Clough: No love for Nuggets in LeBron James free agency rumor mill
Jun 17, 2018, 10:15 PM
As the LeBron James free agency sweepstakes heat up, it wouldn’t likely take many by surprise that the Denver Nuggets odds of landing the NBA’s biggest fish aren’t strong.
There’s the Los Angeles Lakers, who are for now the front-runners, especially should land disgruntled San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard via trade.
The Philadelphia 76ers have a young core in which James could help mentor. The Houston Rockets have Chris Paul and James Harden.
But, why not the Nuggets, Sports Radio 104.3 The Fan’s Sandy Clough asked Friday.
“The Nuggets are young. The Nuggets have a core group of talented players. Malone and James have worked together in the past. There’s a rapport, the pre-existing rapport, that exists between the two,” Clough said. “Why don’t the Nuggets ever get mentioned?”
Denver’s not even among the half dozen or so teams being tied to acquiring Leonard from San Antonio, Clough said, despite having enough capital to obtain him.
“Now, maybe the Spurs wouldn’t want to trade him within the conference, but if he’s saying I don’t want to play in San Antonio anymore, they’re kind of forced to trade him,” Clough said. “And there are only so many teams who could make that trade.
“Technically, the Nuggets would have enough to offer in exchange for Kawhi Leonard.”
And Clough believes if there’s an edge on which conference James might prefer to play in next season, it’s the West.
“Whatever’s involved in LeBron James moving away from Cleveland, he would more likely, however slight that difference might be, would come west as opposed to staying in the Eastern Conference,” Clough said.
It is certain, however, that this storyline will define the NBA offseason.
Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @johnnyhart7.
