamal Murray, Trey Lyles, Juan Hernangomez, and Malik Beasley.
- Exercised 2018/19 option on head coach Mike Malone.
- Lost associate head coach Chris Finch to Pelicans; hired David Adelman and Bob Weiss as assistant coaches.
- Promoted Tim Connelly to president of basketball operations and Arturas Karnisovas to general manager; hired Calvin Booth as assistant GM.
Salary cap situation:
- Used up cap room. Now operating over the cap, but well under the tax. Carrying approximately $104.5MM in guaranteed team salary. Room exception ($4.328MM) still available.
Check out the Denver Nuggets’ full roster and depth chart at RosterResource.com.
Story of the summer:
Since reaching the playoffs for 10 straight seasons from 2004 to 2013, primarily under George Karl, the Nuggets have been going through a transitional period for the last several years. While Denver never fully bottomed out in order to land a top-five draft pick, the club has failed to post a .500 record since 2013, winning between 30 and 40 games in each of the last four seasons.
The most positive steps forward for the franchise during that stretch came during the 2016/17 campaign, when Nikola Jokic emerged as one of the NBA’s most talented big men, and young guards Gary Harris and Jamal Murray showed the potential to develop into indispensable core pieces as well. The team narrowly missed the playoffs with a 40-42 record, but there was a sense heading into the summer that the team wasn’t far from taking a big step forward.
Armed with plenty of cap flexibility and a horde of potential trade chips, general manager Tim Connelly entered the offseason aiming to add an impact player at point guard and/or power forward to complement Jokic and the team’s depth on the wing.