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The potential impending tear-down of the Denver Nuggets may or may not include the team's two franchise pieces in Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried.
We know. We love the uncertainty of trade deadline week, too.
The Nuggets aren't just going to publicly put their cards on the table, but no team has been mentioned more frequently as major sellers, with names like Wilson Chandler and Arron Afflalo available and Timofey Mozgov already shipped out. It's believed that their remodeling could include their long-term core pieces, if the deal is right, but that remains to be seen.
As Zach Lowe of Grantland wrote Monday:
The more interesting questions surround Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried. Denver isn’t shopping those guys, but Jusuf Nurkic is the only true untouchable on the roster, per several league sources who have dealt with the Nuggets. The sense around the league is that you could land Lawson or Faried with a Godfather offer. They are gettable. Boston and Denver have had exploratory talks about Lawson, per several sources.
Lawson is the more intriguing name, if only because there are material suitors and because Faried's four-year, $50-million extension makes him a somewhat difficult piece to trade. The Nuggets being willing to simply listen on Lawson speaks to just how aggressively they may reshape their roster in the coming months, even if nothing is imminent.
So far, no teams have called with enough of an offer to keep the Nuggets on the line, according to Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post.
The Boston Celtics probably aren't willing to sell the farm for two years of Lawson, who is already 27 years old. Though, the deadline can do strange things to contenders, especially if another team takes a jump early enough to allow for reactionary moves.
Given they're willing to listen on two core pieces, no rumor out of Denver should surprise in the coming days.
