By Jordan Long
The Denver Nuggets have shed salary. They traded small forward Wilson Chandler to the Philadelphia 76ers for a future 2nd-round pick. This saves the Denver Nuggets around $12.8 million on the salary cap for next year.
Chandler appeared in 74 games for the Nuggets starting 71 of them. In those games he averaged 31.6 minutes. He wasn’t a great scorer with 10 points per game but it was his defense that helped Denver this past season. He boxed out for rebounds, averaging 5.4 per game.
Chandler was losing playing time to Will Barton. The Nuggets agreed to a 4-year $54 million extension with Barton last week. Denver also drafted the small forward of the future in Michael Porter Jr. There wasn’t room on this team for Chandler.
The Nuggets were trying to deal Chandler because of his salary. The 76ers will take on his $12.8 million this upcoming year. This is a tryout for Chandler. He has one more year left on his contract until he hits free agency in the summer of 2019.
Chandler will not be the primary small forward to start the season. He will see some playing time behind Robert Covington. If Covington struggles, Chandler may start some games. If Chandler plays well, the 76ers may sign him to a contract extension, otherwise let him test free agency.
This was a decent trade for both teams. The Nuggets save salary cap space and the 76ers didn’t give up a lot for Chandler. Chandler now has a fresh start to help the 76ers improve on their 52 wins last season and maybe a chance to win an NBA title.
Denver now can focus on trying to trade Kenneth Faried. Faried is due to make $13.764 million this season. He is a bench player who averaged 14.4 minutes per game last season. He is not worth the contract expense. The Nuggets are hoping they can find somebody willing to take on his salary. If not Denver could cut him. Only time will tell.
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