By Jordan Long
The NBA Draft is Thursday. The Denver Nuggets hold the 26th pick in the 1st-round, their only selection. Once that is completed, free agency begins on August 2nd at 4 PM Mountain Time. The Nuggets will look to improve their team.
Denver has decisions to make. Will Barton and JaMychal Green both opted out of their player options which means they are now free agents. It is still possible for one or both to come back. Barton is the bigger loss of the two. He started 52 games at small forward. In those contests, he averaged 12.7 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game. He was one of the top 3-point shooters for Denver, shooting 38.1%. Denver may talk to Barton to keep him in the mix, but it all depends on money. He could want more than the $13.73 million he was paid this year.
Green was mostly a bench player. He didn’t have much production with 8.1 points per game. Denver will most likely let him test free agency.
After that, the other key free agents are Austin Rivers and JaVale McGee. Rivers added depth to the point guard position. He played a big role once Denver signed him since Jamal Murray was out with a torn ACL. Murray is not expected to be back until late in the 2022 season. Rivers should be in the Nuggets’ plans. He helped them run the offense and started 5 games for the Nuggets. In that time, he averaged 7.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. When it came to the playoffs, Rivers played in 10 games while starting 9 of them. He scored 9.2 points per game. He would like to stay and Denver needs depth at point guard.
McGee didn’t play much. He appeared in 13 regular season games, averaging 13.5 minutes per game. He was still productive with 5.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. McGee gave the Nuggets another center behind Jokic. He would give the Nuggets a veteran and size.
Looking at free agency, Denver should add another power forward and 3-point shooter. At power forward, Denver could re-sign Paul Millsap, but his age is a problem at 36 years old. He likes Denver and Denver may agree to a deal for him to be the backup. If not John Collins makes sense. He averaged 17.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game with Atlanta. The only problem with Collins is he wants to be a starter. Denver is already set with Aaron Gordon who is expected to start. Collins may want to look to sign with a different team.
Denver ought to add size to the team. Two players come to mind, Cody Zeller and Robin Lopez. Both of them are 7 feet tall. Lopez can play defense averaging 5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game in his career. Zeller averages 3 rebounds and 0.2 blocks per game. Both of them are veterans and could come into games when Jokic needs a rest.
Another area Denver needs to improve on is outside shooting. They must look to add a player or two who can hit the outside shots. Mike Conley, J.J. Redick, and Evan Fournier are all available. Conley is a career 37.9% shooter from the 3-point line. Redick is better than Conley at 39.5%. Fournier is a familiar name for the Nuggets since they drafted him in 2012. He played for the Nuggets from 2012 to 2014. He can nail the 3-point shots behind the arc at 37.9%. All of them would help Denver shoot better from the 3-point line.
The Nuggets have many decisions to make heading into free agency. General Manager Calvin Booth and President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly will do what they think is best for the Nuggets moving forward. They hope their moves will pay off with Denver earning their first NBA Championship title in franchise history.
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