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Masai Ujiri is one of the boldest GMs in the NBA, and he should be quite active in the trade market this summer. He will make a lot of calls to the Denver Nuggets in particular when it comes to the future of Kenneth Faried.
“We’re going to be aggressive this summer as an organization, and continue to be aggressive until we feel we have the roster that can truly compete for something special,” Nuggets president Josh Kroenke said to the Denver Post. “There’s a lot of ways to skin the cat. But one of them is through free agency, one of them is through the draft and the other one is through trades. We’re going to try to improve our roster until we truly have that core of guys who can compete for something for a lengthy period of time.”
What I take from this quote is that the Nuggets are going to make at least one trade before the NBA Draft, and I would also not be surprised if they moved Ty Lawson along with Faried before next season starts.
Persistent rumors about #Nuggets Kenneth Faried being traded to the #Raptors at the #NBAdraft coming up – again http://t.co/Zn6dJd1wKE
— Stephen Brotherston (@stevesraptors) June 14, 2015
How much would the Toronto Raptors have to give up for Faried? Well, a first-round draft pick definitely has to be on the table, otherwise the Nuggets would be better served by moving him to a team like the Sacramento Kings. I wonder how big of a difference the PF known as “The Manimal” would make for the Raptors, but he certainly would’ve helped them in the playoffs when they faced off against the large front line of the Washington Wizards.
Faried is undersized for his position, but he proved during his 2014 stint with Team USA that his skills can still be effective when surrounded by the right teammates. The Raptors might not have a great roster yet, but that is a discussion for another day. We’ll most likely see Faried get moved before or during the draft, and let’s hope that he goes to the Raptors for the sake of a more competitive Eastern Conference.
Dave Daniels is an NBA Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter: @AllDave_AllDay, like him on Facebook here or add him to your network on Google.
