The Denver Nuggets were a wild card earlier in the offseason for the Kevin Love trade and now reports have the team looking at a trade for Ricky Rubio with the Timberwolves, as he is looking to sign a new contract and players like Kenneth Faried, Ty Lawson or JaVale McGee could get moved in a deal with the Timberwolves and this comes as Minnesota is negotiating with the Cavaliers about Love.
The Nuggets had a rough season last year after previously winning 50 games and with Faried coming up to free agency, the team has started talks, but if things don't work out, a trade could go down. According to Pro Basketball Talk, Faried is in line to get a decent pay raise and he could get a massive contract on the free agent market and that gives him some leverage. The website also reports that Rubio is looking for a five year max contract and while that could be just the start of negotiations, it could get tough depending on what happens with the Love deal.
Faried likely will make more than $10 million and could be in line for a deal between $15 million and $17 million depending on what happens with the Nuggets. PBT also reported that the Nuggets thought about jumping into the Kevin Love trade talks. Earlier in the offseason the team was planning on offering Faried with Wilson Chandler and Arron Afflalo if they could acquire him and they did that with the Orlando Magic. The Nuggets clearly are not in on the Love deal now, as the Bulls and Cavs are leading, but they could push for Rubio depending on how those deals end up.
Rubio is a very solid player with potential, but he is not a max player right now and that could be what gets the team to start moving on a trade eventually. Minnesota wants NBA ready players for their deals with Love and they are hoping to get names like Taj Gibson, Klay Thompson or Andrew Wiggins. Love has been the primary trade target all offseason and now the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors are chasing him.
The Cavaliers at first were not willing to deal Wiggins, but they have relented on that and now they are offering him. The Cavs can't trade him for 30 days once he signs and while reports say that isn't an issue, the Bulls could jump in and make the deal during that time. The Bulls have a great package they can send and it likely will include Taj Gibson, Jimmy Butler and either Nikola Mirotic or Mike Dunleavy and that could be in line with what the Wolves want.
The Nuggets and Faried will start talking and depending on how those go, he could get traded or a deal could get done. The free agent market is shaping up with Love if he stays along with Rajon Rondo, LaMarcus Aldridge and Marc Gasol. Those names will surely get chased by the big teams and if the Nuggets want to make a move ahead of time, it could net them another star rather than lose Faried later on.