Strike 1: The Colorado Avalanche front office saw a glaring weakness and addressed it. They made a pair of meaningful trades several weeks before the NHL trade deadline, acquiring not one but two new goaltenders in Scott Wedgewood and Mackenzie Blackwood. They did it without altering their core of high scoring forwards, or shaking up their defensive rotation. Now the Avs have won nine of their last 12 games and moved up three places in the Western Conference standings.

Meanwhile, their roommates at Ball Arena, the Denver Nuggets, are still churning along through the first half of the NBA season, taking a step forward then a step back without any meaningful moves to address two glaring needs – subpar 3-point shooting and an under-motivated and oftentimes horrid defense. After running past the lowly Utah Jazz, the Nuggets have won seven of their past 10 to get to 18-13, but still sit tied for sixth in the Western Conference standings with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Rumors are everywhere that the Nuggets are poised to make a trade. Trades are more difficult to make in the NBA, with a stricter salary cap, tight rules and substantial financial penalties for going over that cap. The Nuggets can’t just pick up the phone and trade overpriced reserves for someone else’s front line talent.

One trade that’s rumored would have Michael Porter Jr. leaving town after five plus seasons which have been sometimes frustrating (including injury issues) but more positive than not. MPJ’s game has become more well-rounded, and his contribution to the Nuggets can’t be dismissed just because he hasn’t performed to the level of a max-contract player.

Trading him would mean a significant alteration to the Nuggets championship core. Is that what this thin roster and often listless team needs? That kind of major shake up/wakeup call? And how would that kind of move work for not just this season, but for the immediate future?

Something has to happen. When the Avs traded the underperforming and reportedly sullen Alexander Georgiev for the reportedly outgoing and overperforming Wedgewood, it appeared to bring new life to the team. Could the same kind of thing happen for the Nuggets?

Would bringing in Chicago’s high-scoring Zach Levine for example, help the Nuggets woefully underperforming defensive effort?

Or is there a more subtle, less core-altering move that general manager Calvin Booth can engineer? Can he make a trade that doesn’t involve anyone the Nuggets are and have been counting on in order to bring in a player who may be under the radar a bit – a Kentavious Caldwell-Pope kind of guy – who can help energize the locker room? Russell Westbrook has brought energy in droves, but he could use some assistance in that area.

While most Nuggets observers lament the enormous drop off in production when Nikola Jokic is on the bench (and that’s very real of course) the fact is that even in the first and third quarters when Joker is on the court 97% of the time, the team’s overall effort is often times lackluster, especially on defense. There appears to be a lack of hunger (Westbrook being the notable exception) among those who have “been here and done that.” Bringing in another guy who’s also hungry for his first shot at an NBA title – like Westbrook is – may provide a spark.

Reserves Zeke Nnaji and Dario Saric eat up almost $13 million in salary cap dollars. Neither takes off his warm ups most nights. Both have ability, but not the trust of head coach Michael Malone. Perhaps someone out there in NBA land sees that talent and believes one or both are worth taking a chance on?

As currently constructed, the Nuggets are much more like a lower seed or even a “play-in” team than a top four playoff squad. Some kind of move is probably critical for postseason success. But it can’t be just any move that ultimately hurts what the Nuggets can accomplish in the next few seasons.