The Denver Nuggets shocked the NBA world on Tuesday by firing head coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth with a handful of games remaining before the start of the playoffs, and this could be good news for the Utah Jazz.
Denver has been put into an awkward situation by Booth's questionable decision-making over the past couple of years. Both Michael Porter Jr. and Jamal Murray are signed to max contracts but have not consistently delivered enough to earn those paychecks. Now, the Nuggets are hamstrung by a small bench and very young talent as depth pieces with limited cap space.
They are seemingly going backwards despite having three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who could be in line for his fourth.
Utah is primed to pounce
So, how can the Jazz benefit from this? The Jazz are in quite the opposite cap situation as Denver. As a tanking team relying on young pieces, Utah can afford to take on bad contracts and benefit from them: they help keep the team at the minimum spending level, and overpaid players usually aren't superstars that can win games that teams want to lose.
Denver likely will be desperate to offload their bad contracts to create cap flexibility, so Utah may be able to benefit from that desperation. For example, a trade to consider:
Denver receives: Lauri Markkanen, 2027 first round pick via Lakers, 2025 2nd round pick via Clippers
Utah receives: Michael Porter Jr., Zeke Nnaji, 2031 unprotcted Nuggets first round pick
Ok, so this is a very rough hypothetical that probably needs some refining, but consider the thought process of recent moves by Danny Ainge. Denver is looking to offload bad contracts, these moves save them 2.5 million dollars while getting a player upgrade, and picks that they desperately need.
Utah wants high-value picks and young talent. Porter and Nnaji are both younger than Markkanen, and Porter may have a higher ceiling than Markkanen. Porter has never had the opportunity to shine in Denver, mainly being the third or fourth scoring option there. Putting him on the Jazz would give him a chance to be a number one or number two night in and night out.
The 2031 pick, though, is what Utah would really be after. In six years, Jokic will probably be a full-time horse breeder after finally being able to quit his day job as an NBA All-Star. A trade like this would be very similar to Ainge's move to consolidate picks into a likely high-value Suns pick down the line.
Or could the Jazz be interested in Jamal Murray? The combo guard brings valuable experience to a young Jazz core who need to learn how to win in the NBA, and Murray can play off the ball to allow Isaiah Collier to continue to grow into the Jazz's future point guard.
This is the offseason when the Jazz need to be aggressive. Cooper Flagg is very much on the table, and Utah needs to position itself for success around Flagg or whoever their top-five pick will be. If Utah can find a favorable deal, they can leverage Denver's situation to their advantage.