NBA Trade Rumors: Will the Denver Nuggets Move Kenneth Faried in the Near Future?
Faried recently expressed a desire to be a starter this season, a role he is not guaranteed to be given
Heading into the 2017-18 NBA season, expectations are high for the Denver Nuggets. The team managed to land star forward Paul Millsap via free agency this offseason and he is about as good of an addition as they could have hoped for.
The Nuggets were already viewed as an up-and-coming group going into the offseason, thanks to their young players Gary Harris, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, so the addition of Millsap only serves to make their roster even more impressive.
Having plenty of talent is not a bad thing in the NBA, at least for the most part.
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In rare instances, a sudden influx of talent can lead to roster imbalance and players being displaced from their previous roles, and that may be what is happening in Denver right now.
Speaking previously to The Denver Post, Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried stated: "I'll just put it out there for everybody. I'm not a bench player."
Currently, the Nuggets are expected to go with a starting lineup featuring some combination of Jokic, Harris and Millsap. Murray, veteran Jameer Nelson and Emmanuel Mudiay are competing for the starting point guard spot while Wilson Chandler is the favorite to end up as the starting small forward.
It certainly does not look like there is a starting spot there for Faried.
Furthermore, there is no guarantee that Faried will even be given plenty of minutes as a possible sixth man off the bench.
Apart from Jokic, Millsap and Chandler, the Nuggets' frontcourt rotation is also expected to include Juan Hernangomez and Mason Plumlee. Hernangomez is a talented young player who the Nuggets will likely want to take a longer look at, while Plumlee's rim protection can be considered more valuable than Faried's rebounding.
Perhaps that is why Faried also mentioned that "there are 29 other teams" and even hinted at the possibility of playing somewhere else.
A trade could indeed alleviate the Nuggets' roster crunch but it is still unclear what kind of return they may get back for Faried. As good at he is at crashing the glass and finishing at the rim, his lack of versatility may make other teams unwilling to take on the two years still remaining on his contract.
At this point, it looks like the Nuggets may have to figure out a way to manage a frontcourt rotation that still includes Faried or else they may be forced to move him for a meager return by the time trading season rolls around.
