Nuggets keen on bringing back one unlikely player at trade deadline

With the trade deadline looming, the defending NBA champions may be keen on bringing back a [checks notes] five-point-per-game scorer.

The Ringer's Kevin O’Connor wrote in his latest column that the Denver Nuggets are considering bringing back veteran guard Monte Morris of the Detroit Pistons in a trade. O’Connor notes that Denver is in need of a backup off the bench.

The 28-year-old obviously is not a flashy name. But he is still pretty well-loved in Denver, having been a homegrown talent who spent the first five seasons of his career with them. Granted, Morris was not on Denver’s championship team last season, having been traded as part of the package for fellow guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in 2022. 

But he averaged 10.5 points and 3.7 assists a game in his Nuggets career (including as a starter when Jamal Murray was out with a torn ACL in 2021-22) and is familiar with the way that head coach Michael Malone runs things.

Morris, who is down to 4.5 points per game in an extremely limited role for the bottom-feeding Pistons this year, has some juice as a playmaker and can direct a second unit better than score-first guard Reggie Jackson (Murray’s current backup). He will be a free agent after the season and may be worth the reunion call from the Nuggets, especially with his knack for clutch play.