JaMychal Green to OKC: What the trade means for Denver's present and future

The Calvin Booth era in Denver is off and running.

News broke Monday that the Nuggets are trading JaMychal Green and a protected 2027 1st round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for the 30th overall pick in this year’s draft. Denver’s also acquiring second-round picks in 2023 and 2024 from OKC. Green picked up his player option worth $8.2 million next season to facilitate the deal, which was reported by ESPN.

Here’s what Denver accomplished with the trade:

The Nuggets are still slated and expected to be a luxury tax team next season, but save around $20 million in salary and luxury tax payments in this trade. Denver gets off of Green, who was viewed as a negative asset, and pockets another 1st round pick for later this month that the Nuggets can use in a trade or simply to select another player.

First, expect the Nuggets to make more trades in the coming weeks. At this point, I’d be very surprised if they didn’t based on what I’m hearing. Booth wants to act aggressively and swiftly this summer in shaping this roster in his vision around Nikola Jokic. Also, I don’t think it’s a lock that the Nuggets don’t use both of their first-round picks — 21st and now 30th overall — in the draft. That will be dependent on what other moves Denver makes over the next week-plus, but I’m not ruling it out. With so much money tied up in Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon’s salaries, cheap, low-cost draft picks on rookie deals could be gold mines for this team.

Secondly, the Nuggets can also use the $6.4 million taxpayer mid-level exception if needed, or an $8.2 million trade exception that was created by moving Green to upgrade the roster. Denver has some flexibility and wiggle room now to trade for a quality player with less salary on its books.

Green was expendable and always looked at as one of the more likely players on the Nuggets’ roster to get traded this summer. Zeke Nnaji overtook Green in the rotation in January of last season, although Nnaji’s emergence coincided with a Green injury. Green then re-took his rotation spot when knee soreness pretty much shut Nnaji down for the season in February. Still, I think Nnaji would have entered next season ahead of Green on the Nuggets’ depth chart. Nnaji has been one of the few players working out in Denver at the Nuggets’ practice facility over the last few weeks, and Booth is known to be high on soon-to-be third-year forward.

But the Nuggets will miss some of the intangibles that Green brought to this roster and locker room. Jokic loved sharing the floor with Green and gave him a lifetime endorsement in January of 2021 by saying he wants to play with the forward for the rest of his career. There’s something to be said for that endorsement. Jokic doesn’t hand those out easily. He really enjoyed having Green as a role player but I don’t think he’ll lose sleep over his departure.

Green also brought a toughness and played with an edge that this roster lacked before his and then DeMarcus Cousins’ arrival midway through last season. I’d think that Denver places more of a priority on retaining Cousins after trading Green.

Part of this trade saves Nuggets ownership a whole bunch of money. But even I can admit that it’s the right move to make if Green’s just going to be sitting on your bench next season and out of the rotation. This deal is more about the Nuggets opening up more flexibility for improving their roster this summer. Maybe Denver replaces Green with a player whose skill-set fits what it needs more than Green’s did.

Over the last several weeks, the rumblings around Ball Arena following Tim Connelly’s departure were that Booth would act aggressively as Denver’s top basketball decision-maker. He wasn’t going to be afraid to reshape this team and put his imprint on the Nuggets’ roster and organization. This is the first of what’s expected to be a slew of moves from Booth this summer.