<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-bruce-browns-potential-raptors-buyout-lead-nuggets-reunion');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Bruce Brown’s potential Raptors buyout could lead to Nuggets reunion');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NBA-rumors-Bruce-Browns-potential-Raptors-buyout-could-lead-to-Nuggets-reunion.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Bruce Brown’s potential Raptors buyout could lead to Nuggets reunion</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-01-31T10:01:17-08:00">January 31st, 10:01am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-01-31T10:01:17-08:00">January 31st, 10:01am</time><address><a>Owen Crisafulli</a>Owen Crisafulli is a Senior Editor and NFL Lead at ClutchPoints. He recently received his Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College. Previously, he obtained his Bachelor's degree in Sport Management and for a while ran his own sports website. Sports are his passion, and he thoroughly enjoys writing about thoughts and opinions that are related to the game. He has been a lifelong fan of the major professional teams in Boston and loves discussing all topics surrounding those teams.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The NBA trade deadline is less than a week away, and one team that is expected to be <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/2-best-trades-raptors-must-make-2025-nba-trade-deadline">selling off some spare parts is the Toronto Raptors</a>. With just a 15-32 record, the Raptors are the No. 12 seed in the Eastern Conference, so recouping some assets for players who aren’t a part of their future plans could make sense for them.</p><p>One guy who is a trade candidate is Bruce Brown, but even if he doesn’t get dealt, Toronto could buyout his contract, which would set the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-nuggets-interested-bruce-brown-reunion-theres-a-catch">stage for the Denver Nuggets to make a run at him</a>. While it would require some financial maneuvering from the front office in order to make it work, reports have indicated that the Nuggets are <a href="https://youtu.be/U3hz0MiEyoo?t=1927" rel="noopener">interested in reuniting</a> with Brown should he get bought out by the Raptors.</p><p>“If Bruce Brown gets bought out he would have a major market,” Jake Fischer said on “NBA Insider Notebook.” “A team that is definitely curious if he’s going to be available in the buyout market is his old team, the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets are very aware that they would need to make several moves to get under the first apron to be able to sign Bruce Brown, who makes north of the mid-level. Any team that is in the first apron right now is ineligible to sign someone on the buyout market, who makes north of what the mid-level exception is.”</p><h2><b>Nuggets could make play for Bruce Brown if Raptors move on from him</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Raptors-guard-Bruce-Brown.jpg"><figcaption>Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>A key piece of the Nuggets title team in 2023, Brown averaged 11.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game on 47.8% shooting from the field during his lone season in Denver. With his role in Toronto diminishing, as he’s playing just 20.3 minutes per game, Brown is a strong candidate to find a new home in the coming weeks, as the Nuggets are already lurking in the event he gets bought out.</p><p>Brown could still get dealt before the trade deadline, but with the Raptors known to be weighing a potential buyout for him already, that could lead teams like Denver to wait them out. Denver’s plans could ultimately get foiled, but should Brown get bought out, his old team could come calling in hopes of a reunion taking place.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Bruce Brown’s potential Raptors buyout could lead to Nuggets reunion

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-nuggets-interested-bruce-brown-reunion-theres-a-catch');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Nuggets interested in Bruce Brown reunion, but there’s a catch');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/IMG_1206.jpeg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Nuggets interested in Bruce Brown reunion, but there’s a catch</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-01-20T13:24:47-08:00">January 20th, 1:24pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-01-20T13:24:47-08:00">January 20th, 1:24pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>When the Denver Nuggets won the 2023 NBA championship, Bruce Brown was a big part of that title run. He ended up using that playoff run to earn a bigger contract from the Indiana Pacers. Since his departure, the Nuggets haven’t quite been able to replicate his bench production. And now, as the NBA trade deadline draws near, the Nuggets <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/jake-fischer-latest-lots-more-of?utm_source=post-email-title&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=false&amp;r=39f60" rel="noopener">are reportedly interested</a> in a reunion with Bruce Brown, as per NBA insider Jake Fischer.</p><p>But it would have to be after the NBA trade deadline passes for the Nuggets to potentially reunite with Bruce Brown. Brown has an expiring contract and the Toronto Raptors are reportedly looking to move him ahead of the deadline.</p><p>Should the Raptors to fail to find a taker for Brown via trade, he could become a candidate to hit the buyout market. It would be through free agency that the Nuggets could look to reacquire Brown. But it wouldn’t be so cut and dry for them. The Nuggets would have to make a trade of their own to get under the tax as a first apron team.</p><p>Fischer reports that the buyout market would be the Nuggets’ best option to upgrade their roster, but that they would have to weight the pros and cons of making a trade in order to be able to sign a player like Brown.</p><h2><b>Bruce Brown’s impact this season</b></h2><p>There’s no question that the Nuggets would benefit from having Brown back on the roster. They have been searching for consistent depth ever since, although the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-michael-malone-bold-russell-westbrook-statement-following-perfect-triple-double-jazz">Nuggets seem to have found something in Russell Westbrook</a> in recent weeks.</p><p>Following the Nuggets’ 2023 championship run, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pacers-news-bruce-brown-two-year-45-million-contract-indiana-2023-nba-free-agency">Brown signed a two-year contract with the Pacers in free agency</a>. The Pacers ended up trading him the same season by the 2024 NBA trade deadline in the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pacers-news-pascal-siakam-message-to-fans-after-trade">trade that brought Pascal Siakam from the Raptors</a>.</p><p>Brown has missed the majority of this season due to a knee injury, but he has since returned to the Raptors lineup.</p><p>Brown has appeared in nine games so far for the Raptors this season, at a little over 18 minutes per game. He’s been averaging 7.2 points and 3.4 rebounds with splits of 43.3 percent shooting from the field, 31.3 percent shooting from the three-point line and 72.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><p>During Brown’s playoff run with the Nuggets, he averaged 12.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 51.1 percent shooting from the field, 31.6 percent shooting from the three-point line and 85.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Nuggets interested in Bruce Brown reunion, but there’s a catch

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-jonas-valanciunas-nuggets-other-west-contenders-radars');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Jonas Valanciunas on Nuggets, other West contenders’ radars');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Jonas-Valanciunas-on-Nuggets-other-West-contenders-radars.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Jonas Valanciunas on Nuggets, other West contenders’ radars</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-01-17T11:35:36-08:00">January 17th, 11:35am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-01-17T13:58:16-08:00">January 17th, 1:58pm</time><address><a>Joshua Valdez</a>Joshua Valdez started his journalism career as the Sports Editor for the Rutgers University newspaper before becoming an associate editor and Washington Wizards/Mystics reporter for ClutchPoints. He is a diehard Yankees, Jets, Knicks, Rutgers, and Tottenham Hotspur fan. When Joshua is not either watching a game or writing about one, you can find him in an art-house movie theater or working on a screenplay.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Washington Wizards big man <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-the-maximum-wizards-will-get-in-jonas-valanciunas-trade">Jonas Valanciunas continues to be a hot name on the rumor mill</a> as the Feb. 6 trade deadline approaches. The Denver Nuggets are one of several Western Conference squads who are interested in the Lithuanian international, via ClutchPoints’ NBA insider Brett Siegel.</p><p>“Along with having interest in [Toronto Raptors forward Chris] Boucher, Denver is also interested in Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas, sources said. Many teams around the league have expressed interest in Valanciunas, including the [Golden State] Warriors and [Los Angeles] Lakers,” Siegel reported. “Out of all the teams, the Lakers have been, and continue to be, the veteran center’s top destination. The [Los Angeles] Clippers have also been mentioned by multiple scouts as a possible suitor for Valanciunas in a buy-low spot behind Ivica Zubac.”</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-lakers-still-not-thrilled-jonas-valanciunas-trade">Valanciunas would be a perfect fit</a> for any of those four teams as a backup center. The 32-year-old’s 11.6 points on 56% shooting and 8.1 rebounds per game off the bench for Washington this year show that he’d be useful for a contending squad that needs help at the position.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-4-warriors-frontcourt-trade-targets-emerge">Warriors, though, need Valanciunas</a> the most. Although they’re still trying to win another championship for as long as 36-year-old Steph Curry plays at a high level, they’ve sputtered to a 20-20 start thus far. Furthermore, they don’t have a true center in their regular rotation.</p><p>“Golden State is certainly the most intriguing team connected to Valanciunas due to their clear need for frontcourt help,” Siegel continued. “This is the main area of focus for the Warriors entering the final weeks leading up to the trade deadline, as Valanciunas is on a long list of potential frontcourt targets that includes Nikola Vucevic, Myles Turner, Olynyk, Boucher, Williams, and Collins, sources said. No matter what players the Warriors target, Golden State doesn’t have much desire to trade away first-round assets at this juncture.”</p><p>That last sentence may prevent the Warriors and any other team that doesn’t want to part with valuable draft capital, from landing Valanciunas anytime soon.</p><h2><b>Wizards don’t need to trade Jonas Valanciunas right now</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Wizards-center-Jonas-Valanciunas.jpg"><figcaption>Petre Thomas-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Washington is balancing the value of having accomplished veterans to mentor its young players with the benefit of trading said veterans for draft capital. However, Valanciunas’ <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/player/_/id/8055/jonas-valanciunas" rel="noopener">three-year, $30 million</a> deal runs through 2027, via Spotrac. That not only gives the Wizards plenty of time to find a trade partner, but the former New Orleans Pelican’s $10 million average annual salary is easy to manage financially.</p><p>That’s why Washington will only trade him <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6059442/2025/01/14/jonas-valanciunas-trade-wizards/" rel="noopener">for the right price</a>, via The Athletic’s Josh Robbins and David Aldridge.</p><p>“Washington’s front office would want a draft pick (or picks) that would appreciably move the team’s rebuild forward — not, for instance, late second-round picks,” they reported. “But it will be hard to find a suitor, at least before the usual warm-up to trade talks in the final week or so before the deadline, who’d be willing to go much higher.”</p><p>However, the Wizards may also make an exception depending on the situation.</p><p>“If any incoming contract in a Valanciunas’ deal would not impair the Wizards’ long-term payroll flexibility, then more than one early second-round pick might do the trick,” they continued. “One league source, whose team is not currently involved with the Wizards in discussions about Valanciunas, believes that two second-rounders will wind up being the maximum Washington can get for him.”</p><p>Regardless, Washington isn’t desperate at the moment. While stockpiling valuable picks is good for rebuilding, Valanciunas is also a good player for No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr to learn from. The 19-year-old <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/wizards-fans-want-jordan-poole-apology-alex-sarr-apology-forms-after-win-bulls">Sarr won Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month</a> honors in December, so the current situation is working.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Jonas Valanciunas on Nuggets, other West contenders’ radars

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-lakers-nuggets-bradley-beal-waive-no-trade-clause');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Lakers, Nuggets among teams Bradley Beal would waive no-trade clause for');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NBA-rumors-Lakers-Nuggets-among-teams-Bradley-Beal-would-waive-no-trade-clause-for.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Lakers, Nuggets among teams Bradley Beal would waive no-trade clause for</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-01-06T14:17:01-08:00">January 6th, 2:17pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-01-06T14:17:01-08:00">January 6th, 2:17pm</time><address><a>Troy Finnegan</a>Troy Finnegan is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023 with a degree in journalism and minors in communications and sports media, as well as a critical sports studies certificate. He has had a passion for sports his entire life, and enjoys covering and writing about all sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The NBA trade market is heating up earlier than usual this season. Some teams are adding role players as they look to establish themselves as contenders while other teams are shopping some of their veterans as their struggles compound into the new year.</p><p>One of those teams that has not been playing their best basketball is the Phoenix Suns. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-bradley-beal-ruled-out-of-game-with-injury">Suns have struggled with injuries</a> to both Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal this season, and they have not been able to consistently play their best basketball as a result. Entering Monday night’s slate, the Suns are sitting at 15-18 and are currently in 12th place in the Western Conference.</p><p>Asa. result, the team is looking to make a shakeup and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-how-heat-feel-jimmy-butler-bradley-beal-trade-swap">Bradley Beal is one name that has been at the center of trade rumors</a>. Beal does have a no-trade clause in his contract, so he would have to sign off on any prospective deal. As the rumors heat up, there are a few spots that have emerged that Beal <a href="https://x.com/Gambo987/status/1876366810897150088" rel="noopener">would be willing to go to</a>, according to John Gambadoro of 98.7 Phoenix.</p><p>“As for Beal the no-trade looms large,” Gambadoro reported on X, formerly Twitter. “He could have went to Milwaukee before he ended up in Phoenix but that was turned down. Have heard he would waive no trade for LA, Miami, Denver but I do believe there are a few others that he could ultimately decide work for him.”</p><p>Miami is an obvious fit for Beal in a potential trade given the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-suns-hold-most-interest-in-jimmy-butler-trade">current drama surrounding Jimmy Butler</a>. The two both have huge salaries that would basically match up, which would make it pretty simple for the teams to line up a deal.</p><p>The Lakers and Nuggets are more complicated fits. The Nuggets could flip Michael Porter Jr. for Beal, but that would make them very small in the backcourt and it would hurt their defense immensely. The Lakers would have a harder time matching salaries for Beal <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-jj-redicks-honest-opinion-what-dorian-finney-smith-brings-la">after swinging a trade for Dorian Finney-Smith</a>, so it would likely take a third team getting involved. Beal also isn’t the best fit for the Lakers around their current players, making the deal even more complicated.</p><p>If Beal can find the right fit for him, he still has the ability as a scorer to help a team out in the backcourt if he can stay healthy. If he does indeed hit the market, he will still have plenty of interest from around the league.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Lakers, Nuggets among teams Bradley Beal would waive no-trade clause for

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-nuggets-linked-potential-jimmy-butler-heat-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Nuggets still linked to potential Jimmy Butler, Heat trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NBA-Rumors-Nuggets-still-linked-to-potential-Jimmy-Butler-Heat-trade.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Nuggets still linked to potential Jimmy Butler, Heat trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-01-03T17:05:39-08:00">January 3rd, 5:05pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-01-03T17:05:39-08:00">January 3rd, 5:05pm</time><address><a>Troy Finnegan</a>Troy Finnegan is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023 with a degree in journalism and minors in communications and sports media, as well as a critical sports studies certificate. He has had a passion for sports his entire life, and enjoys covering and writing about all sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-jimmy-butler-suspended-seven-games">Jimmy Butler saga in Miami has gone from bad to worse</a>, as the Heat star has now been suspended for seven games after publicly stating his displeasure with the franchise after their 128-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.</p><p>Shortly after the press conference, where <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-nba-world-erupts-jimmy-butler-joyless-reveal-miami">Butler stated that he was unhappy playing for the Heat</a> and probably wasn’t going to get that joy back, the news came out that Butler had formally requested a trade from the team.</p><p>The Denver Nuggets have been a team that has been at the center of trade discussions for a few months now as they have battled injuries and inconsistencies. The possibility remains that the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-michael-porter-jr-trade-nuggets-looking-improve">Nuggets could flip a big salary like Michael Porter Jr.</a> for a star player to put next to Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, and Butler <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/will-heat-move-jimmy-butler-latest-nba-trade-deadline-intel-siegels-scoop" rel="noopener">could be one of the candidates</a> for that role according to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints.</p><p>“Since defeating Butler’s Heat in the 2023 NBA Finals, the Nuggets have failed to live up to expectations,” Siegel wrote. “As a result, trade rumors surrounding Michael Porter Jr. and his future with the organization have appeared. While Denver has shot down all speculation regarding Porter’s uncertain status with the team, talk amongst league circles still links a potential Butler trade to the Nuggets. This is a scenario that has bounced around the league dating back to the middle of December.”</p><h2><b>Jimmy Butler’s complicated fit with the Nuggets</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Nikola-Jokic-2.jpg"><figcaption>Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Jimmy Butler has been a <a href="https://x.com/BrettSiegelNBA/status/1875233045164519669" rel="noopener">name that has been floating around</a> the Nuggets for a long time now, but he would be an interesting fit with the team if he were to get traded there.</p><p>On one hand, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-nuggets-possible-jimmy-butler-trade-suitor-zach-lavine-talks-dead">Butler would be a great fit next to Nikola Jokic</a>. He is a smart player and a great player without the ball in his hands, which is a prerequisite for playing with Jokic. Butler’s ability to be a screener and cutter would be a crucial skill within the Nuggets’ offensive ecosystem. He can also be a secondary creator for Denver and would hypothetically be a great fit in a two-man game setting with Jokic.</p><p>On the other side, the Nuggets have one glaring weakness: they don’t take enough or make enough 3-pointers. Butler certainly wouldn’t help that, as he’s taking just 1.5 3s per game and making less than one of them. Replacing Porter, one of the most lethal shooters in the NBA, with Butler would make the Nuggets’ biggest problem even worse.</p><p>“The math problem” in the NBA is often overstated, but the Nuggets would be very much behind the 8-ball in that regard if they were to make this deal. Surrounding Jokic, one of the best in the world at creating open 3s for his teammates, with very little shooting doesn’t seem like the best way forward for the Nuggets. However, Calvin Booth may think that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-jimmy-butler-harsh-claim-according-to-shams-charania">Butler’s defense and playmaking can help the team</a> contend for another title.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Nuggets still linked to potential Jimmy Butler, Heat trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-nuggets-possible-jimmy-butler-trade-suitor-zach-lavine-talks-dead');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Nuggets a possible Jimmy Butler trade suitor with Zach LaVine talks dead');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nuggets-a-possible-Jimmy-Butler-trade-suitor-with-Zach-LaVine-talks-dead.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Nuggets a possible Jimmy Butler trade suitor with Zach LaVine talks dead</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-31T14:35:09-08:00">December 31st, 2:35pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-31T14:35:09-08:00">December 31st, 2:35pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Denver Nuggets have not looked like a championship contender since they won the 2023 NBA title, which is why the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-michael-malone-shoots-down-trade-rumors-surrounding">Nuggets have been in trade rumors</a> in terms of looking to upgrade their roster by the deadline. One name the Nuggets had been linked to is the Chicago Bulls’ Zach LaVine, but those <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-intel-lakers-warriors-nets-thunder-bulls-nuggets-grizzlies-pelicans-kings-raptors-clippers/" rel="noopener">talks have seeming fizzled</a> out, as per Michael Scotto of Hoopshype.com. But with <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/heat-news-pat-riley-breaks-silence-on-jimmy-butler-trade-rumors">Jimmy Butler’s name coming up in trade rumors</a>, Scotto suggests the Nuggets could <a href="https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-intel-lakers-warriors-nets-thunder-bulls-nuggets-grizzlies-pelicans-kings-raptors-clippers/" rel="noopener">potentially target him</a>.</p><p>Although Miami Heat president Pat Riley explicitly stated that the Heat would not be pursuing a Jimmy Butler trade, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/latest-jimmy-butler-zach-lavine-nba-trade-rumors-siegels-scoop">Nuggets are a potential dark horse candidate</a> for his services, as per ClutchPoints’ NBA insider Brett Siegel.</p><p>The talks between the Nuggets and the Bulls regarding LaVine hit a snag over the inclusion of Zeke Nnaji in a potential trade. Nnaji is a seldom-used backup center for the Nuggets who would most likely be included in any potential trade. He still has two more seasons left on his contract extension he signed in 2023, along with a player option for the 2027-28 season.</p><p>The main centerpiece though in a Nuggets trade for an upgrade at the wing would likely have to include Michael Porter Jr. The team is not actively looking to trade Porter, as per Siegel, but he would certainly have to be moved if the Nuggets pull off a major deal by the deadline.</p><p>A potential Butler addition would certainly allow the Nuggets to continue to climb in the Western Conference standings and perhaps emerge again as a title threat. Butler has appeared in 20 games for the Heat his season, at a little over 31 minutes per game. He’s been averaging 18.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.3 steals with splits of 55.2 percent shooting from the field, 35.7 percent shooting from the three-point line and 78.2 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Nuggets a possible Jimmy Butler trade suitor with Zach LaVine talks dead

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nuggets-michael-malone-shoots-down-trade-rumors-surrounding');   ga('set', 'title', 'Michael Malone shoots down trade rumors surrounding Nuggets');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Michael-Malone-shoots-down-trade-rumors-surrounding-team.jpg"></figure><h1>Michael Malone shoots down trade rumors surrounding Nuggets</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-24T21:52:41-08:00">December 24th, 9:52pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-24T21:52:41-08:00">December 24th, 9:52pm</time><address><a>Rachel Strand</a>Rachel Strand is a credentialed beat reporter covering the Denver Nuggets and Denver Broncos for ClutchPoints. She is also the creator of DailyDenverBroncos.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Denver Nuggets currently have a 16-11 record and could be looking to make some moves to improve their team. They have been involved in <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-sticking-points-in-nuggets-bulls-zach-lavine-trade-talks">recent trade rumors</a> involving <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-kendrick-perkins-sources-stir-up-deaaron-fox-nuggets-trade-buzz">players like De’Aaron Fox</a>, Zach LaVine, and Jonas Valanciunas. Moves like this won’t come easy, and the Nuggets would likely have to trade a big-name player like Michael Porter Jr.</p><p>These trade rumors <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-michael-porter-jr-reveals-nuggets-front-office-not-looking-trade">got cold water poured on them</a> after Porter Jr told the media that the Nuggets front office is happy with how he is playing and that they don’t intend to trade him.</p><p>Nuggets head coach Michael Malone also chimed in on the matter, saying <a href="https://x.com/NBABlackburn/status/1871369035495186642/photo/1" rel="noopener">the trade rumors are just ‘noise’</a> at this point.</p><p>“Yeah, a lot of it is noise. I don’t know where it comes from,” said Malone. “You see different things that are out there, and you never want that stuff getting out there. I’ve talked to Calvin [Booth], and Calvin has a good pulse on all that stuff. Whenever that stuff is happening, he’s in touch with the guys and their agents to let them know what is real and what is not real.”</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nuggets-head-coach-Michael-Malone-before-game-against-Suns.jpg"><figcaption>Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h2>Nuggets not as involved in trade talks as rumors suggest</h2><p>The Nuggets are only two seasons removed from winning an NBA Championship. Despite this, there have been multiple games during the 2024 season where the Nuggets looked like a shell of their championship-winning squad. Because of this, many have speculated the Nuggets might be looking to make some changes via trade.</p><p>Malone isn’t a fan of these rumors. On top of shooting down the recent trade talks, he also shared his slight worry about the effect it could have on players.</p><p>“As of right now, as we are [26] games into the season, I think there’s nothing to that,” said Malone. “That’s where you worry about guys worrying about the wrong things. Just focus on what you can control. Go out there and play your game and help this team to the best of your ability. All the other stuff takes care of itself. And I think for years, our group, our front office has done a great job of communicating with players, if there is something, so there’s never a surprise, never guys being caught off guard. But that’s something I think our front office has done an outstanding job of.”</p><p>Don’t be surprised if the Nuggets stay relatively quiet before the trade deadline.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Michael Malone shoots down trade rumors surrounding Nuggets

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-kendrick-perkins-sources-stir-up-deaaron-fox-nuggets-trade-buzz');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Kendrick Perkins’ sources stir up De’Aaron Fox-Nuggets trade buzz');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kendrick-Perkins-stirs-up-DeAaron-Fox-Nuggets-trade-buzz.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Kendrick Perkins’ sources stir up De’Aaron Fox-Nuggets trade buzz</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-24T15:30:13-08:00">December 24th, 3:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-24T15:31:11-08:00">December 24th, 3:31pm</time><address><a>Matty Breisch</a>Matty Breisch is a multifaceted writer who specializes in NFL and WWE content at ClutchPoints. He can be read at Heavy, FanSided, The Needle Drop, Philadelphia Sports Network, and right here at ClutchPoints. Are you ready to read about football and wrestling? Well, you've come to the right place.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Kendrick Perkins thinks that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-kings-true-deaaron-fox-trade-stance">a De’Aaron Fox trade</a>, specifically to the Denver Nuggets, is a real possibility.</p><p>But why? Is it because he sees the vision of the Kentucky product playing alongside one of the best players in the NBA? Or maybe he wants to see the Sacramento Kings start a rebuild after spending years as a middle-of-the-road team? Well, while it may be both, it’s also because his sources have told him it’s a real possibility.</p><p>Discussing the prospects of a trade, which admittedly has been one of the big storylines of 2024, with his frenemy Richard Jefferson on <i>Road Trippin</i>, Perkins noted that he isn’t merely blowing smoke in his pontification, as he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=3131&amp;v=NcwYIMEFWgM&amp;feature=youtu.be" rel="noopener">believes the move could actually happen</a>.</p><p>“In a hypothetical game? This isn’t a hypothetical game. This has been coming from sources, my sources,” Perkins said. “I’m not just coming up with this s—t and saying, ‘Oh yeah, De’Aaron Fox, he would look great with the Denver Nuggets,’ no mother f**ker it came out. It came out and said that De’Aaron Fox is monitoring and looking at and evaluating this Kings to see what type of moves they are going to make and all type of s**t, and he’s f**king represented by Rich Paul.”</p><p>Getting his qualifiers out of the way, Perkins explained how such a deal could go down and why it makes sense for Denver to go all-in on adding another true star to their roster next to Nikola Jokic.</p><p>“Jamal Murray is not cutting the mustard. No matter how you try to slice it and dice it, the league has gotten better,” Perkins noted. “Who I’m looking at right now, De’Aaron Fox. De’Aaron Fox moves the needle way more than Jamal Murray. I would keep an eye out on that situation out there in Sacramento. Those reports that came out are not just reports that came out of somebody’s a**, this is real stuff that’s going on.”</p><p>Alright, is Perkins on the money with his evaluation? Are the Nuggets trending in the wrong direction, with Murray underperforming as a number two option and Michael Porter Jr. a far cry from playing like a max player – not to send strays the Missouri product’s way? While Fox often gets overlooked for playing on mid-teams, he would be an absolute star if he was playing in a big market or on a top team, with all sorts of opportunities potentially available to him in, say, San Francisco, simply unavailable across the Bay in Sacramento.</p><p>Would the Nuggets be better with Fox on their roster? Yes. Would trading Murray for Fox, even if multiple picks have to be included to get a deal done, make the Nuggets better? Yeah, it probably would. But would the Kings be willing to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/kings-news-mike-brown-challenge-to-deaaron-fox-being-that-guy">trade away their franchise player</a> after nearly a decade with the team after loading up on players like DeMar DeRozan in the pursuit of winning now? While there is an argument to be made that Fox and DoMantas Sabonis aren’t a perfect fit, unless the former’s camp demands a trade, this feels like a hard sell, no offense to Big Perk.</p><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Kendrick Perkins’ sources stir up De’Aaron Fox-Nuggets trade buzz

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-sticking-points-in-nuggets-bulls-zach-lavine-trade-talks');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Sticking points in Nuggets-Bulls Zach LaVine trade talks');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NBA-rumors-Sticking-points-in-Nuggets-Bulls-Zach-LaVine-trade-talks.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Sticking points in Nuggets-Bulls Zach LaVine trade talks</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-23T07:47:39-08:00">December 23rd, 7:47am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-23T13:48:31-08:00">December 23rd, 1:48pm</time><address><a>Malik Brown</a>Malik Brown is a multimedia reporter based in Atlanta who covers the Hawks and Dream for ClutchPoints. Malik has worked in entertainment and sports, and he specializes in the NBA and NFL.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Chicago Bulls</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Denver <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-trade-proposal-lands-zach-lavine-3-team-deal-bulls">Nuggets are trying to make improvements</a> to their team, and one name that continues to come up is Zach LaVine. Even though the Nuggets may want LaVine, there’s something that’s keeping the Chicago Bulls from <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/sunday-best-all-my-latest-nba-trade?utm_source=post-email-title&amp;publication_id=392205&amp;post_id=153497921&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=false&amp;r=39f60&amp;triedRedirect=true&amp;utm_medium=email" rel="noopener">making the trade</a>, according to Marc Stein.</p><p>“One potential trade iteration to surface as part of Denver’s confirmed interest in Chicago’s Zach LaVine is a swap that would bring LaVine and Torrey Craig to the Nuggets in exchange for Michael Porter Jr. and Zeke Nnaji,” Stein wrote. “Yet the Bulls, league sources say, have balked at Nnaji’s inclusion in such a trade. This is Year 1 of a four-year, $32 million contract for Nnaji that, while descending in value annually, runs through 2027-28.</p><p>“Denver has also weighed whether it is wiser to trade Porter for two players if the Nuggets indeed decided between now and the Feb. 6 trade deadline that they are prepared to part with an organizational favorite.”</p><p>Porter has been a big part of the Nuggets’ success, as he’s a plus shooter and rebounder. If <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/bulls-news-zach-lavine-fit-with-nuggets-eye-opening-take-amid-trade-rumors">they trade Porter for LaVine</a>, they’ll miss some of his skills, but they’ll get in return someone who can create his own shot, similar to Jamal Murray.</p><h2>Nuggets want to improve their roster</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Zach-LaVine_c7e252.jpg"><figcaption>Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>At 15-11 and fifth in the Western Conference, the Nuggets believe that they can improve their roster to be better this season. After the turnaround of their roster the past two years, they’re looking to make a big splash, but it’s uncertain if they’ll actually do something.</p><p>The Nuggets still have Nikola Jokic, one of the best players in the world who can do everything on the court. Jamal Murray has struggled throughout the season, but when he gets into a rhythm, it’s hard to stop him offensively. The bench is the one area that the Nuggets should look to improve, but that’s probably where a trade comes into place.</p><p>Right now, it seems like the Nuggets want to improve their starting lineup, and Zach LaVine is one of the players that they want. With what the Nuggets like to do on offense, it’s hard to see how LaVine would fit in unless he’s going to play the Michael Porter Jr. role, but in that case, you may as well keep him. The team may be better just trying to improve the bench, but it’ll be interesting to see which players may be available around the league to help them in that department.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Sticking points in Nuggets-Bulls Zach LaVine trade talks

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/bulls-news-zach-lavine-fit-with-nuggets-eye-opening-take-amid-trade-rumors');   ga('set', 'title', 'Zach LaVine’s fit with Nuggets draws eye-opening take amid trade rumors');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Bulls-news-Zach-LaVines-fit-with-Nuggets-draws-eye-opening-take-amid-trade-rumors.jpg"><figcaption>ClutchPoints</figcaption></figure><h1>Zach LaVine’s fit with Nuggets draws eye-opening take amid trade rumors</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-19T10:09:23-08:00">December 19th, 10:09am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-19T10:09:23-08:00">December 19th, 10:09am</time><address><a>Julian Ojeda</a>Julian Ojeda is an Orlando-based sports journalist with 3 years of professional writing under his belt, specializing in both NBA and NFL coverage. A devoted Orlando Magic fan, he deftly balances fervent fandom with insightful reporting, possessing a keen eye for compelling narratives.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Chicago Bulls</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-nuggets-targeting-zach-lavine-trade-to-pair-with-nikola-jokic">Denver Nuggets have reportedly expressed interest in Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine</a> as trade rumors swirl ahead of the February 6 deadline. LaVine, a two-time All-Star, has drawn attention for his scoring ability and potential fit within a Nuggets roster led by reigning MVP Nikola Jokić.</p><p>A Western Conference scout recently shared insights with The Athletic’s Darnell Mayberry on how LaVine could integrate into Denver’s system, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6005819/2024/12/19/zach-lavine-bulls-nuggets-trade-value/" rel="noopener">stating</a>, “He probably needs to be in a different environment. There are not a lot of guys who can do what he does. I’ve always been a big fan, actually. Not as your No. 1 guy, not as your No. 2 guy, but as your No. 3 guy.”</p><h2><b>Zach LaVine’s potential fit with Nikola Jokic spark debate amid trade rumors</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Zach-LaVine-8-gestures-after-a-three-point-basket-against-the-Memphis-Grizzlies.jpg"><figcaption>© David Banks-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>LaVine, 29, is averaging 21.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game this season while shooting an efficient 50.1% from the field and 42.8% from three-point range, despite the Bulls holding a 12-15 record. His best season came in 2020-21, when he averaged 27.4 points, five rebounds, and 4.9 assists, shooting 50.7% from the field and 41.9% from deep.</p><p>The scout emphasized that LaVine’s role in Denver would involve deferring to Jokić, whose playmaking elevates teammates. “He’s obviously going to have to defer,” the scout said. “But the thing about Jokić is he makes everybody better. I think (LaVine) will fit in fine. Jokić is so special, he makes guys better probably more than anybody in the entire league.”</p><p>Despite LaVine’s offensive prowess, concerns about his defense and his impact on winning persist. “There are a lot of naysayers, no doubt about it,” the scout acknowledged. “‘His defense is bad. He’s not a winning player, blah, blah, blah.’ You can make that argument: ‘He hasn’t really elevated the Bulls. So if he’s that good, why haven’t they been better?’ I think part of it is he just has too prominent of a role.”</p><p>LaVine’s eight-year tenure with the Bulls has <a href="https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/zach-lavine-record-with-bulls" rel="noopener">resulted in a 167-230 record</a>, according to StatsMuse. While he helped lead Chicago to the playoffs during the 2021-22 season alongside DeMar DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic, the Bulls were swept in the first round by the Milwaukee Bucks.</p><h2><b>Nuggets face hurdles in potential LaVine trade, with Michael Porter Jr. as key asset for Bulls</b></h2><p>For the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-denver-perfect-zach-lavine-trade-offer-to-bulls">Nuggets, acquiring LaVine would come with challenges</a>. His current five-year, $215 million contract includes three years remaining and a player option for the 2026-27 season. Denver would likely need to include forward Michael Porter Jr. in any potential deal, as Porter’s $35.9 million salary is the team’s most significant trade asset.</p><p>Porter Jr., who is averaging 18.5 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists this season while shooting 51.2% from the field and 38.5% from three, is under contract for two additional years at $38.3 million and $40.8 million, respectively. The Nuggets’ limited draft capital would also complicate negotiations, leaving them with only pick swaps to offer in 2026 and 2031.</p><p>“You don’t want him as your No. 1 guy. If he’s your No. 3 guy, I think you’re ahead of the game,” the scout said of LaVine. “You’re not relying on him every single night.”</p><p>As the trade deadline approaches, LaVine’s future with the Bulls remains uncertain, but his potential fit alongside Jokić in Denver continues to draw attention.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Zach LaVine’s fit with Nuggets draws eye-opening take amid trade rumors

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-brandon-ingram-linked-nuggets-trade-pursuits');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Brandon Ingram also linked to Nuggets trade pursuits');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NBA-rumors-Brandon-Ingram-also-linked-to-Nuggets-trade-pursuits.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Brandon Ingram also linked to Nuggets trade pursuits</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-18T08:15:26-08:00">December 18th, 8:15am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-18T19:17:17-08:00">December 18th, 7:17pm</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University while covering events like the 2023 NCAA Men's Final Four, the 2024 Vrbo Fiesta Bowl and the Arizona State men's swim and dive team. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Brandon Ingram trade rumors continue to swirl around him, and this time the Denver Nuggets. The New Orleans Pelicans forward has been involved in a variety of trade discussions, but this one with Denver is the newest of the bunch. After <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-brandon-ingram-turned-down-pelicans-offer">Ingram declined the Pelicans $50 million per season offer</a>, his time in the city <a href="https://x.com/IanBegley/status/1869202861634318632" rel="noopener">might be coming to a close</a>.</p><p>SNY’s Ian Begley reported from The Athletic that “Brandon Ingram is another player among the group on their radar. The clearest pathway for Denver to make a trade for a big scorer with a significant salary would be to include Michael Porter Jr. in the deal.”</p><p>Porter Jr. has three years and $114 million left on his contract. For the Nuggets to trade for Ingram, they’ll need to include him in the deal. Still, Ingram is in the final year of his contract and could be an unrestricted free agent after the year. However, the Nuggets might need a secondary scorer as soon as possible.</p><p>Ingram is having a solid season thus far. He’s averaging 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists. He’s also shooting <a href="https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/i/ingrabr01.html" rel="noopener">46.5% from the field and 37.4% from three</a> while being the top-scoring option. Not to mention, Zion Williamson hasn’t played a game for New Orleans this season. It’s forcing much of the defensive game plan against Ingram. He’s performing well, considering the circumstances.</p><h2><b>Brandon Ingram’s trade with the Pelicans and Nuggets could do wonders</b></h2><p>On a team with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, the former Duke basketball forward will thrive with the duo. After all, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pelicans-trade-brandon-ingram-new-contract">Pelicans are rumored to likely trade Ingram rather than extend him</a>. Although Murray is having a rough season, Jokic is playing at an MVP level. Not to mention, he’s practically carrying the offense while playing an absurd amount of minutes.</p><p>While Christian Braun and others have stepped up, there’s not that secondary to take pressure off of Jokic. It was supposed to be Murray, but after his struggles, Denver might want to pull the trigger on a potential deal. Someone like Ingram can unlock an interesting dynamic at the forward position.</p><p>His innate scoring ability, mixed with an improved playmaking ability, is essential for a top-tier offense. Plus, they can give the ball to Ingram late in games, in addition to Jokic. That two-man game is a scary thought for an opposing defense. With all that being said, it’s only a rumor. The Nuggets are the No. 5 seed and are in a comfortable position. If they need to or desire to make a move, they have the pieces necessary.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Brandon Ingram also linked to Nuggets trade pursuits

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-wizards-jordan-poole-gets-trade-interest-from-serious-title-contender');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Wizards’ Jordan Poole gets trade interest from serious title contender');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NBA-rumors-Wizards-Jordan-Poole-gets-trade-interest-from-serious-title-contender.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Wizards’ Jordan Poole gets trade interest from serious title contender</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T21:24:51-08:00">December 17th, 9:24pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T21:24:51-08:00">December 17th, 9:24pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>It’s only a matter of time before the Washington Wizards become active once again on the trade market. Their team is going nowhere fast, and they still have a few veterans that could net them some quality assets moving forward amid their pivot to a youth movement. And perhaps <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/wizards-news-stephen-a-smith-blasts-jordan-poole-failed-payton-pritchard-taunt">Jordan Poole could find himself on the move</a> later on this season after bouncing back from his debut season in the nation’s capital.</p><p>Poole has a history of contributing to a title-winning team (with the Golden State Warriors in 2022), so it should not come as a surprise that he is drawing some trade interest from a team with lofty ambitions of winning a championship. And according to Tony Jones and Sam Amick of The Athletic, the Denver Nuggets are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6002502/2024/12/17/zach-lavine-trade-rumors-nuggets/" rel="noopener">casting a wide net</a> in their search for a roster upgrade, and that now includes the polarizing Wizards guard.</p><p>It looks as though the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-nuggets-targeting-zach-lavine-trade-to-pair-with-nikola-jokic">Nuggets’ main target on the trade market</a> might be Chicago Bulls wing Zach LaVine, although finding any trade will require Denver to give up on Michael Porter Jr., a valued member of the roster. But if the Bulls trade LaVine elsewhere or the two teams can’t work on constructing an agreeable deal, then the Wizards guard could be a legitimate alternative.</p><p>If there’s anything the Nuggets are in dire need of, it’s additional shot creation from the perimeter. Only Jamal Murray consistently provides that skillset for them at the moment, with Julian Strawther providing that in spurts, and if there’s anything Poole specializes in, it’s providing an additional offensive punch.</p><p>Poole is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/wizards-news-jordan-poole-delivers-intriguing-take-desire-washington-alpha">currently averaging 20.3 points per game</a> on a career-best 39.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc for this season. He is in the second year of the four-year, $128 million contract he signed with the Warriors in 2022.</p><h2><b>Nuggets cast a wide net in the trade market in search of an upgrade (or two)</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Jordan-Poole-Wizards.jpg"><figcaption>Geoff Burke-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>In addition to identifying Wizards guard Jordan Poole as a potential trade target, the Nuggets’ gears have been turning, as they have also looked into the possibility of bringing in Jordan Clarkson, De’Andre Hunter, Cam Johnson, and even Jonas Valanciunas.</p><p>The Nuggets badly need additional frontcourt depth in addition to more perimeter scoring, and perhaps they could swing a trade with the Wizards that takes care of two birds with one stone, bringing in both Poole and Valanciunas. A trade package built around Michael Porter Jr. and Zeke Nnaji could be a worthwhile starting point in talks between the two teams.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Wizards’ Jordan Poole gets trade interest from serious title contender

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-nuggets-likely-to-use-starter-as-bait-for-potential-big-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Nuggets likely to use starter as bait for potential big trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NBA-rumors-Nuggets-likely-to-use-starter-as-bait-for-potential-big-trade.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Nuggets likely to use starter as bait for potential big trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T20:47:11-08:00">December 17th, 8:47pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-17T20:47:11-08:00">December 17th, 8:47pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>It has been clear for some time now that the Denver Nuggets need to make a trade or two to improve their depth. Their bench has been quite the big weak spot for them all season long — the result of two offseasons in a row in which they’ve decided not to keep crucial pieces such as Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. However, it will be very difficult for the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-nuggets-want-to-make-a-trade-but-theres-a-problem">Nuggets to swing a trade</a> considering their lack of assets.</p><p>In fact, any blockbuster trade the Nuggets could make will have to involve letting go of a crucial piece of the roster. As pointed out by Tony Jones and Sam Amick of The Athletic, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6002502/2024/12/17/zach-lavine-trade-rumors-nuggets/" rel="noopener">“any big trade would likely involve Porter”</a> — requiring the Denver front office to think long and hard about whether or not it’s worth it to sacrifice a core member of the team to swing for the fences.</p><p>Porter is the Nuggets’ best floor-spacer, and he has also been rounding out his game. He is currently playing the best and most well-rounded basketball of his career, averaging a career-best 2.8 assists a contest, and he remains as efficient of a scorer as ever, tallying 18.5 points per game on a true shooting percentage of 60.7.</p><p>According to Jones and Amick’s sources, “the Nuggets value Porter and what he does for the spacing of Denver’s offense significantly.” But his $35.9 million contract for the 2024-25 season is their easiest pathway to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-nuggets-targeting-zach-lavine-trade-to-pair-with-nikola-jokic">acquiring someone like Jimmy Butler, Zach LaVin</a>e, or Brandon Ingram. It is worth questioning, however, if it is worth shaking up the foundation of the roster for the players that were mentioned — especially when they play very differently to Porter.</p><h2><b>Nuggets face tough decisions on the trade market</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Michael-Porter-Jr.-and-Nikola-Jokic-on-March-21-2024.jpg"><figcaption>Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon should be safe from any trade talks; Murray, despite his struggles, remains a valued member of the team and a certified playoff riser, while Gordon is the perfect fit alongside Nikola Jokic in the frontcourt. That leaves Michael Porter Jr. and Christian Braun as their best trade assets from a value standpoint.</p><p>The Nuggets, however, won’t want to gut their depth even further. But if they were to be active on the trade market, the front office has some tough decisions to make. Their only other tradeable assets are Zeke Nnaji and Dario Saric, and at this point, those two have negative trade value, with Denver phasing them out of the rotation.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Nuggets likely to use starter as bait for potential big trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-nuggets-targeting-zach-lavine-trade-to-pair-with-nikola-jokic');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Nuggets targeting Zach LaVine trade to pair with Nikola Jokic');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NBA-rumors-Nuggets-targeting-Zach-LaVine-trade-to-pair-with-Nikola-Jokic.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Nuggets targeting Zach LaVine trade to pair with Nikola Jokic</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-17T19:15:17-08:00">December 17th, 7:15pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-18T06:54:11-08:00">December 18th, 6:54am</time><address><a>Matty Breisch</a>Matty Breisch is a multifaceted writer who specializes in NFL and WWE content at ClutchPoints. He can be read at Heavy, FanSided, Philadelphia Sports Network, and right here at ClutchPoints. Are you ready to read about football and wrestling? Well, you've come to the right place.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Chicago Bulls</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The 2024 <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-nikola-jokic-critics-on-michael-malone">Denver Nuggets have been rather disappointing versus expectations</a>, right?</p><p>Now, sure, they aren’t the Philadelphia 76ers or some other poor squad that can’t seem to find a win despite adding incredible talent to their roster over the offseason, but after<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-mistake-nuggets-made-with-kentavious-caldwell-pope"> saying goodbye to Kardavious Caldwell-Pope</a> during the offseason, the Nuggets have been treading water in the Western Conference, clearly behind the top teams but not so bad that they could approach a rebuild.</p><p>Could the Nuggets catch fire and go on a run? Sure, but they might just need some help to get there, with the dynamic duo of Tony Jones and Sam Amick discussing some potential options the team could pursue based on their reporting.</p><p>One name to keep an eye on in the Mile High City? Zach LaVine, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6002502/2024/12/17/zach-lavine-trade-rumors-nuggets/" rel="noopener">highest-paid player</a> on the Chicago Bulls, has been on the block for what feels like two years now since the team low-key started to pursue a youth movement around players like Coby White and Josh Giddey.</p><p>“With the NBA’s trade window opening this past weekend, and with the trade deadline less than two months away, the Nuggets are canvassing the league in pursuit of a player who can offer significant help offensively, league sources tell <i>The Athletic</i>,” Tony Jones and Sam Amick wrote for The Athletic.</p><p>“As a result, the Nuggets have either expressed interest in or have had preliminary trade discussions on the following players: Chicago’s Zach LaVine, Washington’s Jordan Poole, Utah’s Jordan Clarkson, Atlanta’s De’Andre Hunter, Brooklyn’s Cam Johnson, and Washington’s Jonas Valančiūnas.”</p><p>Alright, while that collection of players is incredibly eclectic, ranging from guards to wings and even a center for good measure, the idea of bringing LaVine to Denver is a very interesting one for more reasons than one.</p><p>On the one hand, LaVine is a good scoring guard who could likely play a similar style to long-time point guard Jamal Murray in the two-man offensive game. He can score from all three levels and is a beast in the fast break, where he could benefit from some Jokic deep passes Bo Nix-style.</p><p>And yet, LaVine is also a poor defender who does pretty much the opposite of what the KCP used to bring to the table. He would certainly start on the team next to Murray and Michael Porter Jr., but his defensive struggles might provide more harm than good for the Nuggets, as opposing teams would almost certainly target him down the stretch in playoff games, where his position could be exploited.</p><p>Factor in the contractual situation, as Lavine is <a href="https://www.spotrac.com/nba/player/_/id/15365/zach-lavine" rel="noopener">making $43 million this season</a>, almost $46 million next year, and nearly $49 million in 2026-27, and the idea of bringing the UCLA product to town feels incredibly unlikely, unless, of course, Denver wants to send MPJ to Chicago to move off of his contract too. And yet, the Nuggets wouldn’t be having conversations with the Bulls about LaVine if they didn’t think he could help them out, so hey, you never really know: maybe the two teams could make a deal before the deadline, and every other team will have to adjust to this new NBA.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Nuggets targeting Zach LaVine trade to pair with Nikola Jokic

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-michael-porter-jr-trade-nuggets-looking-improve');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Michael Porter Jr. trade buzz starts with Nuggets seeking improvement');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/0Michael-Porter-Jr.-trade-speculation-begins-with-Nuggets-looking-to-improv0.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Michael Porter Jr. trade buzz starts with Nuggets seeking improvement</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-15T09:31:51-08:00">December 15th, 9:31am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-15T09:31:51-08:00">December 15th, 9:31am</time><address><a>Troy Finnegan</a>Troy Finnegan is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023 with a degree in journalism and minors in communications and sports media, as well as a critical sports studies certificate. He has had a passion for sports his entire life, and enjoys covering and writing about all sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nikola-jokic-career-high-performance-spoiled-with-nuggets-loss-to-wizards">Denver Nuggets have had a frustrating season</a> as the calendar gets ready to turn to 2025. Despite another heroic start from star center Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets sit at just 13-10 and are in the middle of a crowded mix in the Western Conference standings.</p><p>Despite already winning a trip of league MVP’s, this has arguably been <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-nikola-jokic-critics-on-michael-malone">one of the best stretches of play of Jokic’s career</a>. Through 20 games this season, the big man is averaging 31.5 points, 13.3 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game. He consistently gives the Nuggets a chance to win games even as they deal with injuries and inconsistent play from some of the other pieces of the roster.</p><p>As a result, the Nuggets’ front office is getting antsy to try and return the Nuggets to championship contender status. In order to do so, they will likely need to make a trade in order to reach the league’s elite again. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-nuggets-want-to-make-a-trade-but-theres-a-problem">Any big deal that the Nuggets make</a> would likely have to include Michael Porter Jr. because the Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon are ineligible to be moved after signing contract extensions this summer.</p><p>Porter has had a good season, but recent history suggests that his market <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/all-the-latest-nba-trade-talk-and?utm_source=post-email-title&amp;publication_id=392205&amp;post_id=153105630&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=false&amp;r=39f60&amp;triedRedirect=true&amp;utm_medium=email" rel="noopener">may not be as big as one would think</a> according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line.</p><p>“The limited trade market witnessed for months for New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram, who is also earning $36 million in the final year of his current contract and whose stats have always been gaudier than Porter’s, would suggest that Denver making the 26-year-old available would not automatically generate high call volume,” Stein reported.</p><p>Porter is playing out the third year of his five-year max extension that is paying him about $36 million this year and will be worth about $80 million over the final two years. He has the type of salary to match a big name on the trade market, but the Nuggets lack the assets around him to entice a lot of teams to swing a blockbuster trade.</p><p>Porter’s value has been felt this year with his shooting and rebounding. He is also a big body on defense that, while out of position at times, can be a big asset as a weak side help defender. If the Nuggets want to pull off a big move involving Porter, they will need to find a star that complements Jokic and can replace the impact that Porter has brought to the table this year.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Michael Porter Jr. trade buzz starts with Nuggets seeking improvement

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-mistake-nuggets-made-with-kentavious-caldwell-pope');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: The mistake Nuggets made with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/The-mistake-Nuggets-made-with-Kentavious-Caldwell-Pope.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: The mistake Nuggets made with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-09T08:49:32-08:00">December 9th, 8:49am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-09T08:52:30-08:00">December 9th, 8:52am</time><address><a>Derek Hryn</a>Derek Hryn is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints specializing in NFL and NCAA Football coverage. Derek was previously a fantasy football expert at DK and SB Nation, and he has been featured at FanSided, USA Today, NBC Sports, The New York Post, and others.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Denver Nuggets are off to another solid start this season as one of the main threats from the Western Conference. One of their key performers of the previous two seasons in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope departed from the franchise over the summer, and one can’t help but think if it was an opportunity whiff by the Nuggets.</p><p>It’s possible that the reason for the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-rumors-nuggets-want-to-make-a-trade-but-theres-a-problem">Nuggets’ current struggles to bolster the roster</a> for another title run is because of how poorly they’ve managed talent in the past – specifically Caldwell-Pope. It’s likely that the organization wasn’t interested in bringing back KCP as a long-term asset. However, Denver received no compensation or another role player, as a result of dragging its feet in the sign-and-trade process.</p><p>The Nuggets had interest from the Dallas Mavericks last summer for a potential sign-and-trade, but things were brought to a halt when they said that they <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/man-in-demand-kentavious-caldwell" rel="noopener">wouldn’t be willing to participate</a>. According to one re-telling of the various Caldwell-Pope discussions relayed to Mark Stein, Denver showed some “11th-hour openness to sign-and-trade concepts” after initially declining.</p><p>Caldwell-Pope averaged 10.0 points and 1.5 steals per game in the Nuggets’ 2022-23 NBA Finals series victory, and was the most efficient three-point shooter (42.3). Since then, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-nikola-jokic-denver-struggles-continue">Denver hasn’t carried itself with the same aura</a>, despite having stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray still playing in the blue and gold.</p><h2><b>What if the Nuggets played it right with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Kentavious-Caldwell-Pope.jpg"><figcaption>Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>After the Nuggets lost in the 2023-24 Western Conference semifinals, it was imminent that Caldwell-Pope would be one of the first offseason departures, as the Nuggets just couldn’t make it work financially. It didn’t take long before the Orlando Magic made a move to ink KCP to a three-year contract.</p><p>There was interest in the two-way guard, especially in the Western Conference, and it showed by the meager time that he spent on the open free agency market last offseason.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: The mistake Nuggets made with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-nuggets-want-to-make-a-trade-but-theres-a-problem');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Nuggets want to make a trade, but there’s a problem');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/NBA-rumors-Nuggets-want-to-make-a-trade-but-theres-a-problem.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Nuggets want to make a trade, but there’s a problem</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-12-09T06:19:13-08:00">December 9th, 6:19am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-12-09T13:10:18-08:00">December 9th, 1:10pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>It has been abundantly clear through the first 22 games of the 2024-25 season that the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-charles-barkley-nikola-jokic-demand-denver">Denver Nuggets drastically need to upgrade</a> 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.</p><p>Thus, with the Dec. 15 trade window set to open (thus allowing players who signed new contracts in the offseason to be eligible for trade), the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nikola-jokic-career-high-performance-spoiled-with-nuggets-loss-to-wizards">Nuggets are expected to scour the market</a> 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.</p><p>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. <a href="https://marcstein.substack.com/p/sunday-best-all-my-latest-trade-talk-c31?utm_source=post-email-title&amp;publication_id=392205&amp;post_id=152805652&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=false&amp;r=39f60&amp;triedRedirect=true&amp;utm_medium=email" rel="noopener">It will be hard</a> 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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><h2><b>Gauging the Nuggets’ potential trade targets</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Nuggets-center-Nikola-Jokic-15-drives-to-the-basket.jpg"><figcaption>© Geoff Burke-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-nikola-jokic-denver-struggles-continue">Nuggets have many roster needs</a> 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.</p><p>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.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Nuggets want to make a trade, but there’s a problem

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-western-conference-contender-monitoring-lonnie-walker-iv-potential-return');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA Rumors: Western Conference contender ‘monitoring’ Lonnie Walker IV amid potential return');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Western-Conference-contender-monitoring-Lonnie-Walker-IV-amid-potential-return.jpg"><figcaption>ClutchPoins</figcaption></figure><h1>NBA Rumors: Western Conference contender ‘monitoring’ Lonnie Walker IV amid potential return</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-11-06T12:52:35-08:00">November 6th, 12:52pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-11-06T12:53:19-08:00">November 6th, 12:53pm</time><address><a>Julian Ojeda</a>Julian Ojeda is an Orlando-based sports journalist with 3 years of professional writing under his belt, specializing in both NBA and NFL coverage. A devoted Orlando Magic fan, he deftly balances fervent fandom with insightful reporting, possessing a keen eye for compelling narratives.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Denver Nuggets are <a href="https://x.com/dnvr_nuggets/status/1854210935855944106" rel="noopener">reportedly keeping a close watch</a> on guard Lonnie Walker IV, according to NBA insider Marc Stein, who shared the update on the “Denver Nuggets Podcast.” Stein noted that the Nuggets are among a select few teams actively monitoring Walker, who recently signed with Zalgiris Kaunas in the EuroLeague after a stint with the Brooklyn Nets during the 2023-24 NBA season.</p><p>“I was told that Denver is a team to watch. The Nuggets are monitoring this,” Stein said. “Now all the Nuggets can do is offer a minimum; they’d also have to create the roster space to do it… but the Nuggets were mentioned to me along with the Celtics at this point as the two teams most closely monitoring Walker and would like to bring him back.”</p><p>While Denver and the Boston Celtics both have an interest in Walker, the potential acquisition presents financial challenges. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-boston-adding-ex-lakers-weapon-two-peat-pursuit">Walker was initially signed by the Celtics</a> on a one-year deal in August, but the team ultimately waived him to avoid luxury tax penalties that would have exceeded $10 million. For Denver, any move to acquire Walker would require a minimum contract offer and additional maneuvering to create the necessary roster space, a hurdle that may complicate the prospect.</p><p>“In the Celtics’ case, I think the Celtics would’ve loved to have him, but they’re gonna have to create more flexibility in terms of luxury tax, and that’s something obviously Denver has to think about as well,” Stein continued. “I think we’re gonna see Walker back in the NBA this season at some point.”</p><h2><b>Nuggets looking to potentially add Lonnie Walker IV to bolster their bench depth</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Lonnie-Walker-IV-12-controls-the-ball-while-Toronto-Raptors-guard-Davion-Mitchell-45.jpg"><figcaption>© Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Walker, who last played in the NBA with the Brooklyn Nets, posted averages of 9.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game over 58 appearances, shooting an efficient 42.3% from the field and 38.4% from beyond the arc. The 25-year-old’s skill set, especially his shooting touch, could be a valuable addition for a Nuggets team looking to strengthen its bench depth. Denver lost two notable guards in recent seasons, with <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-pacers-bruce-brown-pens-heartfelt-message-fans">Bruce Brown signing with the Indiana Pacers</a> before being traded to the Toronto Raptors, and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-kentavious-caldwell-pope-gave-denver-opportunity-before-joining-magic">Kentavious Caldwell-Pope leaving to join the Orlando Magic</a> this past offseason.</p><p>Despite transitioning to EuroLeague play, Walker’s youth and recent performances in the NBA keep him on the radar of multiple teams in need of an experienced scoring guard. Known for his impactful play with the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lonnie-walker-iv-fourth-quarter-heroics-echoes-kobe-bryant-1997-playoff-explosion">Los Angeles Lakers during their 2023 playoff run</a>, Walker scored 15 points in a critical fourth quarter against the Golden State Warriors, becoming the first Laker since Kobe Bryant to deliver such a performance in a playoff fourth quarter.</p><p>As the Nuggets eye another deep postseason run, the addition of Walker could offer a much-needed scoring option off the bench. However, securing his services will depend on both financial flexibility and an available roster spot, making this situation one to monitor as the season progresses.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA Rumors: Western Conference contender ‘monitoring’ Lonnie Walker IV amid potential return

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-michael-malone-unusual-clash-nuggets-front-office');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Michael Malone facing ‘unusual’ clash with Nuggets front office');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NBA-rumors-Michael-Malone-facing-unusual-clash-with-Nuggets-front-office.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Michael Malone facing ‘unusual’ clash with Nuggets front office</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-05T13:29:11-07:00">September 5th, 1:29pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-05T13:29:39-07:00">September 5th, 1:29pm</time><address><a>Brett Siegel</a>Brett Siegel joined ClutchPoints as a credentialed NBA insider and reporter in May 2023 after previously covering the NBA for Fastbreak on FanNation and NBA Analysis Network, as well as working with Louisville Basketball. From playing to coaching to covering the game as a media member, Brett has been involved with the game of basketball from many different perspectives. Breaking the news of various free agent signings, yearly NBA Draft news and other key stories around the league, Brett is always on the phone, getting the latest news and rumors around the NBA. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @BrettSiegelNBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Not too long ago, the Denver Nuggets were at the top of the NBA world for the first time ever. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray led the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-nikola-jokic-denver-wins-first-championship-game-5-demolition-heat">Nuggets to their first championship in 2023</a>, guiding many to the assumption that Denver could be the next dynasty in the NBA. Well, Bruce Brown left last offseason, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope left this offseason. Despite Jokic and Murray still remaining as the Nuggets’ focal points, there are now discussions being had about head coach Michael Malone and the front office not seeing eye to eye with one another as a result of the roster changes made.</p><p>The Nuggets’ front office has put a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-expect-major-internal-roster-upgrade-after-disappointing-playoff-exit">point of emphasis on player development</a> pertaining to their recent draft picks, which has many scratching their heads seeing as Denver is in a position to compete for more titles right now with Jokic being a three-time MVP. Whether or not this is a storyline or a headline is something that will be discovered during the 2024-25 season, but ESPN’s Zach Lowe certainly added fuel to the fire that there could be some <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/4wKyusqm26xvzkwo02Gg5V?si=02acfb46760d4079" rel="noopener">issues</a> brewing in the Mile High City.</p><p>“There are rumblings, rumblings, that the coaching staff and front office, or at least the head coach and the front office, aren’t exactly seeing eye to eye in Denver,” Lowe stated on a recent episode of The Lowe Post. “To a degree even unusual for the NBA.”</p><p>Malone has been with the Nuggets since the start of the 2015-16 season after spending two years with the Sacramento Kings. Over the last nine seasons in Denver, Malone has posted a 424-295 record, taking his team to the playoffs in six straight seasons with at least 46 wins each of these last six years.</p><p>As a result of his accomplishments and recent championship in 2023, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-michael-malone-contract-extension">Nuggets gave Malone a contract extension</a> near the start of the 2023-24 season that keeps him on the sidelines through the 2026-27 season. This deal made Malone one of the highest-paid coaches in the league.</p><p>It would be quite the turn of events if the Nuggets’ front office and Malone were batting heads with one another given all of the success this organization has seen. While the roster has gone through some minor tweaks through the years, the same core group of Jokic, Murray, Aaron Gordon, and Michael Porter Jr. remains. As long as they are healthy, Denver will be a team at the top of the Western Conference standings competing for a spot in the NBA Finals.</p><p>Of course, Caldwell-Pope departing Denver for Orlando this offseason certainly made Malone feel a certain type of way because of the value and stability the veteran brought. Every championship team needs experienced guys like Caldwell-Pope, which is why he was so important to their championship run.</p><p>Now, all of the Nuggets’ attention will be cast on their rising talents, such as Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, and 2023 first-round pick Julian Strawther. Malone will certainly utilize all three recent draft picks in his main rotations during the 2024-25 season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Michael Malone facing ‘unusual’ clash with Nuggets front office

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nuggets-rumors-christian-braun-declined-give-russell-westbrook-0-jersey');   ga('set', 'title', 'Rumor: Christian Braun declined to give Russell Westbrook No. 0 jersey');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Christian-Braun-Denver-Nuggets-Russell-Westbrook-2.jpg"></figure><h1>Rumor: Christian Braun declined to give Russell Westbrook No. 0 jersey</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-08-26T20:19:26-07:00">August 26th, 8:19pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-08-26T20:19:49-07:00">August 26th, 8:19pm</time><address><a>Tomer Azarly</a>Tomer Azarly is in his ninth season as the LA Clippers beat writer and NBA reporter for ClutchPoints. From the Lob City era to the Kawhi Leonard-Paul George era, he brings you everything you need to know about the Clippers as well as coast-to-coast coverage of the NBA.In his off time, Tomer likes to play basketball, video games, and draw.You can follow his Twitter for all Clippers content.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The biggest news of the day for the Denver Nuggets was thought to be star Nikola Jokic being named the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-2k-releases-top-10-player-ratings-for-nba-2k25">highest rated player in NBA 2K25</a>. As the day has gone on, all folks have been talking about is the jersey fiasco between Nuggets guard Christian Braun and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-news-russell-westbrook-6-8-million-contract">new teammate Russell Westbrook</a>.</p><p>NBA stars joining a new team usually get the jersey number they want, assuming it isn’t retired or worn by another veteran on the team. That’s why the rumors involving Westbrook and Braun are a bit surprising.</p><h2><b>Christian Braun declines to give Russell Westbrook No. 0</b></h2><p>Westbrook, who has worn the jersey number 0 in the NBA whenever possible, asked Braun if he could wear No. 0.</p><p>According to Denver Nuggets reporter Harrison Wind, Braun declined to give his <a href="https://twitter.com/HarrisonWind/status/1828074316459872729" rel="noopener">No. 0 jersey to Russell Westbrook</a> when asked about it.</p><blockquote>“More uniform news: Hunter Tyson will wear #5 this season after giving #4 to Russell Westbrook. There was an inquiry by Westbrook into wearing #0, I’m told, but Christian Braun didn’t budge. Tyson gave Westbrook #4 free of charge.”</blockquote><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">More uniform news: Hunter Tyson will wear #5 this season after giving #4 to Russell Westbrook. There was an inquiry by Westbrook into wearing #0, I’m told, but Christian Braun didn’t budge. Tyson gave Westbrook #4 free of charge. <a href="https://t.co/7WK6L6C0GD">pic.twitter.com/7WK6L6C0GD</a></p><p>— Harrison Wind (@HarrisonWind) <a href="https://twitter.com/HarrisonWind/status/1828074316459872729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Instead, Wind reports that Hunter Tyson will switch to jersey No. 5, giving his old No. 4 jersey to the former All-Star guard instead.</p><p>Westbrook wore jersey No. 0 throughout his entire Oklahoma City Thunder tenure. He also wore 0 with the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, and LA Clippers. The one place in his professional career that Westbrook wasn’t able to wear No. 0 was in Washington, when he spent a year with the Wizards. In the nation’s capital, Westbrook donned the No. 4 jersey playing alongside Bradley Beal.</p><p>While it was never official, there were reports that the Wizards have quietly set aside jersey No. 0 for good since Gilbert Arenas wore it. Known as “Agent Zero,” Arenas’ ended his tenure with the Wizards in ugly fashion, and the jersey has not been worn since.</p><h2><b>Christian Braun, Russell Westbrook, or Julian Strawther at shooting guard?</b></h2><p>Christian Braun, who is entering his third year in the NBA, has had a couple of strong seasons for Denver. He’s expected to be thrust into a much larger role this upcoming season with the departure of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.</p><p>In 82 games for the Nuggets last season, 78 of which came off the bench, Braun averaged 7.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.6 assists on 46 percent shooting from the field and 38.4 percent from three. The Kansas guard recorded a career-high 25 points in 30 minutes off the bench during a November loss against the Pelicans last season. He also recorded 27 games of 10 or more points.</p><p>During NBA Summer League, head coach Michael Malone said the open shooting guard position is going to be a <a href="https://twitter.com/JoelRushNBA/status/1811986829241111010" rel="noopener">competition between Christian Braun and Julian Strawther</a>.</p><p>“Well, obviously KCP, he’s hell of a player, a big part of us winning a championship, a big part of our culture,” Nuggets coach Malone told NBA TV. “He will be missed and I love KCP. And now with him leaving, we have an open spot. We have Christian Braun, who as you mentioned helped us win a championship. He’s won at every level he’s been at. His energy, his toughness, all the intangibles are things that I love with Christian.</p><p>“And then I’ll tell ya, I’m not giving that spot to anybody. It’s gonna be a competition. I told Julian Strawther, “man like push each other. Let’s see who’s gonna win that spot.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Michael Malone on the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Nuggets?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Nuggets</a> starting shooting guard position:</p><p>"I'll tell ya, I'm not giving that to anybody. It's gonna be a competition.</p><p>I told Julian Strawther, man like push each other. Let's see who's gonna win that spot."</p><p>Also praises Christian Braun. <a href="https://t.co/aI0vzb2vaD">pic.twitter.com/aI0vzb2vaD</a></p><p>— Joel Rush (@JoelRushNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoelRushNBA/status/1811986829241111010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>At the time, Russell Westbrook was not yet on the Nuggets roster, so it remains to be seen if his addition changes anything. It would, however, make a lot of sense to simply slide Braun into the starting lineup given they’ve been preparing him for the position since he was drafted.</p><p>The Denver Nuggets are set to tip of the 2024-25 regular season at home against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder on October 24, 2024. After a few weeks of training camp, the Nuggets should be able to provide clarity on who won the starting shooting guard sweepstakes.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

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DenverNuggets RUMORS

DENVER

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Denver
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