Nuggets Trading Dario Saric for Massive Upgrade

The Denver Nuggets continue to enjoy one of the savvier under-the-radar retoolings of the summer, with a new Dario Saric trade announced Tuesday.

But first, let's back up.

Denver offloaded the bloated contract of streaky, oft-injured sharpshooting small forward Michael Porter Jr., plus a possibly-valuable unprotected 2032 first round pick, to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for combo forward Cameron Johnson, a better defender and passer without any of Porter's long-term health concerns (although he often misses games with injuries, too).

The Nuggets also saw aging former All-Star reserve point guard Russell Westbrook decline his $3.5 million player option to enter free agency. He remains unsigned.

Happily, Denver is reuniting with shooting guard Bruce Brown, a former do-everything sixth man during the team's 2023 title run, on a veteran's minimum deal.

After Saric picked up his $5.4 million player option for 2025-26, it seemed likely he would be offloaded in a trade. The 6-foot-10 big man has been completely cooked for years, and was a stunningly tone deaf signing by former general manager Calvin Booth last summer. 

A non-rotation center for Denver, Saric appeared in just 16 games for the Nuggets during the regular season, and wasn't even a deep-bench option for head coach David Adelman in the playoffs.