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2 Way-Too-Early Trades Nuggets Must Pull Off In 2023-24 NBA Season

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2 Way-Too-Early Trades Nuggets Must Pull Off In 2023-24 NBA Season


World champion or not, nobody can deny that the Denver Nuggets were the best team in the best league in the world last season. Led by perhaps the best player in the world Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets dominated the 2023 NBA playoffs to capture their first championship in franchise history. Denver’s main core of Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is still intact heading into the 2023-24 campaign as it looks to defend its crown.

However, the Nuggets did lose some key pieces who helped them raise the Larry O’Brien trophy last June — the most notable of them being Bruce Brown. Brown signed a fat two-year, $45 million contract with the Indiana Pacers. Veteran forward Jeff Green also left town and went to the Houston Rockets on a two-year, $16 million deal.

The Nuggets are banking on the growth of incoming sophomore Christian Braun, who had a stellar performance in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, to fill in some of the void left by Brown. They also signed Justin Holiday to a veteran’s minimum deal to add more depth.

Nonetheless, there are some players out there that the defending champs can still acquire to support their championship core. Here are two way-too-early trades the Denver Nuggets must pull off during the 2023-24 NBA season.

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Denver Nuggets receive: Alex Caruso

Chicago Bulls receive: Zeke Nnaji, Peyton Watson, Vlatko Cancar, 2024 2nd round pick

The Chicago Bulls deem this season as the “last chance” of the current core led by DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Nikola Vucevic to do something relevant. They missed the playoffs last year and flamed out in the first round in 2022. But the fact of the matter is, this current iteration of the Bulls isn’t going to make some noise this season. It’s going to be a lot like the last couple of years, especially with their glue guy Lonzo Ball out for the entire year. With that said, Chicago shouldn’t waste time and just blow up the roster already to kickstart a rebuild.

Should the Bulls front office come to their senses, the Denver Nuggets should immediately call and inquire about Alex Caruso. In exchange, the Nuggets could trade some seldom used young players like Zeke Nnaji and Payton Watson, whom the Bulls could work on and develop, along with Vlatko Cancar and a second round pick. That package should be enough for Chicago to part ways with Caruso, whom they signed in the 2021 offseason.

Caruso would be the perfect player to slot into Denver’s championship cast, especially after they lost Bruce Brown in the offseason. The 6-foot-4 guard would give them another terrific defender who could wreck havoc on the perimeter alongside his former Lakers teammate Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

The 29-year-old’s defensive efforts did not go unnoticed either. Caruso made the All-Defensive First Team after anchoring the Bulls to a top-five defensive rating in the league last season. Of players who played at least 60 games, he ranked 4th in deflections per game and 12th in steals per game.

Denver finished 15th in defensive rating during the 2022-23 season. Since 2000, the Nuggets had the second-lowest defensive rating of a team that went on to win the championship, behind the 2001 Lakers who were 21st. It’s clear that the Nuggets need upgrades in that department and the addition of Caruso would certainly help.

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Brooklyn Nets receive: Zeke Nnaji, Peyton Watson, Vlatko Cancar, 2024 2nd round pick

The Denver Nuggets could ideally use the same package to trade for Royce O’Neale of the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets are in a weird situation heading into the 2023-24 season. They ideally should be hitting the reset button after they traded Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving midway through the 2022-23 campaign. But they acquired a budding star in Mikal Bridges, who could be the face of their franchise moving forward.

Brooklyn doesn’t really have much of an incentive to tank this season or even the next, given they don’t have their own picks for 2024 and 2025. Nonetheless, the Nets may want to cash in on O’Neale’s expiring $9.5 million contract and get more assets instead of just letting him walk away for nothing. If Brooklyn makes O’Neale available, the Nuggets should try to go after him.

O’Neale is a lot more like Bruce Brown in the sense that he plays much bigger than his 6-foot-4 frame. He carries a lot of what Brown brought to the table with his defense, hustle plays, and three-point shooting.

In 76 games with the Nets last season, the 30-year-old actually posted a career-best 8.8 points per game to go along with 5.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists. While Caruso may be the better defender, O’Neale, a career 38.4 percent three-point shooter, is a better option from the perimeter.



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Denver, CO

‘I’m good.’ Bengals’ Amarius Mims says he’ll play vs. Denver Broncos after ankle injury

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‘I’m good.’ Bengals’ Amarius Mims says he’ll play vs. Denver Broncos after ankle injury


Amarius Mims thinks he’ll be ready for the biggest game of the Cincinnati Bengals’ season.

In Sunday’s win over the Cleveland Browns, Mims, an offensive tackle, was hampered by an ankle injury. He was in and out of the game as he battled the injury.

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With a make-or-break home game against the Denver Broncos coming Saturday, Mims told The Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway he anticipated playing in the game.

“No, I’m good,” Mims told The Enquirer in the Bengals’ locker room post-game.

Absent Mims, the Bengals would be thin at tackle. That would make for less than ideal circumstances for quarterback Joe Burrow in a game of real significance.

After dropping to 4-8 on Dec. 1, the Bengals have played their way back to 7-8 and are attempting to overtake several teams including the Broncos for the final AFC Wild Card spot.

Saturday’s game against Denver is scheduled for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff and will be broadcast on NFL Network.

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Suns lookahead: Phoenix looks to end Christmas skid in holiday matchup vs. Denver Nuggets

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Suns lookahead: Phoenix looks to end Christmas skid in holiday matchup vs. Denver Nuggets


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The Phoenix Suns will play in their fourth consecutive Christmas Day game Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets at Footprint Center.

The week begins with a Monday game at Denver and finishes with a back-to-back set: Friday’s home game against the Dallas Mavericks and Saturday’s matchup at Golden State.

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It’s nice to play on the most celebrated holiday of the year, especially at home.

Family and loved ones in town. Everyone watching on national television.

A festive time for celebrating and gift-giving, but the Grinch keeps showing up and ruining Christmas for the Suns.

Phoenix is 1-7 in its past eight Christmas games, losing the past three to the Golden State Warriors, 116-107, in 2021; at the Denver Nuggets, 128-125 in overtime, in 2022; and against Dallas, 128-114, last year.

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What’s even crazier is the Suns lost to teams that either won an NBA championship or reached the finals that season.

The Warriors won it all in the 2021-22 season, the Nuggets took it in 2022-23 and the Mavericks advanced to the finals before losing to the 2023-24 NBA champion Boston Celtics.

The Suns last won on Christmas in 2009, beating the Los Angeles Clippers, 124-93, at home. Phoenix went more than 10 seasons without playing on the holiday until the 2021-22 season, the year after it reached the 2021 finals.

Phoenix is 12-9 overall on Christmas.

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Christmas 2021: Curry leads Warriors past Suns

The Suns played the centerpiece Christmas game in 2021 against the Warriors during their historic 64-win season. They entered the marquee matchup with a 26-5 record and on a five-game winning streak, but lost at home.

Phoenix bolstered the best home record that season at 32-9 with one of those rare losses coming on Christmas. The Suns didn’t score in the final three minutes while Otto Porter Jr. scored the game’s final seven points.

Stephen Curry punched out a game-high 33 points to go with six assists to just one turnover while Chris Paul led the Suns with 21 points and eight assists to two turnovers and six rebounds.

Devin Booker managed just 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting.

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Christmas 2022: Booker injured early, Suns fall in OT

In 2022, the Suns lost Booker within the first five minutes of their Christmas loss to the Nuggets at Ball Arena in Denver as he aggravated a groin injury. Scoring just two points, he had missed the previous three games.

Landry Shamet came off the bench to deliver 31 points to match a career-high, and Nikola Jokic posted another insane triple-double of 41 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists, but the game will forever be remembered for Aaron Gordon’s ferocious one-handed dunk in overtime over Shamet, who tried to take the charge on the play.

Gordon was first called for an offensive foul, but after review, the call was overturned because Shamet was ruled outside of the restricted area.

Gordon missed the ensuing free throw, but his dunk gave Denver a 126-123 lead with 24 seconds left.

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Christmas 2023: Doncic 50-piece dooms Suns

Then last season, Luka Doncic cooked the Suns for 50 points in leading Dallas to victory at Footprint Center. Shooting 8-of-16 from 3, Doncic became the seventh-fastest to reach 10,000 career points.

Grayson Allen scored a team-high 32 points to lead the Suns, going 8-of-17 from 3 while Kevin Durant and Booker combined for just 36 points on 10-of-25 shooting.

The Suns were without Bradley Beal (right ankle sprain) and Jusuf Nurkic (personal reasons) while the Mavericks won despite Kyrie Irving being sidelined due to a heel injury.

The Suns now have another chance to win on Christmas.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-810-5518. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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Denver, CO

Esther Romero

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Esther Romero



Esther Romero


OBITUARY

Esther Romero (Lopez), 84, entered into eternal rest surrounded by her loving family. Born in Mt. Harris, Colorado, a small coal mining town near Steamboat Springs, her family moved to Denver in 1950. She graduated from North High School in 1957 and was the first in her family to attend college. She left for Colorado State College now UNC in 1958 where she soon met the love of her life and future husband Richard Romero. Esther graduated in 1961, married a week later, and together moved to Castle Rock where she began her career as an educator. Before long they returned to Denver where their three daughters were born. In 1972, Esther became one of Denver Public Schools first bilingual bicultural teachers and soon earned her Masters Degree from UNC. A passionate advocate, she understood the value of building a strong educational foundation in a child’s home language and honoring culture while also learning English. She taught at Elmwood, Del Pueblo, and Fairmont elementaries. A founding member of the Congress of Hispanic Educators (CHE), Esther served as president for many years helping to ensure children in DPS had access to a quality bilingual education. She continued this work through her final days. Esther taught for 30 years, was recognized as a master teacher of children, an exceptional mentor and coach to future educators, and served as a liaison between CU-Denver and DPS. She was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma.

Esther enjoyed traveling with family and friends to Mexico, Europe, South America, the Caribbean, and almost all fifty states. She and Richard were avid Broncos fans holding season tickets since 1970, traveling to two Super Bowls. She loved organizing family gatherings, gambling trips, camping, reading, puzzles, and playing games with family. She had the unique ability to make everyone feel seen, heard, valued, and loved.

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She was preceded in death by her parents Luis and Tommie G. Lopez, devoted husband Richard Romero, brother Baltazar Lopez ( Lourdes) and survived by her loving daughters Rosana (Dean) Trujillo, Carla (Arturo) Perez, Diana (John) Romero Campbell, and her grandchildren Arturito, Juliana, Claudia, Sofia, Orlando, Geronimo and Alicia, her sister Alice (Joe) Marquez, brothers Louie (Pat dec.) Lopez, Davey (Pat dec.) Lopez, Robert (Shari) Lopez, Ray (Melva) Lopez, and numerous extended family members. Please see www.cfcscolorado.org for service details.



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