5 offseason needs for the Denver Nuggets

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 05: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets handles the ball against the Charlotte Hornets on January 05, 2019 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. 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. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) /

5 of 5

CHICAGO, USA – MARCH 21: Trey Lyles (7) of Denver Nuggets in action during the NBA match between Chicago Bulls and Denver Nuggets at United Center in Chicago, USA on March 21, 2018. (Photo by Bilgin S. Sasmaz/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) /

1. Store up for winter

The Nuggets are likely going to enter the 2019 offseason with three vacancies on the roster, with Isaiah Thomas and Tyler Lydon set to be unrestricted free agents and Trey Lyles set to be a restricted free agent. The odds are very low that any of those three players will return to Denver, as they weren’t part of the rotation this season and don’t figure to be part of the rotation in the future.

While the organization likes Thomas Welsh, the former UCLA Bruin center, and Vlatko Cancar, a Slovenian small forward, they’re not likely to be rotation players in the future. Instead, the team is hoping that Jarred Vanderbilt is able to take on a bigger role next season as he prepares to take over the backup big position from Lyles.

With Hernangomez and Plumlee in the final year of their contracts, the Nuggets ought to explore buying a second round pick to take a chance on a project. Neither of those players are going to return a first round pick in a trade, but the Nuggets could find a way to add a young player to their team somehow.

The combination of reworking Millsap’s salary and extending Murray might eat up a lot of their future cap space, but they could create some space for a mid-level exception veteran option.

Spicy lottery reactions, resisting conclusions about tanking, and playoffs roundup. dark. Next

By trading away Kenneth Faried, Wilson Chandler, and Darrell Arthur, they avoided paying the luxury tax this previous season. It cost them future draft picks, and if there was a way for them to turn some of their current non-rotation players or less essential players into a future pick, either first or second round, that could help offer roster flexibility in the future once it starts to get expensive to have Murray, Jokic, Harris, and Barton on the roster. There will come a day when it will be very expensive to keep all of those players and field a rotation that can power a playoff push, so stocking up now could make a huge difference in the coming years.

Home/NBA Free Agency