Having successfully re-signed both Nikola Jokic and Will Barton, the attention of the Nuggets’ brass has shifted towards shedding salary. Early Tuesday afternoon, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed that Denver has succeeded in moving one of their unwanted contracts—the Nuggets will send Wilson Chandler to the Philadelphia 76ers along with a second round pick in 2021 and the right to swap another 2nd round pick in 2022.
Moving off one of Kenneth Faried, Darrell Arthur or Wilson Chandler’s contracts was of the utmost importance after retaining the services of Will Barton. That contract would have pushed them into dangerous territory as luxury tax payers, but this move makes that penalty a much easier one to swallow for Josh Kroenke.
With Chandler gone, Denver can comfortably move forward with a unit that flirted with 50 wins in last year’s brutal Western Conference. They may have missed the playoffs, but they feel they are close to turning a corner and now they don’t have to pay a $40+ Million bill to run it back.
Faried was the name that many had circled as the likely salary dump, but the Nuggets have had trouble finding a suitor thanks to his unfortunate contract. There were rumors that Denver considered attaching 2018’s first round pick to make it happen—something that fans should be relieved not to have gone down. Not only was Denver able to move another player, the cost to move Chandler was minimal.
Keeping their first round picks is huge, but they were also able to move a contract without including a sweetner like Trey Lyles, Malik Beasley or Juancho Hernangomez. Those players are still available as both an on the court product and an asset in future negotiations should they attempt to move another contract.
