{"id":112896,"date":"2024-12-18T10:39:41","date_gmt":"2024-12-18T15:39:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=112896"},"modified":"2024-12-18T10:39:41","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T15:39:41","slug":"nuggets-dark-horse-trade-candidates-jimmy-butler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/18\/nuggets-dark-horse-trade-candidates-jimmy-butler\/","title":{"rendered":"Are The Nuggets Dark Horse Trade Candidates For This Star?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Nuggets are exploring the NBA trade market. According to Tony Jones and Sam Amick of <\/span>The Athletic<\/span><\/a>, the Nuggets have interest<\/a> and are having preliminary trade talks with multiple teams about possible upgrades on the offensive end. Right now, it looks like Zach LaVine<\/a> is their primary target. However, the fact that the Nuggets are star-chasing and willing to take on large contracts could open up even more options for them in the NBA trade market. Jimmy Butler<\/a> is a theoretical option.\u00a0 As a result, we are going to look if a Jimmy Butler Nuggets trade is a long shot possibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Are The Nuggets Dark Horse Trade Candidates For This Star?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Denver Nuggets Trade Rumors Revealed<\/strong><\/h3>\n

After the recent report that the Nuggets are looking to land a big fish in the NBA trade market, NBA trade rumors are picking up. With names like LaVine and Jordan Poole<\/a> on the list of players the Nuggets could be interested in, it looks like the Nuggets may be willing to take on some of the more risky large contracts in the NBA to upgrade right now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Nuggets need to maximize their championship window. With Nikola Jokic<\/a> having another MVP-level season, doing anything but going all-in would be a disservice to Jokic\u2019s leadership and talent. One of the biggest reasons the Nuggets need to look elsewhere for help is because of Jamal Murray<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ever since Murray returned from injury before last season\u2019s playoffs, it seems like he has been off.\u00a0 He currently has his lowest scoring average in five seasons. He has his lowest FG% since his rookie year and has seen his assist and rebound numbers decrease from last season as well. The Nuggets need to pair Jokic with another star if they are to compete for a championship. Murray just hasn\u2019t been that guy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jimmy Butler Trade Rumors<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Recent <\/span>NBA trade rumors<\/span><\/a> suggest that a Jimmy Butler trade<\/a> could happen in the near future. The Heat are supposedly listening to offers for Butler, and Butler\u2019s preferred trade destinations have been named. The Nuggets were not one of the initial teams named. However, the others (like the Warriors or Suns) are other Western Conference teams looking to contend for a championship.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is a Jimmy Butler Nuggets Trade Realistic?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A Jimmy Butler Nuggets trade may be a long shot. Although it seems like Jokic is in the middle of his prime, he is only 29 years old, and pairing him with an aging star like Butler would be a high-risk maneuver. On top of that, for contracts to work, the Nuggets would likely have to include Michael Porter Jr<\/a>. in the trade.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Porter Jr. is one of the best 3-point shooters on the Nuggets, a skill that they are severely lacking in. Replacing Porter Jr. for Butler would certainly be a huge upgrade as far as playmaking and defense. Unfortunately, the Nuggets’ 3-point shooting would suffer dearly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Heat might not also be interested in what the Nuggets can offer. The Nuggets have traded away most of their future picks. So, alongside Porter Jr., they would likely only be able to add pick swaps to the deal. For a team like the Heat, who seem to never want to tank, getting 26-year-old Porter Jr. could be a plus. On the other hand, they likely could get larger returns for Butler elsewhere. So, it may be a long shot. However, the recent Nuggets news does make you wonder if they have a big trade up their sleeves. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Nuggets are exploring the NBA trade market. According to Tony Jones and Sam Amick of The Athletic, the Nuggets have interest and are having preliminary trade talks with multiple teams about possible upgrades on the offensive end. Right now, it looks like Zach LaVine is their primary target. However, the fact that the Nuggets […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5284,"featured_media":109734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,20,16,62,4721],"tags":[109,142,1223,1382,72,457],"class_list":["post-112896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nuggets","category-heat","category-nba","category-trade-rumors","tag-jamal-murray","tag-jimmy-butler","tag-michael-porter-jr","tag-nba-trade","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-zach-lavine"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112896"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112947,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112896\/revisions\/112947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}