The Denver Nuggets have been active at the NBA Trade Deadline in an attempt to restructure the back end of their roster to fit under the luxury tax line.

According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Nuggets are sending forward Hunter Tyson to the Brooklyn Nets while swapping second round picks in an attempt to cut salary.

In the deal, the Nuggets also send out their 2032 second round pick to the Nets. In exchange, their will receive the less favorable 2026 second round pick of the Los Angeles Clippers and Atlanta Hawks. Both teams are right around the middle of the pack, meaning Denver will acquire something akin to the 46th pick in the draft for a future second.

The Nets also own the Nuggets 2032 first round pick, meaning they are making a bet against Denver’s long term future in the 2031-32 season. It’s probably a good bet based on the age curve of Nikola Jokic.

Tyson played 90 games in a Nuggets uniform across three seasons, averaging 2.2 points in 6.8 minutes per game while shooting 28% from three. He was selected with the 37th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft in an aggressive move by then general manager Calvin Booth. The pick was heavily questioned at the time and ultimately didn’t work out. Now, the Nuggets pay the price for a three-year guaranteed contract handed out by Booth, an abnormality in the current NBA.

Denver did this in an attempt to shed salary and get under the luxury tax. It was an open secret around the NBA that the Nuggets, who were just over $400,000 into the tax, would attempt to duck out of it. Using Tyson’s $2.2 million salary puts Denver roughly $1.8 million under the line with 13 players on the roster.

It’s very likely that the Nuggets will convert Spencer Jones to a full-time contract in the coming days, bringing the Nuggets up to 14 players on the roster heading into the playoffs.

In his tweet, Charania mentioned the Nuggets were attempting to create a buyout market spot on their roster as well; however, adding a contract for Jones AND paying someone a contract via the buyout market doesn’t seem to fit under the luxury tax line. Perhaps EVP of basketball operations Ben Tenzer can make the money work; however, it’s far more likely that Denver carries 14 players on the roster rather than 15 in an attempt to stay under the luxury tax line.

Is this the best way for the Nuggets to compete for a championship? No. Does it make Denver more competitive in the future because they’re ducking the tax now? Probably not.

However, the Nuggets had limited resources to deal with and have attempted to make the best of a difficult situation. Getting healthier solves almost all of their issues anyway.

Now, they satisfy the mandate from ownership as well.