Nuggets-Wizards trade: Denver acquires Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith in a four-player deal, per report

The Denver Nuggets They are trade guards Will Barton and Monty Morris to Washington Wizards Opposite Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith, In the sun of poetry. This deal gives Nuggets some financial flexibility for next year, as Morris still has two years left on a three-year, $27 million deal.

With the addition of Caldwell-Pope, this deal also upgrades the Nuggets defensively, an area where Denver has struggled over the years. The Nuggets are expected to recover Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. from injury next season, bringing them back into the title contender’s conversation, and this trade gives them more depth in cheaper deals to hold two-times player Nikola Jokic.

With Caldwell’s Bob and Smith contracts expiring after the 2022-23 season, Denver will give some financial relief to a team worth $32 million off the cap that enters this next season. With Murray and Porter Jr already signing huge contracts, and Jokic expected to sign a five-year, $254 million Super Max contract this summer, finding ways to save money while not sacrificing talent is key to the Nuggets’ success going forward. This trade guarantees that.

Another interesting piece of tidbit for this trade is that if Smith were to fit into the Nuggets this fall, he would have set a record for most teams played in the NBA at the age of 13.

As for The Wizards, they’ve got back strong players in Barton and Morris, who both have three ground-shooting strong points, so there’s no big loss here either. Bradley Beal is expected to sign a $248 million Supermax contract this summer, so it’s important to keep the talent around him while the Wizards try to stay competitive. The trade would also likely knock the Witches out of the Malcolm Brogdon sweepstakes, although they could still find ways to get the 29-year-old point guard if they wanted to pair him up with Beal in the backcourt.