Five reasons why the Nuggets should consider trading Kenneth Faried

 

After two and a half years on the job Tim Connelly’s preference for how he desires to build a professional basketball franchise is starting to manifest on the court and in the Nuggets’ structural DNA. And as the team moves forward it seems inevitable these characteristics become even more pronounced, which is why at this point the Nuggets might be wise to cut ties with Kenneth Faried, a player who doesn’t exactly fit into Connelly and head coach Michael Malone’s philosophical ideology.

With one-sixth of the 2015-16 NBA season in the books, the portrait of who the Denver Nuggets are is starting to become visible. This is a team that is much better coached than under the previous Brian Shaw regime. It is a team with lots of young talent complimented by several high-IQ veterans who pair well with one another. This is also a team fully capable of hovering close to .500 the entire year. But as I’ve profiled many, many times in the last six months, what this team is missing — in addition to outside shooting — is interior defense.

When analyzing the construction of the Nuggets there appears an underlying theme to many of the players added under Connelly’s watch over the last two years. These players — Jusuf Nurkic, Gary Harris, Emmanuel Mudiay, Nikola Jokic, Joffrey Lauvergne, Mike Miller, Darrell Arthur, Jameer Nelson, Will Barton and Kostas Papanikolaou — who make up a vast majority of the roster share many common traits. Almost all are solid defensive players, or at least players who appear to care about how they perform on the defensive side of the ball. Almost all prefer to share the rock when presented an opportunity to find a teammate for an open shot. While all have high basketball IQs and all certainly have positive, team-oriented mindsets.

Do the previous few sentences above describe what we’ve learned about Faried? Not exactly. Below are five reasons why the Nuggets should consider trading the talented, yet polarizing power forward.

1.) The summit has been topped

Faried is now in his fifth year in the NBA. He has career averages of 12 points and nine rebounds per game and has never averaged more than 13 points per game or less than eight rebounds per game. In five years Faried has essentially averaged the exact same numbers across the board despite having… well, five years to improve. And as statistics have shown, after about five years in the league, you pretty much are who you are.

Fans can chose to zero in on slight improvements to his game, and rightfully so. Faried is a better shooter since he came into the league. He’s developed a more well-rounded offensive attack with the occasional hook or jumpshot. He’s stronger and truly a better overall basketball player — as is to be expected. But Faried has also made no significant leaps in his production, nor has he hinted at any implications of wanting to diversify his game beyond improving in several minor areas. Faried, at 26, is exactly what his numbers betray: He’s one of the more prolific rebounding power forwards in the NBA, one of the most efficient scorers and at the same time one of the most undersized and limited on offense. Unfortunately in a league where you see guys like LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, Anthony Davis and Dirk Nowitzki on a nightly basis, dunks and putbacks just won’t get you very far. At some point (and I’m suggesting that point be right now) we have to acknowledge that Faried is never gonna be much more than he already has been.

2.) It’s all downhill from here

Faried’s highest trade value likely came last summer after making the all-tournament team at the FIBA World Cup where he was playing the best basketball of his career. At that point he’d just come off his third year in the league, was still relatively young and improving, and had played a key role in George Karl‘s uptempo offense that won the Nuggets 57 games the year prior. Not surprisingly this was also about the same time his name was being incessantly tossed round in trade rumors, along with virtually every other player on the roster during Shaw’s brief tenure in Denver.

Though Faried was never dealt, in truth the Nuggets may very well have been better off given how well he performed last summer with Team USA. Because the older Faried gets and the more plateaued his performances simultaneously remain, the less appeal he’ll have on the open market. Right now, given he’s still relatively young by NBA standards, Faried carries a substantial amount of attraction. But make no mistake, the once-sexy “Manimal” will soon no longer be seen as such a highly desired commodity once he approaches his 30s and still hasn’t improved much. At 26 Faried’s trade value has hit its peak and rival GMs will start taking notice if they haven’t already. The Nuggets would be wise to sell high while they still can.

3.) No defense? No thanks

In making the case for the Nuggets to deal Faried defense is at the heart of the matter. This is the root of the problem and everything else sprouts from here. If Faried was a solid defender, or even an average one with overwhelming gusto, I wouldn’t be writing this article right now. Unfortunately, Faried’s ineptitude leaves me no choice.

Though the Nuggets have a handful of players with malignant defensive deficiencies, none get near the amount of run as Faried and I’m not sure any are quite as outright awful as Faried for such pivotal and lengthy stretches throughout games. After the Nuggets blew a substantial halftime lead to the Phoenix Suns, coach Malone was quoted saying, “We have some guys on this team who pick and chose when to play hard,” and whether directed towards Faried or someone else the fact remains this message is more than applicable to Faried virtually every game when it comes to defense.

After five years in the NBA, plus four in college, it’s safe to assume Faried isn’t suddenly going to transform into a consistent defender, much less one who even understands defensive principles and responsibilities. If Malone, a defensive-minded guy, can’t get through to him, nobody will. And if the Nuggets ever do advance towards the playoffs in the coming years there’s no way they can grind out close games with a 6-foot-7-inch power forward who can’t play defense, which is exactly why it’d be wise to trim the fat now rather than having it combust under intense heat when it matters most.

4.) The kids are alright

If the Nuggets felt Ty Lawson was dispensable due to the arrival of Mudiay, they should feel no differently about Faried’s disposable nature thanks to the promising early performances from Jokic and Lauvergne. At ages 20 and 24 respectively, Jokic and Lauvergne are already younger and prone to more potential than Faried. With his first start against the Suns on Nov. 20th, Jokic has proven to have already earned the trust and confidence of Malone only 13 games into his rookie campaign; meanwhile, Lauvergne proved himself worthy of a leading role even prior to the season as he was Malone’s designated starting center on opening night. In addition to their youth and precociousness, both Jokic and Lauvergne are also significantly taller than Faried, better man defenders, more willing passers and have generally more effective basketball IQs.

As the Nuggets move forward there is simply no room for players who don’t buy into Malone’s defensive schemes or who flat out cannot defend at a high level. And though Jokic and Lauvergne will be deserving of even more playing time as the season and years progress, the Nuggets also have a fiscal interest in propagating this frontcourt foreign duo as they’re due a combined $9 million over six years in contrast to Faried’s $50 million over four.

5.) One man’s man is another man’s Manimal 

While Faried may harbor his fair share of weaknesses on the court, there’s no denying his popularity not only among Nuggets fans but around the league in general. People love his emphatic dunks and ability to sky for rebounds. Faried is easily marketable — with his flowing locks, big smile and catchy nickname — and plenty of teams would love a chance to get their hands on him and stimulate excitement around their franchise. Bottom dwellers bereft of talent like the Sixers and Nets could make waves in their fanbases with the addition of Faried, while up-and-coming teams like the Kings, Timberwolves and Celtics looking to add more talent to their already solid rotations would be equally as thrilled to upgrade their young rosters for years to come knowing Faried just inked a longterm deal only one year ago.

***

As the loudest voice in Nuggets Nation clamoring for then general manager Masai Ujiri to draft Faried in 2011, I’ve since remained a staunch Faried supporter in the four and a half years he’s been in Denver. And though I think it advantageous for the Nuggets to consider moving him I still love me some Manimal. But times change, as do regimes and coaches as well as tastes. In 2011 and in the following few years under Karl, Faried fit perfectly with the Nuggets’ fast-paced offense. But those teams never emphasized defense and therefore burned out when it mattered most. In a way, Faried’s talents as a player were a microcosm for the strengths and weaknesses of how those teams were structured.

Under the defensive-minded, fundamentally sound and more methodical techniques of Malone, Faried is out of place. Connelly, meanwhile, is surrounding Faried with players who are better defensively and who have higher ceilings and as a result his deficiencies are becoming ever more apparent each night. The Nuggets need defense at power forward. They need paint protection. And they need brute force. Faried offers none and therefore should be moved while his value is still high.

It’s been an exciting run for Faried in Denver, but for the sake of the Nuggets and for himself, it’s time the Manimal finds a different jungle to prowl.