Each weekday, our DNVR Nuggets crew will be tackling one question about the Nuggets season in a round table format. Members, leave the questions that you’d like to see our writers answer in the comments section below and Harrison, Adam and Brendan will address them on an upcoming episode of the DNVR Nuggets Podcast.
Which current Nuggets players will not be on the roster to start next season?
Adam Mares: Paul Millsap
There are plenty of reasons to believe Paul Millsap could stick around beyond this year. Last summer, Millsap talked about wanting to be in Denver for much longer and having a “story” that he wanted to tell his way. Back then, it sure sounded like that story meant finishing his career in Denver.
But do the Denver Nuggets need him? Jerami Grant was beginning to blossom as a front court running mate to Nikola Jokic and is only entering his prime. Millsap, on the other hand, was in and out of the lineup for the 3rd season in a row and starting to show signs of slowing down. 250 lb athletes don’t always age slowly and gracefully. Often times, the decline is sudden and steep.
The Nuggets could re-sign Millsap with the assumption that he’d segue into a sort of end-of-bench veteran who is only sparsely called upon to play real minutes but Millsap likely sees himself as something more than that. Then there is the question of continuity vs. bringing in new voices, new talents, and new personalities. The Nuggets are in need of an edge. Millsap is smart, unselfish, and hard working, but he isn’t exactly an intimidating force. If the Nuggets believe that they need some new blood in the lockerroom, Millsap might be one of the guys out the door.
Brendan Vogt: Mason Plumlee, Troy Daniels
The Nuggets were nearing a postseason in which Plumlee’s ideal role is a limited one. Dever has already overpaid him, and he might desire a more significant role on another team, especially should one feel inclined to pay him like a starter. Three bigs are enough in the postseason, and if you have confidence in both Paul Millsap and Jerami Grant returning, as I do, then it makes a lot of sense for the two parties to move on.
Grant found a groove with the starters and proved so many who thought he’d be a great fit in Denver to be right. The front office has likely identified him as a candidate, if not the preferred power forward to slot alongside their young core. Millsap is entering the final phase of his career, and winning his first championship is, of course, vital to him.
He’s on the record as wanting to finish what he’s started here and doesn’t hold back when speaking on this team’s talent and capabilities. My read is he’s identified this group as the one to help him get to the promised-land finally.
Troy Daniels shouldn’t require much of an explanation. He’s unlikely to see much time in a Nuggets uniform, if any at all, and entering unrestricted free agency.
Harrison Wind: Mason Plumlee, Torrey Craig, Troy Daniels
The Nuggets are set up to pay Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, who’s max contract kicks in next season, Will Barton, Gary Harris, Michael Porter Jr., Monte Morris, Keita Bates-Diop and Vlatko Cancar around $100 million combined next year which would put Denver comfortably under the projected salary cap of roughly $115 million for the 2020-21 season. But who knows how the current hiatus and the potential cancellation of remainder of the season will impact next season’s cap and luxury tax threshold. Currently, that threshold is estimated to be around $139 million.
That should give the Nuggets enough room to sign Jerami Grant (who has a $9.4 million player option for next season) to a new contract and then have some money to work with. I’d think Denver would want to bring back Paul Millsap, who would have to likely agree to at least a 50% cut in salary from the $30 million he’s making this season, but both sides have given off the signals that they want to work something out.
The Nuggets can re-sign backup center Noah Vonleh as their Mason Plumlee replacement while I think Torrey Craig finds a new home in free agency as well. The biggest question the Nuggets have to answer is whether or not Gary Harris and Will Barton will open the season as their starting shooting and small forward, or if Michael Porter Jr. will be elevated into the starting lineup. The Nuggets surely thought they would have an answer to that conundrum after a playoff run but who knows what the rest of the season or postseason will look like in a few months from now if it gets played at all. The suspension of the season and uncertainty around the next several months made this decision more difficult.
