National Basketball Association

Denver Nuggets: 3 Trade Possibilities for Nerlens Noel

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 2:02 a.m. ET

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Feb 3, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers center Nerlens Noel (4) drives past Denver Nuggets forward Darrell Arthur (00) during the second half at Wells Fargo Center. The 76ers defeated the Nuggets 105-98. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Trades can happen anytime in this great industry of sports and especially in the NBA. The Philadelphia 76ers have made it clear and have officially announced their desire to trade either Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor. On this post, we concentrate on how the Nuggs should go after Noel and his talents.

Basketball season is getting nearer every day, and our desire to watch our favorite team play is growing stronger everyday. The NBA season is filled with many things that gets out blood flowing like nothing else (and the off season too) like free agency signings, rivalry games and trades. The Nuggets are surely looking better this upcoming season, and just like our dear Nuggets GM, Tim Connelly said, it is not over yet.

The Nuggets surprised all of us fans when they traded big man Joffrey Lauvergne to the Oklahoma City Thunder for…2 second-round picks (insert rage meme here). And as this boiled up my blood as a fan and made me question the Denver Nuggets front office’s decisions; I started to think a little more outside the box and saw that this may not be a bad move at all. Training camp is near us and most importantly, players are getting moved via trades.

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This is when Nerlens Noel kicks in. The Philadelphia 76ers have made it official that they are interested in trading either Nerlens or Jahlil. This announcement is not new at all as in this year’s NBA Draft, it looked like the 76ers were going to make the move. But this past few days, was confirmed that Philly is going to trade either one of them.

So, how do the Nuggets fit in in this equation? Why should the Nuggets trade for a guy like Nerlens Noel? And I can honestly answer this with just one word: POTENTIAL.

Don’t get me wrong. I am a HUGE fan of Okafor and his extremely good offensive skill. But a piece like Noel is exactly what the Nuggets need. Rim protection, rebounds and great hustle. Let’s get started on a variety of trades we can do.

#1

The first trade option we have is giving Kenneth Faried and Will Barton for Nerlens Noel. You can add a pick if you want but I do not think it is necessary in this case. Giving up Faried for Noel seems like a fair trade for all of us seeing that Noel has a lot of potential and can help the Nuggets immediately and Faried has enough experience to lead a young 76ers team.

But I bet that Philly wouldn’t give up Noel so easily (as offers like this have rained on them) so adding a guy like Barton will spice things up a bit. Barton brings a lot of energy off the bench as h finished in the top 10 of the NBA Sixth Man Award this past season. Being the leader for that second squad can help the 76ers a lot.

Mixing Faried and Barton in a young Philadelphia team can be useful and with Barton gone, that means more minutes for guys like Murray and Beasley.

Noel can still bring that energy that Faried always carries in every game and can finally form that monster frontcourt duo with Nikola Jokic or even Jusuf Nurkic. Noel brings a lot of defensive skills that the Nuggs so desperately need and also, we can see some rim breaking dunks. This is a winner for everybody (except for those huge fans of Barton. I’m so sorry).

#2

Now this one can be a bit tricky and might get me into trouble. Just read me for a moment and bear with me. Jusuf Nurkic is a great piece that the Nuggets have and he is still young and has a lot of potential in him. He’s that perfect rim protector center who can use his brutal strength to get to the paint and score on any player.

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But this past season, Nurkic promised a lot and left us with that sour taste in our mouth because we wanted and we expected to see a lot more from him. Sure, he was still recovering from that knee injury and Malne was very careful of his playing time; but still, personally, I expected a lot more from him.

So maybe, it is time for the Nuggets to move on from the Bosnian Beast and bring the Flat Top Monster (yes, I just came up with that). As we said earlier, Noel can still bring that rim protection that the Nuggets need and he can be a lot more active than Nurkic. Pairing up Noel with Jokic will be a frontline that will terrorize other big men.

Do I see this as possible? Maybe. It is a tricky trade, because it can go both ways. But I will be willing to try it.

#3 + 2 First Round Picks to the 76ers

This is the final trade of this article and it is the most improbable one, but yet the most desirable one (for me, hehe). Everybody knows every team needs a locker room leader. Well, with the re-signing of Mike Miller, the Nuggets have that for a little more time and we all know he’s one of the best persons and players off the court.

Having Nelson in the Nuggets roster seems like a step back, in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, Nelson is a great veteran point guard with great leadership and three point shooting. But it is time for the youngins to step up.

Philadelphia does need the kind of leadership that Jameer Nelson can bring and this will mean that Jamal Murray can take over that point guard spot he desires. Also, we get Noel and everybody knows what that means.

Overall, it seems impossible for this to happen, but hey, a guy can dream, right? Adding Noel to the Nuggets would be a huge boost in all the ways possible. I really think the front office should give the 76ers a call and offer something.

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