The Nuggets have wanted to get out from under the $13.7 million salary of Kenneth Faried for a while now. Years.
With one year left on his contract, the Nuggets found a taker in the Brooklyn Nets.
From Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.The Denver Nuggets agreed to trade forwards Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur, a 2019 protected first-round pick and a 2020 second-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets, league sources told ESPN.
The Nuggets acquire guard Isaiah Whitehead in the trade, whom they’ll waive, league sources said.
The deal frees $21 million in salary that potentially saves Denver $43 million in payroll and luxury tax in 2018-19
The protection on that 2019 first-round pick is 1-12.
As noted, for Denver this is all about the cash savings — they just re-signed Nikola Jokic to a max extension and things are going to get expensive. They have a roster that should get them into the playoffs (but in a tight Western Conference they need to stay healthy) and this makes that more affordable.
For Brooklyn, they will have the cap space for two max contracts next summer, some solid young payers in the fold (Jarrett Allen, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, maybe D’Angelo Russell), and now a couple of first round picks. New GM Sean Marks has done a great job putting this roster in a position to build going forward. Whether they can attract elite free agents remains to be seen, but they are finally out of the hole the previous regime dug. Now they have a chance.