Denver Nuggets trade rumor roundup featuring Kenneth Faried and Danilo Gallinari

The trade deadline is now just three days away, Feb. 18th at 1:00 p.m. MST, and as expected the Denver Nuggets are involved in a slew of trade rumors.

Let’s take stock of the most mentioned Nuggets players and where they are rumored to be going.

1.) Danilo Gallinari

It seems like it’s becoming more-and-more of a likelihood that the Nuggets will keep Gallinari through the trade deadline, as one cannot be sure the Nuggets were ever seriously shopping him — although rumors persisted about outside interest in the Italian.

We know the Nuggets have a high price-tag on Gallinari after the bounty they required in return for Timofey Mozgov (two future first-round picks) and Arron Afflalo (Will Barton, a future first-rounder and fillers) and won’t settle for something that they don’t feel is equal or greater value in return for him. To put it bluntly, they’re not going to trade the 27-year-old just to trade him.

2.) Blake Griffin’s name pops up again:

The big chatter this morning was that Gallinari was name-dropped in the recent rumor involving Blake Griffin that also mentioned Will Barton, Kenneth Faried and Nikola Jokic going to Los Angeles in exchange for the forward, as reported by ESPN.com’s Chris Broussard on Mike and Mike Monday morning.

“I’ve been told that the Clippers actually called Denver and offered Blake Griffin and Lance Stephenson for Danilo Gallinari Kenneth Faried, Will Barton and Nikola Jokic, and Denver turned it down because Blake will be a free agent after next season.”

There’s simply no reason to gut your team and part of your future for someone who yes, is a top-10 player when healthy, but could only be here for a little over one season. Griffin also had a second surgery on his broken hand back on Feb. 5, but the initial time from for recovery still sits at 4-6 weeks. Which means Griffin wouldn’t be back on the court until a month remains in the regular season. With the slim chances of Griffin re-signing in Denver as an unrestricted free agent, 82 games of him in a Nuggets uniform doesn’t forecast as a great return on investment for Tim Connelly.

A trade like this may have perked the Nuggets interest in recent years, especially with the Nuggets still sitting dead last in attendance, but there’s a feeling that this front office is thinking differently now than Denver management has in past years.

Clippers general manager Doc Rivers has also come out and denied reports of Los Angeles looking to shop Griffin.

3.) Gallinari not on the trade block:

The Boston Globe, is also reporting that Gallinari is “not on the block,” which is important because the Celtics have always been mentioned as Gallo’s most likely landing spot. This could have to do with Denver’s sky-high asking price for Gallinari and the fact that Boston could be too consumed with trying to land the aforementioned Griffin, Al Horford or even DeMarcus Cousins.

4.) Kenneth Faried

All has been relatively quiet on the Kenneth Faried front and like I explained last week, it’s going to be hard to deal the Manimal at this year’s deadline.

It’s difficult to find many logical fits where Faried would fit logistically since I doubt he’d have much interest coming off the bench and his salary is hard to match if you’re getting a non-starter in return.

ESPN.com’s Marc Stein did report that the Toronto Raptors have had “exploratory discussions to gauge the possibility of acquiring Kenneth Faried, Brooklyn‘s Thaddeus Young and the Phoenix duo of Markieff Morris and P.J. Tucker.”

There’s some familiarity here with the Nuggets former general manager Massai Ujiri heading up basketball operations in Toronto and the Raptors have some versatile pieces including Cory Joseph, Terrence Ross and Delon Wright that could interest Denver.

Frank Isola of the New York Daily News also reports that Faried is “available.”

“The Denver Nuggets want to move at least one big man. Kenneth Faried and J.J. Hickson are both available.”

5.) J.J. Hickson

The Isola rumor brings us to Hickson who has fallen permanently out of the rotation after receiving minutes in bunches over the first quarter of the season and who wasn’t even on the bench during games for a stretch in early January.

It’s really difficult to envision someone giving up more than a second round pick for the 27-year-old and his $5.6 million expiring contract, as the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn writes.

“On the trade block is Denver power forward J.J. Hickson, who has fallen out of coach Mike Malone’s rotation and expects his expiring contract to be moved. Hickson once was considered an understudy to LeBron James in Cleveland, but the Cavaliers traded him to get Omri Casspi, and Hickson never emerged as a standout player. He’s still only 27 and has the ability to score and rebound, but defense and consistency are his issues.”

6.) Al Horford

As it becomes more and more likely that the Hawks may part ways with starting point guard Jeff Teague, 2016 All-Star Al Horford and perhaps more of their roster, rumors are swirling about where those two may wind up.

ESPN.com’s Kevin Arnovitz and Brian Windhorst who have been tied in with the Atlanta Hawks ever since they dropped their brilliant piece last season on Danny Ferry’s fall from grace as general manager, dropped a hint in their most recent report from Atlanta that the Nuggets have interest in Horford if the Hawks do decide to test the market.

“If the Hawks decide to test the market for Horford, numerous teams would potentially show interest. Sources inform ESPN that the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, and Magic have been the most aggressive in looking to acquire a veteran difference maker.”

Connelly, Josh Kroenke and the rest of the Nuggets front office have said time and time again that building around a ‘star’ is a priority and the best way to win in the playoffs, so every time a player of that magnitude does become available expect Denver to be mentioned as a possibly destination.

Horford who is an unrestricted free agent after this season makes little sense for the Nuggets unless he commits to sign a max-level contract in Denver this offseason, which isn’t happening. The 29-year-old doesn’t bring the same star-power appeal that Griffin does, but is a similar level player.

6.) Randy Foye

The first Foye news pops up as Zach Lowe of ESPN had the following to say on Foye and the Miami Heat:

You could build a bunch of deals in which Miami sends out some combination of Dragic, Whiteside and Luol Deng for Howard, but there are factors working against it. Miami is over the tax and more likely to dump money. Houston is hard-capped, and can barely add a dime without violating league rules. Miami has questions about Howard’s character and fit, sources say, and the Heat have been sniffing around cheaper 3-and-D wings — including Randy Foye in Denver.