Fansided

5 potential trade scenarios for Kawhi Leonard

By Brad Berreman

NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 02: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the San Antonio Spurs warms up before the game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on January 02, 2018 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JANUARY 02: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the San Antonio Spurs warms up before the game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on January 02, 2018 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matteo Marchi/Getty Images) /
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Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images /

3. Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets seem to have a star in center Nikola Jokic, with Jamal Murray and Gary Harris as young building blocks in the backcourt. A fully healthy season from Paul Millsap next year should help take them out of a playoff play-in game next year, and Will Barton is coming off averaging a career-high 15,7 points per game this season, as he continue to be a productive player coming mostly off the bench (60 starts in 223 games over the last three seasons).

With depth to spare (hypothetically anyway) and a lottery pick this year to add to a trade, Denver could sneakily enter the mix as a major player for Leonard.

Power forward Kenneth “The Manimal” Faried has long been the subject of unfruitful trade rumors, with a skill set that’s a bad fit as the league has become perimeter-oriented. So he’s easy to include here. Young big man Trey Lyles produced well this year when given the opportunity (14.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game over the 36 games he played at least 20 minutes in), but his playing time would be limited behind a healthy Millsap.

Malik Beasley came to the Nuggets as a first-round pick (No. 19 overall) in 2016, the same year as Murray (No. 7 overall). But the Florida State product has struggled to get traction in a deep backcourt rotation, spending most of his rookie season in the D-League and averaging just 9,4 minutes per game over 62 games this year. Still barely past legal drinking age, Beasley carries upside that may only require a better opportunity for him to fully unveil.

Leonard would make the Nuggets a very dangerous team in Western Conference, and set them up with one of the best frontcourts in the entire league. Faried, Lyles, Beasley and this year’s first-round pick is a worthy price to pay, and it’s perhaps enough to get San Antonio’s attention.

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