The Denver Nuggets have dealt with the injury bug in the first quarter of the season but are still one of the top teams in the West. That’s how it goes when you have Nikola Jokic on your team.
There was doubt surrounding Denver’s bench after players like Bruce Brown and Jeff Green signed elsewhere over the summer. It turns out that doubt was for good reason. The Nuggets have one of the best starting fives in the league, but their second unit has struggled.
Denver could look to the trade market for a solid role player (or two). Outside of that, the Nuggets shouldn’t be overly active leading up to Feb. 8. Trade rumors will start to heat up on Dec. 15, when most players who signed free agency deals in the offseason will be eligible to be traded.
If Calvin Booth wanted to include one of these three players in a trade, he could. But should he?
Justin Holiday signed a one-year, $3.2 million deal with the Nuggets in free agency, meaning he’ll be eligible to be traded later this week.
Holiday has appeared in 12 games (four starts), averaging 4.8 points per contest, shooting 57.9% from the field and 51.9% from deep. Those are expected numbers for him, considering he hasn’t averaged more than 4.5 points per game in the past two seasons.
The 34-year-old was a solid pickup by Denver, filling in as a starter when needed. In the Nuggets’ 119-111 win over the Suns on Dec. 1, Holiday dropped a season-high 15 points (6-of-8 from the field, 3-of-5 from three) in 25 minutes.
There’s no need for Denver to look to trade Holiday, as he’s done what’s asked of him (if not more). It helps, too, that he’s been in the league since 2012 and can be another valuable veteran voice in a locker room full of young players.
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