Report: Nuggets 'aggressively' shopping Faried, Hawks willing to absorb salary
In an attempt to shed salary ahead of a potentially tricky offseason, the Denver Nuggets are "aggressively" shopping power forward Kenneth Faried, a source told Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Faried is owed $13.8 million on the final year of his contract in 2018-19, and the Atlanta Hawks would be willing to take that salary into their cap space in exchange for an asset from the Nuggets, be it a draft pick or a young player, the source told Cunningham.
Faried, once seen as an important part of the Nuggets' future, still has value as an energizer, rim-runner, and rebounder. But his inability to stretch the floor, pass, or protect the rim ultimately rendered his role in Denver - and, perhaps, the modern NBA as a whole - obsolete. He played in just 32 games last season, averaging 5.9 points and 4.8 rebounds.
The Nuggets own the No. 14 pick in the coming draft, but might be reticent to trade it - especially if all it's bringing them is salary relief - given how dealing their late-lottery pick on draft night last year worked out.
But the Nuggets are in a bit of a bind financially, and have a particularly interesting decision to make on franchise cornerstone Nikola Jokic this summer.
If Wilson Chandler exercises his player option, the Nuggets will already be over the cap. And, if they decline Jokic's $1.6-million team option and extend him instead - so as to prevent him from hitting unrestricted free agency next summer - they'll be in luxury-tax territory, an unpalatable situation for a team that struggles to draw fans and hasn't made the playoffs in five years. That's without even mentioning Will Barton, a crucial bench scorer who is about to become an unrestricted free agent.
The Hawks, meanwhile, are in the midst of a full-scale rebuild, and already own three first-round picks in this draft, including No. 3 overall. They project to have at least $25 million in cap space this summer, and will likely look for any opportunity to absorb salary as a means of acquiring more long-term assets.