If The Denver Nuggets Made Michael Porter Jr Available For Trade, Should the Atlanta Hawks Be Interested?

The defending champion Denver Nuggets held a 20 point lead last night in game seven vs the Minnesota Timberwolves, but they did not keep it. Minnesota had the biggest comeback in a game seven in NBA Playoffs History and the Nuggets are headed home. There are a lot of reasons for why the Nuggets lost this series, but the poor shooting and play from forward Michael Porter Jr is one of them. Porter Jr is the best three-point shooter on the team, but he failed to score more than eight points in the final four games of the series and shot 4-19 from three over the final. It was a disappointing end to the season for Porter Jr and the Nuggets and now Denver heads into what might be a more interesting offseason than meets the eye.

Denver has had the best starting five for the past couple of seasons in the NBA and it might seem foolish to make any big changes, but there will be some financial decisions that Denver has to make as ESPN's Bobby Marks explained after they lost:

"From now until June 30, Denver is a first-apron team. It is not allowed to take back more money in a trade. If it aggregates contracts or sends cash in a trade, then the $189.6 million second apron for next season will get triggered. What flexibility the Nuggets have in the offseason is determined by the player options for Caldwell-Pope ($15.4 million) and Jackson ($5.3 million). Including both players and their first-round pick, the Nuggets have $193.4 million in salary. They will exceed the second apron if the current roster remains in place. Jackson has until June 25 to opt-in, and Caldwell-Pope June 29. Denver is still over the $171 million luxury tax if both players decline their option. It would have the $5.1 million tax midlevel, first-round pick and the veteran minimum exception to replace each player. Denver has until June 23 to exercise the $2.4 million team option of Cancar.

Caldwell-Pope is one of the more durable and best wing defenders in the NBA. He is also an unrestricted free agent if the player option for next season is declined. Since the 2013-14 season, Caldwell-Pope has played in 96% of regular-season games. He has never missed more than four consecutive games. During the regular season, opponents shot 40.6% when Caldwell-Pope was the closest defender, per Second Spectrum. That led the NBA among players to defend 500-plus shots. Because he was acquired in a trade from Washington, Denver inherited his Bird rights, allowing it to pay up to 30% of the salary cap in the first year. He would be eligible to sign a four-year, $96.8 million extension starting July 16 if he exercises the player option. Teams with cap space include Detroit, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Philadelphia and Utah. San Antonio and Toronto could also create room. Denver has the $5.1 million tax midlevel if Caldwell-Pope does not return."

Even if Denver decides to re-sign Caldwell-Pope, they don't exactly have a lot of assets or avenues in which to make this team better. They could use more veterans on their bench (a big reason they lost this year), but don't have the cap space or draft picks to improve it.

So that has led some to wonder if they would consider trading Michael Porter Jr this offseason.

Now to be clear, this is just speculation for right now. There has been nothing concrete about the Nuggets seriously wanting to trade Porter Jr. If I had to bet, they re-sign Caldwell-Pope and run it back next year. But they could get a decent return back for Porter Jr and you could make the argument out of the starters for Denver, he might be the most expendable.

If the Nuggets do make him available, should the Atlanta Hawks entertain trading for him?

Atlanta needs a bigger wing player with size and offensive ability, which is why they have been linked to Brandon Ingram in trade rumors this offseason. Porter Jr would bring size and scoring ability to the Hawks and that might be a great fit next to a playmaking point guard like Trae Young (if they don't trade him). Porter is a better shooter than Ingram but does not do much in terms of creation for others, though that part of his game is hard to judge because he plays next to Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. He is a good rebounder and has made strides on the defensive end, though I would not go as far as to say he is a huge plus on that end. Porter Jr is also signed for three more seasons and would not acquire an immediate extension.

I think one thing that is worth wondering is if Porter Jr could thrive in a more prominent role than he had in Denver. He was not asked to carry the offense in Denver and relied on Jokic and Murray to set him up. He rarely posted up smaller players or tried to do much on offense aside from be a three-point shooter. I think he could take on more for a team, but he has not been asked to do that so far in Denver.

What would a trade look like and what would Denver want? Atlanta does not have much in the way of draft assets and none of the players on the team stand out as guys that would immediately be attractive to Denver. The Nuggets are not going to be interested in Dejounte Murray, Jalen Johnson is of course untouchable, and Michael Porter Jr is not worth trading the No. 1 overall pick for. De'Andre Hunter is a downgrade from Porter Jr and while they could trade for Clint Capela to bring off the bench, he is on an expiring contract. If the Hawks wanted to trade for Porter Jr, they would probably have to include Bogdan Bogdanovic in the deal, something they might not want to do. There is not an easy trade to come up with in my opinion if the Hawks wanted to go and get Michael Porter Jr. Bogdanovic would make them smaller though, so maybe the Nuggets would not want him as the centerpiece of the deal, though he would be the best replacement for Porter's shooting and offense.

For now, this is all just speculation and I would bet on him staying in Denver. If he were to become available though, Atlanta could come calling, though I don't think there is a trade package that immediately stands out.

Buckle up for what will probably be a crazy offseason around the league.