trade notes: 2031 Denver 1st round pick is Top 5 protected, 2028 Denver/Charlotte 1st round pick swap is unprotected (with the swap in Charlotte’s favor)

Nuggets

it’s clear that after the departure of KCP, this team is no longer a true contender. with such limited assets, Denver is likely looking at trading MPJ as the only real way to improve. they swap MPJ and a Top 5 protected 2031 first round pick for both Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith. Jalen Pickett is in the trade for salary reasons. while MPJ individually is better than the 2 incoming players, gaining depth and defense is the real win here. Cam Johnson would slide into MPJ’s starting SF spot and provide similar shooting to MPJ, but is a much better defender. his rebounding and self creation will be a drop off from MPJ. Finney-Smith will be Denver’s top bench option as another 3 and D forward. Denver has some potential to create some fun small ball defensive lineups featuring a front court of Finney-Smith and Aaron Gordon. Denver also picks up Cody Martin from Charlotte in this trade. Denver gets off of Zeke Nnaji’s albatross contract, but has to give up an unprotected pick swap to make it happen. Martin, when healthy, is capable of hitting 3s, playing defense, and providing some secondary creation ability. at his peak, he could push Christian Braun for the starting SG spot.

Nets

tank season and asset accumulation is officially here for the Nets. Cam Johnson’s value will never be higher, so best to trade him now. same goes for Finney-Smith with him being able to opt out after the season. getting a Top 5 protected first round pick in 2031 from the Nuggets could end up being a legit asset. Jokic will be about 36 years old and towards the end of his career. Michael Porter Jr. is interesting here as he could stay in Brooklyn and work towards being more of a featured offensive option, or Brooklyn could look to flip him for additional draft capital and young talent. Jalen Pickett is here for salary reasons, but he is a young PG under contract for the next 2-3 seasons at a position of need in Brooklyn, maybe he pans out to be something.

Hornets

Charlotte should be looking to get value for its veterans as they navigate their rebuild, and they get an interesting return. an unprotected first round pick swap in 2028 with Denver could be something. if Charlotte wants to bet on themselves being better than Denver in 2028, this trade makes sense. they have to take on Zeke Nnaji’s horrible contract, but he’s still young and plays a position where he could potentially get minutes at, maybe he turns into something.