The Denver Nuggets currently hold a 14-10 record and are positioned as the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference through their first 24 games of the new season.
While three-time NBA MVP center Nikola Jokić is continuing to dominate the rest of the league with incredible averages of 30.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 9.9 assists on a 64.4% true shooting percentage, the team has struggled at times in 2024-25.
The 2023 NBA champions have received subpar contributions from their reserve depth outside of their young bench tandem of guard Christian Braun and forward Peyton Watson. This is a symptom of multiple effective role players leaving the franchise in free agency over the past few years.
Now relying solely on their top prospects and deep reserves to produce, Denver’s bench sits as the No. 27 ranked scoring bench this season averaging 26.3 points.
As the Feb. 6 trade deadline approaches, the Nuggets’ general manager Calvin Booth could be tempted to swing for the fences in the trade market.
Recent reports have indicated that Denver has maintained interest or held discussions revolving around several offensive weapons that could help resuscitate the Nuggets’ bench, including a budding star and Sixth Man of the Year candidate forward from the Atlanta Hawks, De’Andre Hunter.
“As a result, the Nuggets have either expressed interest in, or have had preliminary trade discussions on the following players: Chicago’s Zach LaVine, Washington’s Jordan Poole, Utah’s Jordan Clarkson, Atlanta’s De’Andre Hunter, Brooklyn’s Cam Johnson and Washington’s Jonas Valančiūnas,” wrote Tony Jones and Sam Amick of The Athletic Tuesday.
The Hawks’ former No. 4 overall selection in the 2019 NBA Draft, Hunter has seen an incredible rise in productivity for a team that’s surprised plenty as a dark horse contender in the Eastern Conference.
As one of the leading choices for Sixth Man of the Year award honors this season, Hunter’s exponential improvement has led to trade rumors and speculation of an even more established contender like Denver potentially landing the versatile 27-year-old.
“De’Andre Hunter is averaging 19.3 points and 4.0 rebounds for the Atlanta Hawks and is a potential Sixth Man of the Year candidate, so it seems hard for the Hawks to let him go without future assets coming back,” shared Fadeaway World’s Ishaan Bhattacharya Tuesday evening.
Hunter’s 44.9% accuracy from the three-point line also looks to be attractive to Denver, as the franchise ranks No. 7 in the league with a 38.0% collective shooting accuracy from distance.
In a deal for Hunter, Denver would likely ship contracts like Zeke Nnaji’s $8 million salary to Atlanta along with one of either Braun or Watson and draft compensation to sweeten the pot.
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