The Denver Nuggets were one of the most active teams in the NBA once free agency started. The Nuggets improved their depth with the moves they made, giving up forward Michael Porter Jr. The front office turned Porter into Cameron Johnson, who’s also a reliable long-range shooter. He’s also cheaper, only earning $21 million for the 2025-26 season. Their former starting forward, meanwhile, will earn $38 million next season.
Denver also returned Bruce Brown on a one-year deal. Brown’s a player who played an important role in their NBA title quest in 2023. Additionally, the front office signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to a contract. He played excellent basketball with the Detroit Pistons last season, averaging 11 points on 36.8% from downtown. Lastly, they traded Dario Saric for Jonas Valančiūnas, giving Nikola Jokic a reliable backup center.
The moves that the Denver Nuggets have made have led fans and critics to applaud their management. One critic, who’s also a former NBA star, Charles Barkley, said that the Nuggets had one of the best offseasons, along with the Houston Rockets.
“I think (the Nuggets) and the Houston Rockets have probably had the best summers (in the NBA),” Barkley said in an interview with Sean Keeler of the Denver Post. “And (the Nuggets), they’ve got the best player in the world. They just needed some more depth. They kind of broke the team up after they won the first championship (2023), and that’s really unfortunate. (They’ve) still got the best player.”
He also spoke highly of the Nuggets’ playoff run, where they forced a Game 7 against the eventual champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“They probably had the best chance of beating OKC,” Barkley added. “So it’s not like they were that far off. But like I say, them and the Rockets have both had great summers. So that’s all you can say until they start playing. I thought, in no particular order, the Nuggets, the Rockets (and) the Hawks, those three teams had the best summers.”
Jonas Valančiūnas is ‘committed’ to the Denver Nuggets
The trade to land center Jonas Valančiūnas was one of the biggest moves the Denver Nuggets made this offseason. However, there was a miscommunication with his Lithuanian agent, as there were reports that he wanted to leave the NBA and join Panathinaikos in Europe.
Following some back and forth, it was reported that the big man is open to playing in the NBA for the last two years of his deal. The Lithuanian center expressed his plan to stay committed ti the franchise.
“I want to clear the air about my playing situation next season now that Denver has made their decision to keep me,” Valanciunas stated. “The idea of playing for Panathinaikos, closer to home, was very exciting to me, but that will have to wait.
“I am fully committed to honoring my contract with the Nuggets this season and will give it my all to compete for a championship.”
The Denver Nuggets are looking forward to having Valančiūnas in the team as they try to contend for the championship.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
