I want to outline how the Denver Nuggets could maximize their cap space and ability to upgrade their roster this free agency & how that plan would have to start today.

This does not mean they want to or even should take this route. It is just how it works mechanically.

/thread

DENs most expensive contract on the books other than Jokic & Murray is Gary Harris at $19.1 million.

If Denver paired Harris + 22nd pick in the draft tonight, they might be able to entice DET or NYK to take on his contract.

Denver would then have $24.575 million in cap room.

The $24.575 million in space doesn't include deals for Grant, Millsap, Plumlee, Craig (it does include Craig's cap hold) or Vonleh.

Despite that fact, DEN has the bird rights on all of those players which would allow them to retain every single one even if over the cap.

Additionally, Denver has the Mid-Level Exception & Bi-Annual Exception to use.

So if their own free agents are dedicated to staying in Denver, they could wait for the Nuggets to use their newly opened cap space & exceptions first before signing new deals of their own with DEN.

That would give Denver ~$24 million in cap space, $9.25 million MLE & the $3.62 million BAE to use on players outside of Denver before utilizing bird rights on their own free agents to complete roster (if they want to use every possible avenue to improve the roster)

Of course, the kicker to all of this is a hefty luxury tax bill, but with the newly negotiated terms of the luxury tax, the Nuggets would take less of a financial hit than in a normal year.

Denver could then look to sign quite a few different players in free agency.

Again, this is just how it works mechanically and there is no indication that the Nuggets are attempting to do any of this. It is just a path towards maximizing possibilities and also goes to show how many ways Denver can approach the draft and free agency this offseason.