Nuggets Among Teams To Express Interest In LeBron James

Denver can be added to that list too, according to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post (subscription required), who hears from a source that the Nuggets have reached out to register their interest in James.

Like several of the other teams interested in pursuing the four-time NBA MVP, the Nuggets are facing a cap crunch and aren’t in position to make James a particularly lucrative offer at this point. They project to be a second-apron team even before re-signing restricted free agents Peyton Watson and/or Spencer Jones, limiting them to a minimum-salary offer unless they’re able to shed significant salary.

Still, reporting this week has indicated that James will prioritize his “happiness” and a legitimate ability to contend for a title rather than seeking the highest possible salary.

There are also a few reasons to believe Denver might be a more legitimate suitor for James than your average team, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN laid out in the Hoop Collective podcast when he explained why he views the Nuggets as an “outlier” (Twitter video link). Windhorst observed that James holds three-time MVP Nikola Jokic in extremely high regard, has an existing relationship with Nuggets president/governor Josh Kroenke, and shares an agent with Watson.

The Nuggets also attempted to recruit James to Denver during his 2018 free agency, according to Durando, who notes that Kroenke mailed LeBron a throwback Nuggets jersey during that process. James has described Kroenke as a “very dear friend.”