The Denver Nuggets are openly shopping Jusuf Nurkic while also keeping veterans Kenneth Faried, Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari available in talks, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein.
Denver engaged in serious talks to acquire Millsap last summer and is known to be interested again, alongside Toronto and Sacramento. (The Nuggets, for the record, are now openly shopping third-year big man Jusuf Nurkic in addition to the widely assumed availability of vets Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried and Wilson Chandler).
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Denver is shopping their veteran players, as they have been open to dealing Faried, Gallinari and Chandler for most of the past year.
What should come as a surprise, however, is the Nuggets’ decision to begin outright shopping Jusuf Nurkic. Denver has always viewed Nurkic as a piece of the future, trading for him on draft night back in 2014. He has steadily improved in each of his three seasons with the Nuggets, currently averaging career-highs in field goal percentage (54%), points per game (9.3), and rebounds per game (6.7).
At just 22 years old, Nurkic, an underrated passer who scores and rebounds at an efficient rate, has plenty of potential and will likely draw interest from several teams on the market.
The Nuggets’ future plans are largely unknown at the moment. They some have interest in Paul Millsap, and head coach Mike Malone has openly pitched that the team is in need of veteran players. However, they also possess quality young talent in Emmanuel Mudiay, Jamal Murray, Malik Beasley and Jusuf Nurkic.
With the trade deadline now less than seven weeks away, Denver must make a decision on whether to transform its roster to a young one, or aim to bring in quality veteran pieces that can help the team win right away.
