Connelly, Nuggets placing and receiving calls as trade talk around the league heats up

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DENVER — Now that Dec. 15, the date where most players who signed contracts this offseason can be traded, trade chatter and talk around the league is heating up.

This week, Chris Haynes of ESPN.com reported that the New Orleans Pelicans and Washington Wizards are gauging the availability of Nuggets’ guard Will Barton. That report was later refuted by Wizards insider for CSN Mid-Atlantic J. Michael.

“The phone lines have heated up, the calls have become a bit more consistent, not yet actionable.” Nuggets General Manager Tim Connelly said on Altitude Radio Thursday morning. “People are kind of kicking the tires on trades.”

“As of Dec. 15, my calls have become more common, both placing and received.” Connelly continued. “I call a lot. We have a roster full of attractive assets, we have a unique financial situation and we have picks moving forward. I call quite often but this year I’ve received quite a few calls as well.”

The volume of calls likely coming into and out of Denver’s front office these days is no surprise.

With a high volume of assets on tradable contracts, from afar, the Nuggets are a prime candidate to be active in trade talks in a star-driven league.

“You can’t talk about a trade in the league right now if you’re a team without calling Denver,” The Vertical’s Front-Office Insider and 20-year executive with the New Jersey and Brooklyn Nets Bobby Marks said on a podcast earlier this month.

“Tim Connelly is aggressive,” Marks continued. “He’s not afraid to get a deal and I think he’d love to get involved. They want to try and get a star player there. They’re not afraid to cash in some of the assets they’ve built up.”