The Denver Nuggets were one of the top scoring teams in the league last season and after making it into the playoffs as a four seed, the team blew up the franchise and brought in a new head coach in Brian Shaw and now reports suggest the team could have more changes, as they have possibly shopped young star Kenneth Faried.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, Grantland.com writer Zach Lowe wrote about reports that he heard that the team has shopped their young forward in his article on bold predictions for the NBA season and he says one is that the team will trade Faried. The article calls it a guess and he speculates that the Nuggets could move him for draft picks and/or a younger player, as he may not be the best fit for Brian Shaw and what he is looking to do this season.
The team has a tough choice to make anyway, as Faried is coming into the second to last year of his rookie deal and they will have to decide whether he is worth re-signing to an extension and if not, they may decide to deal him this year. Last season Faried averaged over nine rebounds per game to lead the team and back when he was drafted, the Knicks and Bulls were reportedly interested in signing him and that's one reason why they are mentioned in the post as possible destinations, although nothing has been official yet.
Denver is sort of rebuilding after trading away Andre Iguodala in a sign and trade deal with the Warriors and the team could be looking for an idea of what's out there if Faried were to get dealt. If he is traded before the season it could end up looking like the James Harden deal to the Rockets, which came right before the season started. Faried is a durable player and he started all but two games last season and averaged 14.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocked shots in his adjusted minutes according to SI.com.
Faried has a $2.2 million option next year making him attractive to keep and attractive to deal and if the Nuggets hear something they like, they could go after a move before the deadline. Last season the team was upset in the first round by the Warriors and they are coming into the season as the number one ranked team in scoring after averaging over 105 points per game and Faried helped the team rank second in the league in assist per game last year.
