It was an interesting season for the Denver Nuggets as they had an extremely up-and-down campaign.
Denver had a horrible start to the season but were able to bounce back in the middle of the season before struggling to finish it off, which led to them firing head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth.
The Nuggets were able to make it to the second round of the playoffs where they pushed the Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games before being blown out on the road in Game 7, officially ending their season.
Nikola Jokic Denver Nuggets
Denver Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokic.
© Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
This marked their second consecutive second-round exit and Denver now has some crucial decisions to make regarding their roster this summer to return to championship form.
With this in mind, Sports Illustrated’s Jackson Caudell recently came up with a blockbuster three-team mock trade that includes the Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks and Phoenix Suns.
In the trade, Caudell has the Hawks receiving Grayson Allen, Peyton Watson and Royce O’Neal while the Suns receive Michael Porter Jr., Christian Braun, Terance Mann, Zeke Nnaji, Hunter Tyson, a 2030 first-round pick swap (via Denver) and three second-round picks (via Atlanta).
For Denver, they receive Kevin Durant, Kobe Bufkin, Vit Krejci and a 2030 second-round pick (via Atlanta) in the mock trade.
Kevin Durant
Dec 1, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) against Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) at Footprint Center.
© Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
This is a wild trade for every team involved, especially the Nuggets who would add Durant to their roster next to Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon.
Of course, Durant is likely on the move this summer and his pairing alongside Jokic could elevate the Nuggets back into a championship contender.
Despite this, the Nuggets give up a ton of valuable pieces in this trade that included two starters in Braun and Porter Jr. to go along with a key bench piece in Watson.
With the Nuggets’ bench being their biggest issue this season, it is likely that they will instead look to upgrade it this offseason instead of going after another star player, though that could change once they hire a new general manager.