The Denver Nuggets will miss the playoffs again this year for the third straight year. This season, though, the Nuggets did seem to make some progress and may have even been in the playoff hunt in the Western Conference had they not suffered so many injuries to key players.
The Nuggets like a lot of the young talent they have on their roster, but they feel as though they need to add some top tier talent to start to take that next step. Kevin Love is someone that they have always had their eyes on, and they may look in that direction again this offseason.
Love, of course, signed a five-year contract with the Cavaliers this past offseason, so there is no guarantee that he will even be made available, but some see it as a possibility. The Cavaliers have faced a lot of turmoil this season, and there is a thought that if they don't win the championship for a second consecutive season, then they will look to blow up the core, with Love being the most likely to leave. That is where Denver comes into play.
While the Nuggets like a lot of their young talent, Emmanuel Mudiay and Nikola Jokic may be the only two untouchable players on the roster. That leaves young guys like Joffrey Lauvergne, Jusuf Nurkic and many others available to trade, along with draft picks. If the Cavaliers do decide that they want to move on from Love, there aren't many other teams that can offer the combination of good young players and draft picks like the Nuggets can.
From the Nuggets perspective, they made strides this year as a team, but they want to be a perennial playoff team and feel as though getting a star player would bring them there. Love has been diminished to a role player since getting to Cleveland, but the Nuggets still view him as a star and think that he would be extremely valuable to them. For that reason, they more than likely would not mind giving up assets to acquire him.
The Nuggets do have Kenneth Faried signed to a long-term contract as their power forward, but he could be involved in any sort of potential deal. Faried could fit with Cleveland because he is a true role player that rebounds extremely well and plays with a ton of energy. The Nuggets are being cautious with Faried at the end of this season because of his back, but they are still allowing him to play, so it's likely not a long-term concern.
