2024 Offseason

[TunaFish]

Have the Nuggets rolled the dice this offseason on a backup for Murray? I see Westbrook as an asset but at his age he is likely to be more vulnerable to injury. I have lost all faith in Pickett after this summer league.

So what's the plan?

[skywalker33]

Have the Nuggets rolled the dice this offseason on a backup for Murray? I see Westbrook as an asset but at his age he is likely to be more vulnerable to injury. I have lost all faith in Pickett after this summer league.

So what's the plan?

While your point is WELL taken, it is a bit early to consider replacing Murray. He has to be considering some self-reflection over his end-of-season, contract verbage (I'm just speculating there) as well as the Olympics. Also, we really don't know whether this is due to poor conditioning or if he's dealing with extended injuries, but sounds like it's a combination of both.

As for a replacement, Pickett is NOT that type of dynamic player that Murray is, but Strawther has the offensive potential and Trey Alexander could be added in to compensate should something goes wrong with Murray. That said, we don't have one player to fill-in for The Blue Arrow IMO

[TunaFish]

"The Nuggets are likely a bit more instructive on how the rest of the league will approach this problem. They chose to let Caldwell-Pope go for the sake of delaying their second-apron clock. They didn't really have a choice. Assuming they can't trade Porter, they are going to be stuck paying him the max for the next three seasons. Murray and Gordon will have new, expensive contracts next summer. Jokic is making the super max. They will be a second-apron team when the 2025-26 season rolls around, so they are treating 2025-26 and 2026-27 as their two-year second-apron window before Porter expires and they can duck back down. They have effectively traded away the championship equity Caldwell-Pope would have given them for the next two years for a third year on this core's window without stomaching the pick drop."

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/how-nbas-new-restrictive-cba-is-shaping-the-league-five-salary-cap-lessons-we-learned-this-summer/

Some interesting analysis on the CBA with discussion about the Nuggets in part. The other part of this article talks about the effect of being above the 1st apron and notes that all the teams above this first apron will not be allowed to trade with one another. It suggests that the rosters for the top teams are practically frozen.