NBA FREE AGENCY
Key Free Agents: F Paul Millsap (2020-21 salary – $10M), G/F Will Barton ($14.9M – Player Option), F JaMychal Green ($7.6M – Player Option)
Other Free Agents: C JaVale McGee ($4.2M), G Austin Rivers ($300K), G Shaquille Harrison (Two-Way), G Markus Howard (Two-Way)
Trading for Aaron Gordon at the NBA trade deadline this year acted as one of the Nuggets potential free agent moves this offseason since he is taking up $18M in cap space under his contract, but Denver still has some moves to make and decide on. Paul Millsap and Will Barton are the Nuggets’ two biggest free agents this offseason and both could potentially be on the move elsewhere.
Barton will be one of the most talked about potential free agents available this offseason, but he could still decide to return to Denver next season since he has a $14.9M player option for the 2021-22 season. It is expected that Barton will opt out of his contract though since he had a strong season, averaging 12.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.9 steals and shooting 38.1% from deep.
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Will Barton is the epitome of a “3-and-D” wing in today’s NBA and given his length and athleticism, he is a guy that could become a key piece on many playoff-contending teams. Barton joined the Nuggets organization during the 2014-15 season and has been playing for them since.
Paul Millsap is set to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason, but the market for him is not expected to be that big. A couple contending teams could show interest in the 36-year-old veteran, but it is expected that he will be willing to take on a lesser contract to come back to the Nuggets.
If he is unwilling to come down on his price though, Denver will have no problem letting him go in free agency since they have a bunch of younger players that can probably contribute just as much as Millsap has and potentially at a higher-rate than he did.
JaMychal Green and JaVale McGee are also two interesting names to keep an eye on as Nuggets’ free agents this offseason. Green has a $7.6M player option for next season that he will have to make a decision on before July 26 and McGee is a veteran center that Denver traded for at the NBA trade deadline.
JaVale McGee is expected to receive a lot more interest league-wide than many would imagine, so unless Denver is willing to offer him $5M+ per year, he will likely go and sign with another contending team.
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Even if Will Barton opts out of his contract and let’s say JaMychal Green does as well, the Nuggets still would not have much salary space to go after a bunch of guys when free agency begins, which is why their attention will be on retaining the contracts of both Barton and Green. After losing Jerami Grant in free agency last year, Will Barton’s role with this team has increased and next to Michael Porter Jr. on the wing, he has become a very valuable asset for the Nuggets on both ends of the court.
Losing Will Barton would be a big loss for the Nuggets that they likely would not be able to replicate right away, which was quickly seen in Denver’s playoff run this year. Barton did not play until the final few games of the Western Conference Semifinals, which hurt the Nuggets significantly as seen in some of their playoff games against both the Blazers and Suns.
This team needs Will Barton at least through next season, so expect the Denver Nuggets to turn all of their attention in free agency to Barton should he opt out of his player option as many around the league expect him to do.
Overall though, the Nuggets will not be big players in free agency this year. Focusing on retaining some of their own and balancing out their contracts will be the main priority of Denver in the offseason. Two other contract situations to keep an eye on this offseason for the Nuggets are the contract situations of both P.J. Dozier and Vlatko Cancar.
Both of their contracts are non-guaranteed for $1.9M and $1.8M respectively, with Dozier’s contract becoming partially-guaranteed for $200K on August 16, $400K on opening night and then fully-guaranteed on December 10. Cancar’s contract becomes fully-guaranteed on August 3.
