TRADE WILL WORK WHEN SALARIES MATCHUP DUE TO NNAJIS EXTENSION + BULLS DON'T OWN BLAZERS PICK IT'S TOP 14 PROTECTED UNTIL 2028

Nuggets replace rotation pieces in Michael Porter Jr, Zeke Nnaji and Julian Strawther for Jerami Grant, Robert Williams III and Alex Caruso. These are massive Defensive upgrades to this team both in the perimeter and interior.

I would argue that Jerami Grant is a better overall player than Michael Porter Jr currently with him being a better defender, creator and passer. He would give the Nuggets more creativity in lineups where Jokic and Murray may not be on the floor. I also believe he would be an amazing piece next to Jokic, yes he has played with him before but they are both much better currently. The reason why I believe they would be a very good fit together is because of Jerami Grants catch and shoot ability. I especially would love to see Jokic throwing a dime to Grant who catches the ball halfway through his motion, which is his speciality and then drainign the three.

Caruso and Timelord are two additions to further improve upon Denvers weaknesses. Timelord adds much needed big man depth, especially in defensive situations (Pick and Roll defense being most important due to Jokic not performing the best in those situaitons and often getting attacked) and Caruso adds more certainty from the guard group in Denver, with KCP and Reggie Jackson both aging.

Denver Nuggets Lineup:

Jamal Murray Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Jerami Grant Aaron Gordon Nikola Jokic

Reggie Jackson Alex Caruso Christian Braun Peyton Watson Robert Williams III

Portland do this to get a player that fits their age group more and remove the future protection from Bulls that means they get their pick if it's outside the lottery until 2028. They also get a later first round pick which will be 24-26 in this draft. Which may not be that bad for them due to how deep and clos ethis draft is. If they also get number 1 it would be insanely good.

Scoot Henderson Shaedon Sharpe Michael Porter Jr Alexandre Sarr Deandre Ayton

This is a top young core with everyone being under 25 in this starting lineup. Also still have Brogdon, Thybulle and potentially Simons to trade depending on if they want to start Scoot or let him play off the bench which I believe would be dumb. If Simons plays however I would not be suprised seeing this team in the low playoffs or play in next season

Anfernee Simons Shaedon Sharpe Michael Porter Jr. Alexandre Sarr Deandre Ayton

Scoot Henderson Veteran Toumani Camara Jabari Walker Veteran

Bulls get another lottery pick and two decent young players to hurry up their rebuild, the protection they give up is also an automatically worse pick so it doesn't really matter. It might however take some second round picks if Bulls value an expiring Caruso higher than this.