Aaron Gordon could be traded: Nuggets’ price and potential suitors revealed

The Denver Nuggets already talked themselves into bringing back David Adelman as their head coach despite a first-round playoff exit — next, the team could talk itself into trading its heart and a man who was statistically the second most impactful player behind Nikola Jokic. The player possibly being shopped just days after the postseason flameout is Aaron Gordon, who was brought up by Clutch Points’ Brett Siegel as a name to watch on the market.

Gordon, who has reinvented himself as a player during his six years in Denver, has toggled between defensive gadget, unstoppable finisher, big-time shooter, playmaker and connector. When he played this year, the Nuggets outplayed their opponents by 13.8 points per 100 possessions. When he was off the floor, that number dipped to just +3.1.

It’s his importance that got him a four-year, $133 million extension in 2024 — a deal that doesn’t kick in until 2026-27 because Gordon did the team-friendly thing and picked up his $23 million player option for the 2025-26 season.— So it seems kind of crazy the Nuggets would trade somebody who has been so good to them and has been so good for them, but here we are.

Siegel wrote over the weekend:

“The immediate belief surrounding Denver is that while the possibility of trading Gordon will be discussed, sources said it would take quite an offer to part with him. Gordon is not viewed as a clear salary-dump option for the Nuggets entering the summer, and the only way they would consider trading him is if they were to retain key draft capital lost in previous trades, as well as another impactful starter.”

“Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns and Boston Celtics are among the many win-now teams Gordon would obviously fit in with as realistic trade suitors.”

The case to trade Gordon, despite his unreal upside and meaning to the Mile High City, is pretty clear. He’s struggled to get on the floor the last two years. AG only played in 36 games this season due to hamstring and calf injuries, and he has played in less than half of the Nuggets regular-season games over the past two years. He even missed three games, including the final two of the Nuggets’ first-round series with the Wolves. That came off a productive 2025 postseason that included multiple game-winners but ended with him hobbled by a hamstring strain in a Game 7 second-round loss.

Siegel notes that Gordon is the least likely of the three — himself, Cameron Johnson and Christian Braun — to get traded, but he’s the best player of the trio. And it takes two to tango in a trade — one the Nuggets are seemingly going to force themselves to make.

That’s because they want to keep restricted free agent Peyton Watson. Instead of ownership spending more money to keep talent, the Nuggets want to dodge the luxury tax — and they can only keep a maximum of three of those four players. The goal also seems to be getting more athletic around Jokic, and Watson is among the Nuggets’ best athletes.

The Nuggets have very few trade assets, down to their final first round pick swaps and second rounders to deal — though they do have their own draft pick this spring. To recoup some of that makes sense while also targeting a starter, but it’s asking and hoping for a lot out of a single move that would no doubt lessen their ceiling.

When the 2026-27 season tips, the Nuggets could be without the player fans have nicknamed “Mr. Nugget” — a guy fans cheer for louder than even Jokic or Jamal Murray. And while Denver says it doesn’t want to make that trade, per Siegel’s reporting, the team is floating a deal it has no obligation to make — except to cut costs.

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