Dorothy

The Nuggets technically create a $10.2 million trade exception by making this deal... except as a second apron team already, they can't use it. They also can't aggregate salaries without getting under the second apron, which will be fairly tough. So realistically, their path to using that pick as a trade asset this year would most likely involve trading away a starter. I Christian Braun as the NBA's ninth-worst contract. It would cost that pick just to get someone to take him. They could move Cam Johnson on an expiring contract, but this is already a low-volume 3-point shooting team. They really can't afford to lose him. Aaron Gordon is Mr. Nugget. He's also stylistically irreplaceable.

At this point, I'm not sure it's ever fair to consider the Nuggets fringe contenders. They'll have the same opening night starters that they did a year ago, but have since lost their Sixth Man of the Year finalist (Tim Hardaway Jr.), their backup center (Jonas Valančiūnas) and now, their best young player (Watson) following a first-round loss to a Minnesota Timberwolves team that ended that series essentially without its entire guard rotation. It's a sad decline for a team that once had dynastic potential.

This was the double-edged sword of Watson turning a corner and becoming a valuable secondary piece for Denver. The better he performed, the higher his price tag eventually climbed this summer.