Draft picks: 14-ish,43,58
Signed for next season ($107.4m): C Paul Millsap, SG Gary Harris, PF Kenneth Faried, PF Mason Plumlee, SF Wilson Chandler, SF Darrell Arthur, PG Jamal Murray, PF Trey Lyles, SF Juan Hernangomez, PF Tyler Lydon, SG Malik Beasley, SF Nikola Jokic
Morris and Craig are on 2-way contracts. Harris and Jefferson are expendable and while I'm guessing they'd love to bring back Barton, I don't think they will have the resources.
First things first: Jokic needs to get paid this summer. He's clearly shown he's a badass and he's currently the cheapest player on their roster. They may or may not give him a raise this year (if I were Jokic's agent I'd want more money sooner but the team does have the leverage) but signing Jokic to an extension is the first order of business.
The Nuggets have good size on the bench already (Lyles, Hernangomez, Lydon) and since they've shown a propensity to draft combo guards, it feels like Khyri Thomas (Creighton) at #14 could be a good fit. And how about Shake Miltom (SMU) at #43? The #58 is generally best utilized on some random European prospect but would they be interested if Rawle Alkins (Arizona) was still there?
Wilson Chandler ($12.8m) and Darrell Arthur have player options ($7.4m), both of whom I would assume will opt in (though I'd rather have the money if I were the Nuggets). Money's tight and after signing Jokic and bringing in a lottery pick, there won't be much left over for free agents. If they could dump the last $13.7m they owe Faried that would give them some flexibility. (Question: could they swap the final year of Faried for the virtually identical final year of Tyson Chandler? Couldn't they then waive Chandler (and the Suns could waive Faried) without affecting the cap? Not sure but I think it would work)
For now the lineup looks like: PG Murray, SG Harris, SF Chandler, PF Millsap, C Jokic with Beasley, Lyles, Hernangomez, Plumee and #14 pick off the bench (no more Will Barton). This is pretty much what got them to the brink of the playoffs. If they can get more minutes out of Millsap and continued maturation from Murray, Harris, Jokic, Beasley and Lyles, that should get them close again next year. Next summer they'll have money to spend and a lot of team options, allowing them to move on from Millsap if it doesn't work or reconfigure the youth movement. Looks like the plan is to build up the core, keep pushing toward the post-season and make a big splash next summer.
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