Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried has been involved in various trade rumors over the past couple seasons, and now with only one year remaining on his contract, he could be out the door soon.
Once a valuable piece of their roster, Faried has fallen almost completely out of Denver’s rotation with frontcourt players such as Nikola Jokic, Paul Millsap, Wilson Chandler, Trey Lyles and Mason Plumlee all getting minutes over him. Now with Faried being owed $13.8 million next year and the Nuggets “aggressively” shopping the forward, the Hawks reportedly have interest if Denver attaches a sweetener in the deal. Following from Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Michael Cunningham:
The Nuggets are aggressively seeking to shed salary by trading forward Kenneth Faried, and the Hawks are willing to accommodate them for the right price, according to a person with knowledge of the NBA trade market.
The Hawks would seek draft picks, young players or both as part of a deal with the Nuggets or any other team that wants to reduce payroll.
Of course, the prime asset on the minds of Atlanta has to be the 14th overall pick which the Nuggets currently own. Denver has been working to get Faried’s salary off the books for years now, and attaching a lottery pick may end up being what it takes to ship him away.
The Nuggets also have a few young pieces that may have Atlanta interested in a possible deal. Malik Beasley appears to be an expendable recent draft pick but it remains to be seen how much Denver is willing to attach in a deal.
The Nuggets are likely more motivated than ever to move Kenneth Faried as they hope to free up cap space ahead of a monumental free-agency period. Though likely nothing more than a pipe dream, Denver does roster enough of an attractive young core to potentially lure a star such as LeBron James.
Regardless, having as much money to work with as possible ahead of free agency is always paramount, especially for a team on the cusp of entering the Western Conference’s top tier such as the Nuggets.
