“The simplest solution is always the best”
– William of Ockham, whilst getting a shave
No, Bill was not actually at the barber when he uttered what we now know as Occam’s Razor, but his oft-true statement should have been on t-shirts for the Denver Nuggets front office at the trade deadline. Moving off of Hunter Tyson’s contract was at the top of the list for most-likely-to-be-moved this season, and with an hour or so left before the deadline, nothing more compelling seemed to have materialized. So Hunter was the hunted for his 2+ million dollar contract, and Denver is now under the luxury tax line, able to convert Spencer Jones contract to a full-time version, AND possibly able to bring in someone floating out on the veteran market for the vet minimum.
Sexy? Not necessarily. Smart? Very, which is a sexy of its own when you’re playing this game over a longer haul, if someone like Sam Presti turns you on. Jon Wallace and Ben Tenzer have certainly made moves that seem very astute, both of the large and small variety, and it would be nice if several years of those turn into a war chest like Presti has built in OKC.
Getting under that luxury tax helps Denver ALSO get one step further away from the repeater tax, an important step going into a summer where they’ll have to toe a line or two when dealing with subjects such as Peyton Watson’s pending restricted free agency. If they are somehow able to make all of the pieces fit by only shedding a guy who averaged just under seven minutes and just over two points in his three season and 90 games with the team. To say the team shouldn’t feel it is an understatement to all but the most ardent of Hunter’s fans and family members.
And while the buyout market cupboards look a little bare, at least in terms of current needs, you’d think several of the stronger names available – Chris Paul, Mike Conley, Lonzo Ball, maybe even Khris Middelton – would at least give a thought to an opportunity with an obvious contender like the Nuggets.
Maybe most important of all in those moves was getting Jones onto the full time roster. He’s been nothing short of a revelation this year through the teams litany of injuries, and has contributed meaningfully this year: putting up 273 of his 300 career points in his second season. (Tyson has 200 career points in Denver in three seasons). Spencer played the last game available on his two-way deal against the Knicks on Wednesday night, and the Nuggets will desperately need him and his crazy-weird kip-up shot with Watson now out to injury as well. Jones and his new deal are the cavalry Denver needed in a season that the Nugs and their walking wounded are trying desperately to survive. The only thing now keeping Jones off the court will be any lingering effects from his possible concussion after banging heads with Karl-Anthony Towns.
So, Spencer locked down and locked in, a hoped-for contributor floating around out there in the buyout market, and a solid shot at cleaning up some of the luxury tax overextensions of the last few years – one of which admittedly brought the team it’s first championship. That sounds a pretty great list at the cost of a good guy who was not able to move up the depth chart, anyhow. If Jones and any possible buyout help make a contribution to Denver’s playoffs, remember just how deft and inexpensive this moment was. The short game and the long game might have just improved for the Nuggets. Win/win, all for the cost of one of Bill’s best shaves.
