NBA: 13 Western Conference Trades That Need To Happen Before The Deadline

Jan 21, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic (23) in the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 123-98. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 21, 2017; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets center Jusuf Nurkic (23) in the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 123-98. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

It’s a New Mudiay

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the Denver Nuggets have already been active in real life. They also have been involved in a few hypothetical trades, even in an article like this, it is admittedly unrealistic they’d be involved in yet another trade. Yet, I think this one may be the best one yet.

When the Nuggets selected Emmanuel Mudiay 7th overall in the NBA Draft, the pick received a lot of criticism. The Nuggets have been trying to climb out of the pile of crap they’ve been buried under from the Nuggets fanbase. But do they have a point?

Mudiay has been out for the past week or so with lingering back issues, but up until he was injured was averaging 11.8 PPG….. on a 42.0 eFG%……while shooting 30.8% from 3.

Read those stats again, and let it sink in. Mudiay, on an adjusted scale to not count things like half court heaves at the end of quarters, shots taken as the shot clock is winding down, etc., is only making 42.0% of all his FGA. (That’s not good). While he’s still only 20 years old (he’ll turn 21 by the end of the season), many re beginning to question what upside he has if he’s struggled this much already. Orlando will find out.

Payton has had a similar narrative follow his career. This season he’s averaging 12.4 PPG, a 48.4 eFG%…… and 26.4% from 3. While he’s a better player than Mudiay, the Magic don’t seem to think of him as their PG of the future. I think swapping PGs is a risky move, but a necessary one.

Rob Hennigan is fighting for his job as GM, and possibly his NBA future. While he may move Ibaka at the deadline, he needs to be taking riskier moves than capitalizing on the strong play of a guy that would leave Orlando anyways after the season.

By brining in Mudiay, the Magic can figure out if Mudiay can lead them out of lottery bound seasons for the foreseeable future; as Payton hasn’t made much of an impact in that department.

Mudiay is bigger (6’5″, 200 lbs) than Payton (6’4″, 185 lbs), and can post up smaller guards guarding him than Payton ever will be able to. While statistically speaking Payton has better career numbers in the assist and rebounding categories, I think Mudiay just needs more time to develop in a less-presure (?) situation than postseason pushing Denver.

Denver brings in a guy that won’t shoot as much, and can let guys like Murray and Gallinari be taking the shots (like they should be); while Jokic can just feed them and continue to climb closer to being the best big in the league.

Closing note: The move increases Denver’s win total by 5.