He was already preparing for it, and it happened. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope left Denver in free agency. Followed by Philadelphia and Orlando, it will be at the Magic that he will set down his bags for 22 million dollars per season for 3 years.
The Nuggets are therefore losing their starting guard, a valuable defender who played a role in the NBA title won in 2023 and who started 76 times last season for an average of 10.1 points, 2.4 assists and 1.3 interceptions per game.
Yet they traded Reggie Jackson to give themselves some cap space but it wasn't enough. But the Nuggets aren't feeling sorry for themselves and the loss of “KCP”.
“In the end, we still have the best player in the world”says Tommy Balcetisthe Nuggets' assistant GM. Yes, we have to do things on the margins to make sure that we don't lose a game here and there, and all of a sudden our destiny is a little bit different. But at the end of the day, we believe in our team, in what we have. We believe in the people who succeed, in the people who can leave or not. And we believe in our staff.”
Nuggets in the red
If the Nuggets were unable to compete with the Magic or possibly the Sixers, it is mainly because the new collective agreement in place for the new season is very restrictive for teams that largely exceed the “luxury tax”.
“Free agency is still ongoing, so nothing is set in stone, obviously. But overall, the NBA is on the verge of changing a little bit right now because of the new rule changes and the new collective bargaining agreement.” says Tommy Balcetis. “It's going to be a cool challenge for a lot of teams. We're trying to anticipate, and I think there's going to be some missteps along the way for every team to start adjusting to the new collective bargaining agreement.”
To avoid getting into trouble with the salary cap, the Nuggets will have to be creative. To do this, the Nuggets management could well look to Europe or the G-League in order to make good deals at a lower cost.
” This particular period of free agency and the draft is a little different for everyone. Because all of a sudden, there are going to be rules and regulations in place that are going to allow teams to find an edge that they may not have been able to find before, ” concludes Calvin Booth's right-hand man. “We're trying not to just sit in the middle of everybody. We're trying to be better than everybody, and that means finding a specific advantage. What will that advantage be? We're trying to figure it out.”
