Fans, local media, and those around the team definitely realized what a strong and important offseason the Nuggets had, but it was nice to see them get some love from the recent NBA GM survey. All 30 GMs were polled on a variety of topics, but notably, the Nuggets were voted as having the third-best overall offseason moves, and Cam Johnson was voted the second most underrated offseason acquisition.
It’s nice to see that despite not adding any stars or making blockbuster trades, the GMs recognized the value in Denver’s moves and how they upgraded their starting lineup and bench in very meaningful ways.
Swapping the one-dimensional Michael Porter Jr. for the versatile Cam Johnson for half the price will upgrade the starting unit and completely opened up the team’s spending ability. They instantly reaped the benefits, adding Bruce Brown, Tim Haraway Jr., and Jonas Valanciunas to bolster one of the worst benches in the league.
The Nuggets were already close, taking the Thunder to Game 7 in the playoffs despite all of the roster holes. Now they’ve covered up those holes and have perhaps even turned their weaknesses into strengths. There were much flashier moves, but the real ball-knowers see what’s going on in Denver.
Only the flashiest moves voted ahead of Nuggets
The only teams voted to have better overall offseason moves than the Nuggets were the Hawks and Rockets. Atlanta signed arguably the best free agent to change teams, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, plus traded to bring in Kristaps Porzingis, and made a home run trade on draft day to boot.
Houston just went out and traded for Kevin Durant without moving any of their best young core players. Those two teams took huge swings to try to vault to the next level. They took big risks and went for it. If they weren’t voted highly in these poll questions, that would be concerning.
The only player to be voted a more underrated acquisition than Johnson was Desmond Bane, who was a huge addition for the Magic. But Orlando gave up four first-round picks to pull off the deal, so perhaps “underrated” isn’t the right term.
The Nuggets, on the other hand, operated much more quietly, making two trades but sacrificing only one total draft pick. The big free agent acquisitions were just minimum deals. They didn’t gut their roster or sacrifice the future (that has arguably been done a long time ago); they just made one shrewd, savvy move after another.