The offseason retooling of the Nuggets roster is officially underway

As the Nuggets look to fill in the missing pieces around Nikola Jokic, a former free agent that didn't pan out was sent to OKC for draft picks

BY JAMES MERILATT

Jun 13, 2022, 10:46 AM Updated: 4:34 pm

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Well, that didn’t take long. Less than a month after Tim Connelly bolted for Minnesota, the Nuggets new-look front office has made a trade. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Calvin Booth has swung a deal to add draft capital.

ESPN Sources: Denver is trading F JaMychal Green and a protected 2027 first-round pick to Oklahoma City for the No. 30 pick in this month’s NBA Draft and two future second-round picks. Nuggets have No. 21 and 30 in this draft now and Thunder has Nos. 2, 12 and 34.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 13, 2022

The NBA Draft is slated for June 23. Denver now has two first-round picks to work with, either using them to add a pair of pieces or packaging them to move up in the draft.

Of course, the deal wasn’t just about adding additional picks. The move also has financial implication for the Nuggets.

Green is expected to exercise his $8.2M contract for 2022-2023. Deal gives Nuggets flexibility to use a $6.4M tax mid-level exception or an $8.2M trade exception in offseason. Nuggets expect to be a tax-paying team. Thunder have $31M in cap space to absorb Green salary.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 13, 2022

Green spent two seasons in Denver. He appeared in 125 regular-season games, averaging 7.2 points and 4.5 assists.

When he was initially signed, the 6-foot-8 forward was projected to fill the void left by Jerami Grant’s departure via free agency in 2020. That never materialized, however, as Green was largely a spot player in Denver. He averaged just 16.2 minutes per this past season, down from 19.3 during his first season in a Nuggets uniform.

What will the Nuggets do with their newfound flexibility? That’ll be the next question for Booth and company to answer.

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