Best Move By Nuggets In 2023 NBA Free Agency

When the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement was ratified, the Denver Nuggets were almost certainly going to be a team that was hurt by it. Due to salary cap restraints, it was always a strong possibility that the Nuggets weren’t going to be able to retain all of their championship core. Sure enough, they Nuggets were unable to keep two key rotation players in Bruce Brown and Jeff Green who signed with the Indiana Pacers and the Houston Rockets, respectively. With little money to spend in NBA free agency, the Nuggets were tasked with trying to add pieces to keep their championship window open. The Nuggets did manage to make a strong NBA free agency signing with veteran wing Justin Holiday who has been their best move of the offseason so far.

Nuggets head coach Michael Malone runs a tight rotation so the main point of having depth for the Nuggets is for emergency purposes in case of injury. The re-signed DeAndre Jordan and Reggie Jackson, both of whom did not feature prominently in the rotation during the second half of the regular season and in the playoffs. But of of the Nuggets top three bench players last season, only Christian Braun, who is a second-year player, remains.

The Nuggets should look to internal development to shore up their rotation as they have a talented young guard on the roster in Peyton Watson who was their 2022 first round draft pick. But even so, they needed a veteran, consistent wing presence off the bench and that’s why the Nuggets grabbing Justin Holiday in NBA free agency was such a great pickup.

A ten-year NBA veteran, Holiday has been a solid role player for pretty much ever team he’s been on. He isn’t going to replace the production that Bruce Brown, but he’s almost like a Bruce Brown-lite version. Malone hasn’t always played his young players and so it’s highly likely that Holiday begins the season ahead of Peyton Watson on the depth chart.

Holiday spent last season with the Dallas Mavericks after the Atlanta Hawks traded him the Houston Rockets and Rockets bought out his contract. He didn’t feature prominently in the Mavs rotation playing in only 18 games including two starts. He averaged 4.4 points and 1.8 rebounds with splits of 36.7 percent shooting from the field, 28.6 percent shooting from the three-point line and 62.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

While those numbers don’t look very promising, it was more of a case of him not really having a defined role. He’s not too far removed from being a solid role player for the Pacers. From 2019-2022, Holiday was a key rotation piece for the Pacers with averages of 9.8 points per game, 3.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals with 38.8 percent shooting from the three-point line. With a more defined role and regular minutes, Holiday should be able to get back to a similar level of production.

It’s not just the offensive side of the ball where Holiday can help the Nuggets. He’s always been a strong defensive player and has been tasked with taking on tough defensive assignments throughout his career. The Nuggets will have the option of starting out Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on opposing teams best wing scorer and then countering with Holiday off the bench.

The Nuggets were always going to be at a disadvantage going into NBA free agency, but the Justin Holiday signing has the potential to be very solid.