What in the Hell Can the Nuggets Do?

[7seventynine9]

Hunter, Larry Nance Jr, Bogdanovic for MPJ, Strawther, Saric, Naji.

Hawks give up 3 solid rotational players and get one quality 6.10 wing and a promising young guard. To sweeten the deal Denver chucks in a first and front row tickets for the entire Hawks organisation to the 2025 Denver opening night ring ceremony…. I’m desperate!

This is by far the best option

But why would the Hawks do it? The pick would be late first round. They've just started playing well and Hunter is a big reason why. They would have to be really high on Strawther. MPJ isn't an improvement over Hunter.

I can see why the Bulls and Nets would make those trades, can't really see why the Hawks would.

[Snake3]

What Denver needs is Jamal to be prime Jamal, and defend better… I would challenge Malone to do a better job coaching young guys, particularly on defense which is his bread and butter … they need to keep MPJ… MPJ would be a lot more useful than Lavine in playoff run …

Like I keep saying, most trades aren't going to help the Nuggets win a championship if Murray doesn't get consistently better.

And if he does get consistently better, they're fine.

Hope Booth doesn't rush into anything.

You don't think they need depth? You think they are fine how they are?

[LeBronSpaghetti]

Hunter, Larry Nance Jr, Bogdanovic for MPJ, Strawther, Saric, Naji.

Hawks give up 3 solid rotational players and get one quality 6.10 wing and a promising young guard. To sweeten the deal Denver chucks in a first and front row tickets for the entire Hawks organisation to the 2025 Denver opening night ring ceremony…. I’m desperate!

This is by far the best option

But why would the Hawks do it? The pick would be late first round. They've just started playing well and Hunter is a big reason why. They would have to be really high on Strawther. MPJ isn't an improvement over Hunter.

I can see why the Bulls and Nets would make those trades, can't really see why the Hawks would.

They probably wouldn’t unless they’re very concerned about Trae leaving in two years so they prioritize trading for Trae’s best friend. Or like you said they would have to be really high on Strawther.

[Exp0sed]

I'm a LaVine truther, and think he could be the second scorer that they need. However, the ATL potential trade to get 3 rotational pieces is tempting. I can see Hunter/Bogi/Nance all thriving next to Jokic who'd be able to use their skills well.

trading for Lavine would decimate the rest of Jokic's prime, I can't believe they're even considering it

there's a reason Lavine has never been on a winning team - he's not very good. high volume scorer who doesn't do much of anything else. used to be inefficient but has been shooting the lights out this season, might just be a flash in the pan, only been 25 games or so he might regress to his mean and cool off soon enough, my money's on his regressing sooner rather than later.
more importantly, Lavine is a terrible defender and a low I.Q player.

the only way to make this deal is to trade MPJ as Murray isn't eligible and no1 else makes enough money to match Lavine's huge overypay of a contract

Denver's front court has been very big these last couple of seasons with Jokic, AG and MPJ. it allows for great things on both ends and is vital defensively, as MPJ is their best help defender down low and a decent defensive rebounder as well. he's 6'10 and long. the size of their front court has played a big part in their success

Lavine is a wing...currently they are about 5h in offense, even with Murray playing like he has been but 16th and below average defensively. flipping MPJ for Lavine isn't going to elevate them much (if any) on offense but will crater their defense

a lineup of Murray\Lavine\Jokic would get killed in the playoffs defensively and is never winning a chip, imo

Lavine's contract was and still is considered toxic for a reason, he's overpaid and has a history of major injuries as well. yes, he's had a good start to his season but I can't believe even the Nuggets are stupid enough to bite such a trade

MPJ plays his role well on both ends, while Lavine is the better player (not by much) - he is much less suited to play that role. sure, he'll thrive plenty of space to operate next to Jokic but it would mean alot of ball stopping and stupid shots, I don't even think he'll improve their offense if i'm being honest (despite being the better scorer of the two)

the Nuggets already have a "2nd scorer" and his name is MPJ, whose averging 18.5 on good efficiency while being a much better defender and rebounder than Lavine and is also younger and much cheaper

p.s, it's also ludicrous for a franchise and coach who use "family" as their motto, to dump MPJ whose been a home grown player whom they've been very patient with and is close with the core, staff etc and for whom, for Zach friggin' Lavine?

I wanna see the clown Malone calling out: "1,2,3 family!" after such a move, lol

[7seventynine9]

I'm a LaVine truther, and think he could be the second scorer that they need. However, the ATL potential trade to get 3 rotational pieces is tempting. I can see Hunter/Bogi/Nance all thriving next to Jokic who'd be able to use their skills well.

trading for Lavine would decimate the rest of Jokic's prime, I can't believe they're even considering it

there's a reason Lavine has never been on a winning team - he's not very good. high volume scorer, used to be inefficient and has been shooting the lights out this season, might just be a flash in the pan, only been 25 games or so, he might regress to his mean and cool off soon enough. Lavine is a terrible defender and a low I.Q player.

Denver's front court has been very big these last couple of seasons with Jokic, AG and MPJ. it allows for great things on both ends and is vital defensively, as MPJ is their best help defender down low and a decent defensive rebounder as well. he's 6'10 and long.

Lavine is a wing...currently they are about 5h in offense, even with Murray playing like he has been but 16th and below average defensively. flipping MPJ for Lavine isn't going to elevate them much (if any) on offense but will crater their defense

a lineup of Murray\Lavine\Jokic would get killed in the playoffs defensively and is never winning a chip, imo

Lavine's contract was and still is considered toxic for a reason, he's overpaid and has a history of major injuries as well. yes, he's had a good start to his season but I can't believe even the Nuggets are stupid enough to bite such a trade

MPJ plays his role well on both ends, while Lavine is the better player (not by much) - he is much less suited to play that role. sure, he'll thrive plenty of space to operate next to Jokic but it would mean alot of ball stopping and stupid shots, I don't even think he'll improve their offense if i'm being honest (despite being the better scorer of the two)


p.s, it's also ludicrous for a franchise and coach who use "family" as their motto, to dump MPJ whose been a home grown player whom they've been very patient with and is close with the core, staff etc and for whom, for Zach friggin' Lavine?

I wanna see the clown Malone calling out: "1,2,3 family!" after such a move, lol

When has LaVine been inefficient? Back in Minnesota? I can get not liking him but his TS% over the last 5 years is .613. It's been over .600 in all those years except last year where he played all of 25 games.

edit: Over the last 5 seasons, MPJ's TS% is .617. Basically the same as LaVine. You really have a bad take on LaVine, he isn't a chucker.

[turnaroundJ]

trading away MPJ won't resurrect jamal murray's corpse unfortunately

[MavsDirk41]

I'm a LaVine truther, and think he could be the second scorer that they need. However, the ATL potential trade to get 3 rotational pieces is tempting. I can see Hunter/Bogi/Nance all thriving next to Jokic who'd be able to use their skills well.

trading for Lavine would decimate the rest of Jokic's prime, I can't believe they're even considering it

there's a reason Lavine has never been on a winning team - he's not very good. high volume scorer who doesn't do much of anything else. used to be inefficient but has been shooting the lights out this season, might just be a flash in the pan, only been 25 games or so he might regress to his mean and cool off soon enough, my money's on his regressing sooner rather than later.
more importantly, Lavine is a terrible defender and a low I.Q player.

the only way to make this deal is to trade MPJ as Murray isn't eligible and no1 else makes enough money to match Lavine's huge overypay of a contract

Denver's front court has been very big these last couple of seasons with Jokic, AG and MPJ. it allows for great things on both ends and is vital defensively, as MPJ is their best help defender down low and a decent defensive rebounder as well. he's 6'10 and long. the size of their front court has played a big part in their success

Lavine is a wing...currently they are about 5h in offense, even with Murray playing like he has been but 16th and below average defensively. flipping MPJ for Lavine isn't going to elevate them much (if any) on offense but will crater their defense

a lineup of Murray\Lavine\Jokic would get killed in the playoffs defensively and is never winning a chip, imo

Lavine's contract was and still is considered toxic for a reason, he's overpaid and has a history of major injuries as well. yes, he's had a good start to his season but I can't believe even the Nuggets are stupid enough to bite such a trade

MPJ plays his role well on both ends, while Lavine is the better player (not by much) - he is much less suited to play that role. sure, he'll thrive plenty of space to operate next to Jokic but it would mean alot of ball stopping and stupid shots, I don't even think he'll improve their offense if i'm being honest (despite being the better scorer of the two)

the Nuggets already have a "2nd scorer" and his name is MPJ, whose averging 18.5 on good efficiency while being a much better defender and rebounder than Lavine and is also younger and much cheaper

p.s, it's also ludicrous for a franchise and coach who use "family" as their motto, to dump MPJ whose been a home grown player whom they've been very patient with and is close with the core, staff etc and for whom, for Zach friggin' Lavine?

I wanna see the clown Malone calling out: "1,2,3 family!" after such a move, lol

I agree i think MPJ is a better fit for Denver than Lavine. MPJ gives them length at the 3, is a better rebounder than Lavine, and he is a great 3rd scoring option behind Joker and Murray. Braun seems to be playing well in KCPs place at that starting SG. I think Denver needs some better bench players but their starting 5 is really good.

[OriginalRed]

Nothing.

Their window closed the moment Murray regressed the way he did. For them to have any chance of being serious title contenders again, he has to return to form. Often times a team's window is determined not by their best player and superstar but their number two guy, as crazy as it sounds. We know what the number one guy is gonna do, get his points and make an impact etc but the consistency by the number two guy is the key.

The Nuggets extending Murray after having such an awful four month strength from the playoffs that carried into the olympics looks worse by the day.

[Bergmaniac]

I think they need defence more than anything, they have been terrible on this end almost every time I've watched them. And according to the stats their defence has been a complete train wreck almost every team Braun has not been on the court. They have Jokic so the offense will always be at least good. I don't see them going far in the playoffs with so few good defenders as they have now. Westbrook makes some hustle plays on that end but gambles too much, he has been average at best from what I've seen and he's playing way too many minutes for a guy his age. Strawther can score but the defense really suffers when he is on the court. Watson is their only bench player who can defend well. And their backup centre situation is a disaster, the corpse of DeAndre Jordan is getting rotation minutes.

I think they should look for a wing defender and a playable backup centre and hope Murray regains his form to some degree.

[zero rings]

Nuggets fans are overthinking this imo. Lavine is better than MPJ at basically everything except rebounding. He's an even better shooter, a much more athletic slasher, and he can actually handle the ball a little bit. He's scoring 22 ppg on 63% TS on a bad Bulls team. Imagine what he could do with the Jokic Bump?

I get the concerns over his defense, but it's not like the Nuggets are losing Scottie Pippen in this deal. MPJ is a bad defender in his own right and the Nuggets are ranked 15th in defense. I think they would be about the same with Lavine, and any drop off in defense would be more than offset by his offense.

MPJ + Nnaji for Lavine is a no-brainer. Get it done, Booth.

[knicksfan974]

Didn't read the whole thread but what exactly the Nuggets could offer to the Bulls for Lavine? If it is multiple players, then their already thin bench would be even thinner.

[TheFire]

Offense is not their problem. Murray will eventually get it going after being a notoriously bad starter. Has looked like himself the last few games. They need a competent back-up big and another solid wing defender. They should try to get Valancunous or Nance for back-up C and get a decent wing defender like Torrey Craig.

Key point is that Nuggets shouldn’t break up the core just yet. IMO, their window exists so long as Jokic is in his prime. If it doesn’t work this year, you retool next year. You can probably sign a guy like Bruce Brown on minimum or for cheap, as he hasn’t really played in a year and won’t command a new large deal and you get Holmes back, plus Braun, Watson and Shrawther having another year on their belt.

[Snake3]

Nuggets fans are overthinking this imo. Lavine is better than MPJ at basically everything except rebounding. He's an even better shooter, a much more athletic slasher, and he can actually handle the ball a little bit. He's scoring 22 ppg on 63% TS on a bad Bulls team. Imagine what he could do with the Jokic Bump?

I get the concerns over his defense, but it's not like the Nuggets are losing Scottie Pippen in this deal. MPJ is a bad defender in his own right and the Nuggets are ranked 15th in defense. I think they would be about the same with Lavine, and any drop off in defense would be more than offset by his offense.

MPJ + Nnaji for Lavine is a no-brainer. Get it done, Booth.

I feel like the issue would be that the nuggets would still have no depth and no defense. And if they do get Lavine's contract, they have less wiggle room to get any good role players. They are already low on that now.

You could stagger Lavine within the bench, but they would be struggling. I don't think Lavine would help defend against guys like ANT, Kyrie or SGA. While MPJ can't do that either, he'll get rebounds and provide size.

Lavine issue is fit and depth imo. I feel like Nuggets fans do have a right to be concern about if they do go through this Lavine trade.

[nomansland]

What Denver needs is Jamal to be prime Jamal, and defend better… I would challenge Malone to do a better job coaching young guys, particularly on defense which is his bread and butter … they need to keep MPJ… MPJ would be a lot more useful than Lavine in playoff run …

Like I keep saying, most trades aren't going to help the Nuggets win a championship if Murray doesn't get consistently better.

And if he does get consistently better, they're fine.

Hope Booth doesn't rush into anything.

You don't think they need depth? You think they are fine how they are?

They could use depth but people forget that last year they were tired and injured and despite that were 1 bad quarter away from the conference finals last year. If Murray were healthy they wouldn't have collapsed like they did.

This year they have 8 legit, serviceable players, a couple of whom should get better over the season, + 3 guys who can give you 10 decent minutes when called on.

Turning Porter into depth for the sake of depth isn't going to get them any farther than they already can go, especially if Murray isn't performing to his capability.

[_NoMas]

This is by far the best option

But why would the Hawks do it? The pick would be late first round. They've just started playing well and Hunter is a big reason why. They would have to be really high on Strawther. MPJ isn't an improvement over Hunter.

I can see why the Bulls and Nets would make those trades, can't really see why the Hawks would.

They probably wouldn’t unless they’re very concerned about Trae leaving in two years so they prioritize trading for Trae’s best friend. Or like you said they would have to be really high on Strawther.

What about the front row seats to the nuggets parade?

[Exp0sed]

When has LaVine been inefficient? Back in Minnesota? I can get not liking him but his TS% over the last 5 years is .613. It's been over .600 in all those years except last year where he played all of 25 games.

edit: Over the last 5 seasons, MPJ's TS% is .617. Basically the same as LaVine. You really have a bad take on LaVine, he isn't a chucker.

fair enough, let's say he's efficient enough. the rest of my points still stand - Lavine will be at best,a wash with MPJ who plays his role very well and realisitically, would be a slight offensive improvemet while being a big downgrade defensively, which is the area the Nuggets need more help in (their offense is fine). he will also cost much more and would need time to gel etc.

it's a horrible trade. now imagine them trading for him and for some reason (motivation or other) he starts playing below his normal levels - then they have another albatross, untouchable contract and with no ability to move either Murray of Lavine - they'd be a treadmill team for the rest of Jokic's prime

that's GM suicide right there

[Alatan]

Nuggets fans are overthinking this imo. Lavine is better than MPJ at basically everything except rebounding. He's an even better shooter, a much more athletic slasher, and he can actually handle the ball a little bit. He's scoring 22 ppg on 63% TS on a bad Bulls team. Imagine what he could do with the Jokic Bump?

I get the concerns over his defense, but it's not like the Nuggets are losing Scottie Pippen in this deal. MPJ is a bad defender in his own right and the Nuggets are ranked 15th in defense. I think they would be about the same with Lavine, and any drop off in defense would be more than offset by his offense.

MPJ + Nnaji for Lavine is a no-brainer. Get it done, Booth.

Its a lateral move at best. They are not wining anything with a defensive backcourt of Murray and Lavine with Jokic being the last line of defense.

They are not wining anything with MPJ either. But trading for Lavine is just smoke and mirrors that could ruin chemistry.

The only answer is Butler if they could get him and work out spacing.

[BelgradeNugget]

MPj - LaVine trade can't work for the Nuggets on defensive side. Some people said MPj is not great defender himself and maybe LaVine in good structure and with better effort can be good defender too. Yes, truth. But in the playoffs teams are looking to target any weakness teams have. One of Nuggets weaknesses on defense is Jokic is not good rim protector. So in pnr they play him on the level using his great hands and other players are rotating behind in help a helper way. But first rotation here is important. In this scheme when opponent pass to a roller AG and MPj are there to stop C from scoring and force pass out. MPj can do that. LaVine can't. People should just look how Nuggets defense looked in their championship run with MPj and AG compared to how it looked when they lost in the first round to GSW the year before with AG and Barton in MPj's place, as back line of defense.

The same thing is when people say how Nuggets could have won championship with 10-12 players in Murray's place. In Nuggets 1st playoffs with this team 18-19 in the second round against Portland, Murray was bullied in the post by Rodney Hood. He put a ton of muscles because of that and transformed his body. People can see how he looked before that and after. He is listed as 6'4", 215 lbs, now. Butler tried to use his strenght in the post in the finals but Murray held his own. How many other PGs in the league could do that?

[Optms]

Nothing.

Their window closed the moment Murray regressed the way he did. For them to have any chance of being serious title contenders again, he has to return to form. Often times a team's window is determined not by their best player and superstar but their number two guy, as crazy as it sounds. We know what the number one guy is gonna do, get his points and make an impact etc but the consistency by the number two guy is the key.

The Nuggets extending Murray after having such an awful four month strength from the playoffs that carried into the olympics looks worse by the day.

This.

Especially for Denver. As a Lakers fan, I don't and never have feared Jokic. Its Murray who I didn't want to see. He was always the X factor.

[pontius]

The Nuggets are cooked and one trade won't fix that. It's an accumulation of bad roster decisions that culminated with giving Murray 5/244. It's better to ride out the mediocrity and hope they catch a break in the playoffs sometime during the next few years while Jokic's prime lasts.