It has been abundantly clear through the first 22 games of the 2024-25 season that the Denver Nuggets drastically need to upgrade the roster if they were to compete for another championship. Nikola Jokic remains the best player in the association; as if fans needed more evidence to believe this, Jokic just dropped a combined 104 points over his past two games — even scoring 56 in a loss to the Washington Wizards, of all teams.
Thus, with the December 15 trade window set to open (thus allowing players who signed new contracts in the offseason to be eligible for trade), the Nuggets are expected to scour the market for players who will help contribute to their goal of making another deep playoff run. However, Denver may run into a few difficulties in their attempts to pull off a trade or two.
As per NBA insider Marc Stein, the Nuggets are “eager to do something” on the trade market, but they are also “resigned to the reality” that their options are limited. It will be hard for Denver to make a move when their most available asset is Zeke Nnaji, the team's third-string big man who's set to make $32 million over the next four years.
Even though Nnaji's contract descends in value with each passing season, the 23-year-old has no trade value whatsoever — with Stein even writing that the Nuggets may have to attach draft assets to get his contract off their books. That does not bode well, especially when they want to bring in a positive contributor.
The Nuggets can package as much as $14 million in a potential trade by combining Nnaji and Dario Saric's salaries, and they could trade their 2031 first-round pick straight up (they can dangle pick swaps as well). But that may not get them very far, with the value of those two players being close to non-existent.
Gauging the Nuggets' potential trade targets
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Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) drives to the basket
© Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
The Nuggets have many roster needs in the aftermath of the less-than-ideal job that Calvin Booth did in constructing the roster. They need a quality backup big man after Daron Holmes II suffered a season-ending injury in the offseason, and they need another 3-and-D wing so they could phase Hunter Tyson out of the rotation.
But they will have to choose to upgrade one position over the other; if anything, a 3-and-D wing is more necessary for the Nuggets, as Nikola Jokic will play most of the center minutes anyway when the games matter the most. Perhaps the Nuggets can find a way to trade for one of Josh Green or Cody Martin, both of whom should be available from a struggling Charlotte Hornets squad. Or maybe Denver can shock the world by trading for Dorian Finney-Smith despite their lack of quality trade assets.