The Denver Nuggets have been playing much better basketball lately despite the fact that they are an uninspiring 4-3 in their last seven games. The Nuggets have recently gotten a lot of their players back healthy, specifically in the frontcourt, and that has helped improve their competitiveness, and as a result they are only 2.5 games out of the eighth spot in the Western Conference. One person impacted negatively by the team getting healthy has been J.J. Hickson, and now it looks like the Nuggets are trying to trade him, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.
Throughout this season, almost every center on the Nuggets roster has dealt with some sort of injury issues, and because of that Hickson was given minutes. Since Jusuf Nurkic and Joffrey Lauvergne have gotten healthy, though, Hickson has been riding the bench, so now it looks like the Nuggets will try to find a trade partner for him.
Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly was just signed to an extension, according to NBA.com, and it seems as though his first order of business since signing the extension will be to find a deal for Hickson. The trade deadline is on Feb. 18, and it seems reasonable that the Nuggets will be able to find someone willing to make a deal for the 27-year-old forward.
Hickson is in his eighth season in the NBA and is in the final year of his three-year, $16 million deal with the Nuggets. The expiring contract will likely be something prospective trade partners find attractive, and the fact that Hickson has been a very good rebounder throughout his career should also help. With the Nuggets, Hickson is just a victim of being low on the depth chart in an extremely deep frontcourt, but he likely could help a team out should a trade occur.
So far this season Hickson has appeared in 18 games (nine starts), and he has been productive when he's been on the floor. The 6-foot-9 forward is averaging 7.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in just 16.8 minutes per game. Due to Hickson's lack of playing time recently, it doesn't seem like the Nuggets should be expecting too much in return for him, so there should be a decent amount of interest. Hickson's production speaks for itself when he gets a chance to play, and a contending team that needs rebounding off the bench might see a trade for him as a nice option within the next month.
