The Denver Nuggets seem to be one of the more quiet teams as the trade deadline approaches. Denver has a lot of players that are drawing interest from around the league, but for the most part they want to hold onto their guys. One player they have been looking to trade is J.J. Hickson, but they have been unable to so far. If the Nuggets are unable to trade Hickson they will likely buy him out, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Hickson is in the final year of his contract with the Nuggets and is making $5.6 million, but he is buried on the Nuggets' depth chart. Denver is extremely deep in the frontcourt, and because of that Hickson has been out of the rotation more often than not. With Jusuf Nurkic, Joffrey Lauvergne and Nikola Jokic at center and Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur ahead of him at power forward, Hickson has appeared in just 20 games this season.
Despite the fact that the Nuggets have yet to find a trade partner for Hickson, he is still expected to be dealt before the deadline, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. Hickson should have some trade value because he is still just 27 years old, he is on an expiring contract and he has been very productive when he has played this year. Add on the fact that the Nuggets are likely not asking for much in return, and they should be able to find some team that is willing to take on the 6-foot-8 forward.
If the Nuggets can't find a trade partner within the next couple of days, they will reportedly buy out the remainder of Hickson's contract. As mentioned before, he is in the final year of his deal so the Nuggets wouldn't be saving any future money, but the move is likely more a courtesy to Hickson. Instead of having him buried on the bench of a team that likely won't make the playoffs, they will give him the opportunity to sign with a team where he can contribute something. In order for Hickson to be on a playoff roster he would need to be bought out by March 1.
Hickson is in his eighth year in the NBA, and he has always been a very good rebounder in the league so that may be where he can help a contending team. It is unclear how much, if any, interest he would draw after being bought out, but he is averaging 16.2 points and 10.3 rebounds per 36 minutes, so those numbers should be pretty appealing.
