Wn after drawing… [+]Denver Post via GETTY IMAGES
Midway into the 2023 NBA Finals, the Denver Nuggets made an unexpected move for a team in their situation. They executed a swap.
On the same day that they took a 3-1 series lead over the Miami Heat, the Nuggets sold a top-five protected 2029 first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for a late 2024 first-rounder, the 37th overall pick in the 2023 lottery, and a 2024 second-rounder. It could end up being an excellent exchange for both parties.https://soccerhuz.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/9d1f462a677cdf6563315567ff158971529f970368f7050ad258b6cf93987e04-1.webp
The Nuggets, who won the NBA championship last year, are firmly in a win-now mode. Parting with a lightly protected distant first-rounder in exchange for three picks in the next two years was a no-brainer, especially given the league’s new collective bargaining agreement.
The new CBA established a second salary-cap apron, which is set $17.5 million over the luxury-tax line this year, and imposes harsh trade and free-agency restrictions on any teams that exceed it. Teams above the second apron do not have a mid-level exception in free agency, cannot aggregate contracts in trades, and cannot receive more money than they give out in transactions, among other restrictions.
