Los Angeles Lakers Receive: F Jeff Green
Denver Nuggets Receive: G Kendrick Nunn, LAL 2023 2nd Round Pick
Kendrick Nunn signed a two-year, $10M deal with the Lakers this past offseason and while he is someone that they are excited to see on the floor, they do not necessarily need him.
Having Russell Westbrook and LeBron James as the team’s primary facilitators, as well as Malik Monk, Wayne Ellington and Avery Bradley on the perimeter, it is hard to see where Nunn fits in with this team.
Maybe they would use him similar to how they used Dennis Schroder last season, but Kendrick Nunn is expendable to the Lakers now and moving him for Jeff Green fills a need for Los Angeles.
In Denver, Jamal Murray, P.J. Dozier, Michael Porter Jr. and Markus Howard are all out indefinitely with injuries. They do have some depth in their backcourt with Monte Morris, Facundo Campazzo and rookie Bones Hyland, but the best part about adding Kendrick Nunn is the fact that he can play off-the-ball.
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In two seasons in Miami, Nunn averaged 15.0 points, 3.0 assists and shot 36.4% from three-point range. With the Denver Nuggets, not only could he be another reliable ball-handler and facilitator in the backcourt, but the young guard could be another scorer that they so desperately need.
Not having Murray and Porter Jr. are two big losses for this team and while Will Barton and Aaron Gordon have stepped up, this is still just the “Nikola Jokic show” right now. The Nuggets need to get their MVP as much help as possible, even if Murray is going to return at some point this season, which is why leveraging Jeff Green for Kendrick Nunn is a possibility.
Nunn has proven to be a dynamic scorer that can get hot, whereas Jeff Green is expendable since the team has JaMychal Green and Zeke Nnaji in their frontcourt as well.
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With Michael Porter Jr. being out, maybe they will not want to give up Jeff Green, but Kendrick Nunn does bring a lot to the table in terms of improving the Nuggets offense, which currently ranks 17th in the league in offensive rating and 22nd in scoring.
The Lakers do not have a lot of cap space to pursue big name players, which is why a veteran like Jeff Green can be so valuable to them. He is experienced, is a great on-ball defender and can fill multiple needs on the wing for the Lakers, which is why he would fit right in with them.
