Denver Nuggets Should Go All-In On Stephen Curry

Nuggets Proposed Trade Package for Stephen Curry

The basis for a Curry-to-Nuggets deal would be Denver sending out All-Star guard Jamal Murray in return for Curry.

Murray is a great player, but he's no Curry. If Denver wants to compete with the beasts in the Western Conference like the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs, then they should really be thinking about coughing up their long-time point guard for Curry.

Curry makes $62.6 million next season, while Murray makes $50.1 million, so more salary would have to exchange hands for this trade to be legal.

In addition to Curry, the Nuggets would also send Cameron Johnson and his $23 million expiring salary, while taking back Moses Moody and his $12.5 million salary from Golden State. The Nuggets could also add rookie Trevon Brazile and his $1.4 million salary to the deal to make it work for salary cap purposes, while also sending the Warriors whatever draft picks and swaps they have left to trade.

The total money going from Golden State to Denver is $75.1 million, while Denver would be sending the Warriors $74.5 million. A third team may have to get involved to make the trade legal, but this would be the basis for it, and it's a trade I truly believe would make the Nuggets a true title contender in the loaded Western Conference for this coming season.

Denver's Lineup With Stephen Curry

Assuming my proposed trade goes through, this is what Denver's lineup for this coming season will look like:

PG: Stephen Curry
SG: Christian Braun
SF: Peyton Watson
PF: Aaron Gordon
C: Nikola Jokic

Bench: Spencer Jones, Zeke Nnaji, Julian Strawther, DaRon Holmes, Marvin Bagley III, Tyus Jones, Lonnie Walker IV, Moses Moody

The Nuggets still need to re-sign restricted free agent swingman Peyton Watson, and they will have to go deep into the second apron to do so. But that's the price the team has to pay to strengthen their lineup and be a true championship contender.

With Jokic and Curry playing with each other, the Nuggets would have two of the top-10 players in the NBA teaming up with one another. This is the player that Jokic has always deserved to play with, but he's never had a teammate of that caliber, even if Curry is 38.

The Nuggets need to really think about pulling the trigger on this deal. It's not an easy trade to make, by any means, given how much Murray means to the franchise. But the opportunity to get an elite talent like Curry to pair up with Jokic is simply too good to pass up, so if the Warriors would do this trade, the Nuggets need to get it done.

In this day and age of the NBA, teams need to take big swings and risks to win the NBA Championship. For the Nuggets, swapping Murray for Curry would be exactly that. But for the chance to win another NBA title with Jokic, they have to give it a shot.