Denver Nuggets Randy Foye drawing interest as trade deadline nears, according to Wojnarowski

The Denver Nuggets might be getting some calls on 10-year NBA veteran shooting guard Randy Foye, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The 32 year-old guard has been in a season-long shooting slump, but his production has been on the rise and increases with playing time. Let’s look at the blurb from Woj first:

Denver’s Randy Foye has gathered significant traction as a veteran guard for teams, league sources told The Vertical. He’s been a tremendous locker room presence for the Nuggets, who won’t easily part with him…

Foye’s offensive numbers are down across the board: field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage. A career 37 percent shooter from beyond the arc, Foye’s numbers have dropped to 29.6 percent this season with roughly the same amount of attempts over his career (3.1 attempts this season, 4.2 over his career). But there is reason to believe those numbers could be trending up as his production with over 20 minutes per game have been solid; in both December and February his 3-point percentages have been up over his career mark at 38.3 percent and 47.4 percent. Here are Foye’s shooting splits this season, from BasketballReference.com:

Foye, a combo guard, is entering the final year of this three-year deal he signed with the Nuggets in 2013 after coming over from the Utah Jazz in a three-team trade that saw Andre Iguodala (The Mole!) traded to the Golden State Warriors. Foye is making $3.1 million this season and likely won’t bring back much in return, but a second-round pick would be a good get for the Nuggets. You can read up on the significance of second-round picks to Tim Connelly and his staff here.

If Denver is able to move Foye for a second-rounder that gives the Nuggets front office, very adept in international scouting, a chance to take a flier on perhaps the next Joffrey Lauvergne (55th overall pick in 2013) or Nikola Jokic (41st overall pick in 2014).

However, getting a deal done for Foye involving a second-round pick could be tricky, as pointed out yesterday by Charlie Yao of Roundballminingcompany.com.

@NateTimmonsBSN Foye makes $3.1m so team would need an exception to get him for 2nd rounder. Easier said than done

— Charlie Yao (@charlieCSY) February 16, 2016

If might not be beneficial to the Nuggets to take back a player with more years on his contract in order to move Foye (an expiring deal) and get the pick, but it’s a move the team could consider. For instance, one example could be the Nuggets sending Foye to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for seldom used center Joel Anthony and a 2016 second-round pick that looks like this:

Anthony’s final season worth $2.5 million for the 2016-17 season is a non-guaranteed deal that the Nuggets could opt not to guarantee, and there doesn’t appear to be a buyout amount on that deal so it could go away for nothing. However, the Pistons might not want to surrender their second-round pick as the team owes their 2017 second-rounder to the Jazz, 2019 second-rounder to the Celtics and their 2020 second-rounder to the Suns.

If that were the case, the Nuggets could try to pry Spencer Dinwiddie away from the Pistons, along with Joel Anthony and that deal could look like this:

Dinwiddie is just 22 years-old and the former University of Colorado point guard was on the Nuggets’ radar back in 2014, but he was selected 38th overall, three picks before Jokic. Dinwiddie, 6-foot-6, has only appeared in nine games for the Pistons and can’t seem to find his way into Stan Van Gundy’s rotation. A flyer on Dinwiddie would give the Nuggets size at back up point guard and shooting guard, but his low 3-point percentage of 18.1 percent come with their own set of issues.

Another team that has been rumored to be interested in Foye is the Miami Heat. However, the Heat have been dealt another significant blow with the health of Chris Bosh, who is again dealing with blood-clot fears. Without Bosh in the mix, that may seriously change how aggressive the Heat choose to be at the deadline draws near — as they’ve already shed some salary with the Chris Andersen trade.

Any way you slice it, if the Nuggets can get back a young player (tough get) or a second-rounder (another tough get) it’s a win for the front office.