Outside of the draft, the Denver Nuggets have yet to make any significant moves this offseason. In fact, the Nuggets have yet to make any roster moves at all, save for selecting point guards Emmanuel Mudiay and Nikola Radicevic in the NBA draft last month.
Free agency opened on July 1, and while 29 teams around the league have made an effort to improve, the Nuggets have stood still. Following a 30-52 season that culminated in the seventh overall pick, the Nuggets cannot afford to be idle. The Nuggets could use an upgrade at multiple positions, but we’ll focus on the big men for now.
Here are five frontcourt options, still available in free agency, that would make a good fit in Denver…
No 1. – Chris Copeland
Nuggets forwards Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler will both become unrestricted free agents following the 2015-16 NBA season. Copeland, a 6-foot-8 forward out of the University of Colorado, would provide good depth as a forward off the bench and an insurance policy in case Gallinari and Chandler decide to split following the season. Copeland, who played his college ball in Boulder, appeared in 50 games for the Indiana Pacers in 2014-15, averaging 6.2 points on 16.6 minutes a game. He shot just 31.1 percent from three last season, but has shot the three at a 37.3 percent clip over his career. Copeland could slot in at either forward position, and could provide the Nuggets with 15-20 minutes off the bench as a stretch 4, an increasingly important asset in todays pace-and-space NBA.
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Free agency opened on July 1, and while 29 teams around the league have made an effort to improve, the Nuggets have stood still. They could use an upgrade at multiple positions, but we’re focused on possible big men.
No. 2 – Mirza Teletovic
Mirza Teletovic, a 29-year-old forward from Bosnia, averaged 8.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in just over 22 minutes a game for the Brooklyn Nets last season. The 6-foot-9 Bosnian can play both forward positions and isn’t afraid to shoot the ball. Teletovic took 4.8 three pointers a game last season, hitting 1.6 a game at 32.1 percent. The big man can stretch the floor, plays fearlessly, and, as the captain of the Bosnia and Herzegovina national team, would be welcomed to the organization with a bear-hug by fellow Bosnian Jusuf Nurkic.
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Free agency opened on July 1, and while 29 teams around the league have made an effort to improve, the Nuggets have stood still. They could use an upgrade at multiple positions, but we’re focused on possible big men.
No. 3 – Darrell Arthur
The Nuggets could bring back unrestricted free agent, Darrell Arthur. Arthur averaged 6.6 points on 17 minutes a game for the Nuggets in 2014-15. Arthur experimented with expanding his jump shot last season and was successful in lengthening his range to the top of the key, though he still struggles from behind the three-point arc. New coach Michael Malone’s philosophy is defensively-oriented and Arthur was the Nuggets best defender this past season. Arthur is a bit of a ball-stopper who tends to settle for contested jumpers, but he is a plus defender, a good teammate, and a solid rotational piece. Plus, he rocks the double zero on the back of his jersey, which is awesome. According to the Denver Post’s Chris Dempsey, “the Nuggets and unrestricted free agent Darrell Arthur have been in productive talks about a new contract… no deal, however, is imminent.”
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Free agency opened on July 1, and while 29 teams around the league have made an effort to improve, the Nuggets have stood still. They could use an upgrade at multiple positions, but we’re focused on possible big men.
No. 4 – Josh Smith
It’s time to have some fun! What better way for the Nuggets than to sign “J-Smoove.” Smith had a roller coaster season this past year. In 2013, Smith signed a four-year, $54 million contract with the Detroit Pistons. Less than two years later, Smith was waived by the Pistons, who ate most of his contract in order to remove his toxicity from the team. Smith was then signed by the Houston Rockets, where he teamed with Dwight Howard to form a fearsome frontcourt that helped the Rockets to the Western Conference Finals. The high-flying forward shot 38 percent from deep during the playoffs. Smith is a formidable scorer (career average of 15.1 points-per-game), blessed with crazy athleticism, who lives to reject basketballs twenty rows into the crowd. “J-Smoove” has a reputation of being difficult to coach, but newly hired head coach Michael Malone, who got along with DeMarcus Cousins in Sacramento, might be able to reach him. If that were the case, the Nuggets would gain one of the most physically talented players in the NBA, a 6-foot-9 freak-of-nature who can hit a jumper and jump out of the gym.
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Free agency opened on July 1, and while 29 teams around the league have made an effort to improve, the Nuggets have stood still. They could use an upgrade at multiple positions, but we’re focused on possible big men.
No. 5 – Richard Jefferson
It should be obvious to even the most hardcore Nuggets fan that this team isn’t ready to compete yet. The talent just isn’t there. The organization’s long-term idea is to build around Emmanuel Mudiay and Jusuf Nurkic, but the team could always use additional young talent. Heres a possible plan: Sign 6-foot-7, 35-year-old Richard Jefferson to a one-year deal, play him 35 minutes a game as the starting center, then sit back and watch as Jefferson’s knees grind into dust and the Nuggets go 20-62 or worse, securing a top three pick in the 2016 NBA draft. The Denver Nuggets then go into the 2016-17 NBA season with Nurkic, Mudiay, Gary Harris, and a top three pick in 2016 draft to build into a championship contender.
The offseason is long, but it doesn’t last forever. That’s why it’s time for the Nuggets to make a move.
Bryce Rudnick, a Mile High Sports intern and CU-Boulder student, contributed to this report