Denver Nuggets

While the Memphis Grizzlies are a younger team trying to gain playoff experience, the Denver Nuggets have plenty of experience and are trying to figure out ways to make it to the NBA Finals. Last season, they reached the Western Conference Finals after being down 3-1 in the first-round of the playoffs and in the Western Conference Semis. 

This team has Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray as their two star players, but outside of them, there are a lot of question marks surrounding this team. Michael Porter Jr. has been out due to healthy and safety protocols set in place by the league and with Paul Millsap, Will Barton and Gary Harris being inconsistent, they could use another reliable role player to bring in off the bench and provide some depth next to Jokic in the frontcourt. 

This season, the Nuggets currently finds themselves near the bottom of the league in field goal percentage, which is not the formula for making it to the NBA Finals, yet alone the playoffs at that rate! Denver is currently sitting outside of the playoff picture in the West and while it is early, this season only consists of 72-games and we are about 17% through the season already! 

There is not much time for “hiccups,” which is why the Nuggets need to make a move and bring in Al Horford. His ability to knock down jumpers from anywhere on the court and his abilities to be a passer out of the low-post could be very valuable to Denver, a team that likes to run a lot of motion action on the perimeter to get shooters open. 

While he would not join the team and be their third scoring option, Horford could definitely provide solid minutes next to Jokic and Millsap in their frontcourt, which would also give the Nuggets one of the most experienced frontcourts in the entire league. Both Millsap and Horford were also teammates with the Hawks years ago, giving the Nuggets two guys who have a proven chemistry of winning with one-another. 

All-in-all, the Nuggets could trade for Al Horford from the OKC Thunder at a relatively low price and his presence would definitely help the Nuggets on the offensive end of the court, not to mention in rebounding as well.