On Thursday, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor threw out the idea of the Denver Nuggets using some combination of Emmanuel Mudiay, Jusuf Nurkic and first round picks to trade for Washington’s John Wall, and it garnered a lot of attention.
And why not? It’s exciting. It would bring a star to Denver, jumpstart the contention process and and put the spotlight back on the Denver Nuggets. Yes, it would require moving on from a high-upside prospect like Mudiay, but let’s be honest, if Mudiay ever reached his full potential, it would look an awful lot like Wall.
Plus, there might even be enough assets leftover to bring DeMarcus Cousins to Denver, too, and reunite the 2009 Kentucky dream team.
Exciting, right??
Well, here’s another idea: Klay Thompson.
Now, before you slam your computer shut and and mumble something or other about me being and idiot, hear me out …
The Golden State Warriors, as we’re all very well aware, are a super team, and they don’t need to move on from Thompson to become favorites for the NBA Championship; if Klay remains a Warrior, it would be a shock if they didn’t win their second Larry O’Brien Trophy in three years.
But here’s the catch: Will their off-court success be as joyous as their on-court success?
With Kevin Durant entering into the mix, somebody’s numbers are going to suffer, and Thompson is the most likely candidate. Some may point to Draymond Green, and yes, his point totals will fall, but his rebounds and assists are likely to be at all-time highs. While Klay is a lockdown perimeter defender, his main contribution stems from his scoring ability, and with Durant and Steph Curry eating up nearly 60 points a night, there simply aren’t enough shots to go around.
Now this could go one of two ways: (1) Thompson, as he’s stated in the past, truly doesn’t care about his shots as long as the team is winning, and things continue to go on as is, or (2) a schism begins to grow in the locker room, and the Warriors at least consider making a move.
And if they do, the Nuggets should leap to the negotiating table.
And if I’m Tim Connelly, this is what I throw Golden State’s way: Jusuf Nurkic, Jamal Murray (or Gary Harris) and both of next year’s first round picks for Thompson.
For the Nuggets, it would be the perfect solution, both to their Superstar problem and their Nurkic-Jokic problem. With the former, Denver would be getting an All-NBA talent, a 20-plus-per-game scorer and one of the best shooters in NBA history — essentially, the exact type of player the Nuggets are hoping Jamal Murray can one day become. With the latter, as I detailed last week, the Nuggets would be giving the starting center job to Nikola Jokic and eliminating the desire to play the two big men together, which has been one of the team’s worst lineups.
Just look at this starting five!
PG – Emmanuel Mudiay
SG – Klay Thompson
SF – Danilo Gallinari
PF – Wilson Chandler
C – Nikola Jokic
And for the Warriors, they’d be getting a younger version of the player they’re giving up in Murray, as well as a big man with the rim protection they so desperately need. Likewise, the pressure to feed three mouths dissipates, as Curry and Durant take full control of the offensive workload, with help from Green of course.
Now, if you’ve made it his far, thank you. You’ve earned the reality check:
There’s no doubt that the chances of this happening are slim to none — though we thought Trump’s chances of winning last Tuesday were slim to none, too, so I guess anything can happen — but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t make sense.
Here’s what it would take:
- A Dysfunctional Locker Room: If things are going fine and dandy in the Warriors locker room, they’re not doing anything; there’s no need to. But if things go south, a window opens up.
- Continued Defensive Struggles: During the Warriors title runs, they’ve been just as impressive defensively as they’ve been offensively, ranking first in defensive rating in 2014 (98.2) and sixth in 2015 (100.9). This year they’re 17th (103.7), and a large reason why is the loss of Andrew Bogut. With him gone, opponent’s shooting percentage within five feet of the rim has risen from 57.7 to 61.7 in the last year, which is worrisome. If this trend continues, a guy like Jusuf Nurkic becomes a lot more valuable.
- Star Performances From Murray And Nurkic: The Warriors aren’t trading Klay for pennies on the dollar; they’d need star-level talent that can contribute right now. If Nurkic fades and Murray fails to rise to the occasion, they’re no good in Golden State.
It’s a long shot, but I’d keep my ear to the ground. If Denver can get a star in their building before the trade deadline, it’ll go a long ways towards helping them lure another in free agency next offseason. They could have upwards of $39 million in cap space if Danilo Gallinari opts out of his contract, per spotrac.com, and they need to make sure they spend it wisely.
