Over the weekend, rumors — and I can’t stress the word “rumors” enough — began circulating about the Los Angeles Lakers’ interest in swapping Julius Randle and Nick Young for Kenneth Faried and Gary Harris.

Now, that report (if you want to call it that) contained no source or evidence that the “rumor” was anything more than “fiction.” Still, it raises an interesting point: If the Nuggets want to move on from an asset (Faried), where do you draw the line for what’s fair value?

According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe and other credible sources, the Denver Nuggets do want to move on from Faried, possibly as soon as this offseason, but what will it take for them to pull the trigger?

The truth is that Denver, and their fans, have been looking to offload Faried for ages. They just haven’t found the right deal. But with an increasingly crowded front court, the Nuggets are reaching a point where Faried’s presence is no longer just an inconvenience; it’s a hindrance.

Whether it’s the development of Juancho Hernangomez, the rumored “Twin-Tower” lineup of Jusuf Nurkic and Nikola Jokic, or a small-ball lineup with Danilo Gallinari at the four, the Nuggets have interesting options at power forward, but with Faried in the picture, they can’t truly develop any one of them.

That said, Faried is a legitimate NBA power forward, and in some circumstances, he can even be a very good NBA power forward.

He’s an elite offensive rebounder, and when he’s in the groove (like he was at the end of last season with Emmanuel Mudiay) he can be a pretty good pick-and-roll big man, finishing at the rim not all that unlike DeAndre Jordan. That’s valuable. Valuable enough that the Nuggets should expect more than some pocket lint in return.

So, for a second, let’s take a look back at the rumored deal with the Lakers:

Nuggets Receive (2015 stats)

Julius Randle (28.2 min; 43% field; 28% 3-point; 11.3 points; 10.2 rebounds; 1.8 assists)

Nick Young (19.1 min; 34% field; 33% 3-point; 7.3 points; 1.8 rebounds; 0.6 assists)

Lakers Receive (2015 stats)

Kenneth Faried (25.3 min; 56% field; n/a 3-point; 12.5 points; 8.7 rebounds; 1.2 assists)

Gary Harris (32.1 min; 47% field; 35% 3-point; 12.3 points; 2.9 rebounds; 1.9 assists)

Not only wouldn’t I do that deal, but I wouldn’t do that deal if the only person Denver was giving up was Harris — he’s the best player in that trade — and neither would Tim Connelly; it’s ridiculous.

But that exemplifies exactly what the Nuggets front office is going through right now. They may want “get off” Faried, as Lowe said on his podcast last month, but they still value him as an asset. And in the NBA, if you have an asset, you don’t give it away for free — unless you’re the Orlando Magic.

It’s a delicate tightrope, but Connelly can’t afford to fall off. Whether it’s Faried or Gallo or Nurkic or someone else, Denver is better served keeping them on the roster than trading them for the sake of trading them.

And maybe that means a trade isn’t going to get done any time soon. Maybe there isn’t a package worth what the Nuggets are selling. But there will be, and if Connelly is patient, when a big-name becomes available and someone’s looking for assets in return, Denver will have the largest arsenal in the league.