Grade the Trade: Nuggets Deal Hunter Tyson to Nets

On paper, it's a minor shift to each team's roster that might not affect their overall rotation to wrap up the regular season, but nonetheless, the Nuggers finally got active on the market before the deadline, and get below that dreaded luxury tax.

So how did the Nuggets fare in what could be their only deal of the trade deadline? Let's break things down by grading Denver's deal to ship Tyson out to the Nets.

Grade the Trade: A

It's really hard to dislike how the Nuggets approached their cap savings efforts.

Denver shedding at least $500,000 in salary was nearly a given from rumors before the deadline; it was simply who would be sent out that remained up in the air. Zeke Nnaji, Hunter Tyson, and Julian Strawther were all candidates who entered the picture at some point.

That name inevitably shipped out would be Tyson, who couldn't find a consistent role in Denver's lineup in what's now his third year pro, having played less than 100 career games with the Nuggets since 2023. This season, he's averaging 2.2 points shooting 26.9% from the field.

By ridding of him and his $2.2 million deal, they accomplished their deadline goal and made no major changes to their nightly rotation. You can't really draw it up any better than how it panned out for Denver.

Now, the Nuggets have flexibility to tweak their roster in a pair of ways moving forward: they'll be able to convert Spencer Jones to a traditional contract from his two-way deal to keep him on for the remainder of the season, and they'll have an extra roster spot to pursue the buyout market later this season.

Could that roster spot be used on a name like Lonzo Ball, who just got cut to free agent? Haywood Highsmith? It remains to be seen, but they now have a bit more flexibility than they did just a few days ago and only had to pivot from Tyson to make that happen.

The Nuggets now also have a second-rounder to use this season as opposed to their selection sitting a half-decade from now. It allows Denver to have their own first-round pick in this year's draft, as well as either the Clippers' or Hawks' second (most likely Atlanta's), and add another young and affordable prospect down the bench.

A minute, but an effective deadline for the Nuggets, and now makes them a prime candidate to watch on the buyout market over the coming days and weeks to put the finishing touches on their championship-level roster.