Charlotte Hornets: Denver Nuggets players to target in free agency

As a part of our ongoing series detailing which players the Charlotte Hornets should target during free agency, our attention shifts to the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets finished with a 48-34 record, which earned them a 6th-place finish in the Western Conference. On the back of last season’s MVP (and this year’s likely winner) Nikola Jokic, Denver faced off against the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. In a series they eventually lost 4-1, Denver was completely outmatched.

While they were missing Michael Porter and Jamal Murray for the duration of the 2021-22 season, Denver stayed afloat due to the stellar play of Jokic. As we head into the 2022 offseason, the Nuggets will have a number of players hitting the open market.

Starting with the player options, Jeff Green and JaMychal Green are the lone prospects. In spite of their last name, these two are not “green” in terms of age. Both forwards have been around the block a time or two and would not fit in with Charlotte’s youthful, run-and-gun movement.

The Nuggets have a series of guards entering restricted free agency in 2022. Headlined by Facundo Campazzo, Denver will have to match any offer extended to Vlatko Cancar, Markus Howard, or Davon Reed if they want to bring them back for the 2022-23 season. While they are all young guards, Charlotte would be better spending their money elsewhere in the loaded 2022 free agent class.

DeMarcus Cousins, Bryn Forbes, and Austin Rivers are the unrestricted free agents on Denver’s roster. I suspect that Rivers and Cousins may return for another year or two with the Nuggets, but Forbes could walk during free agency.

Forbes is a shooter who, at this stage in his career, is not a great defender. He may not even crack into the Hornets’ nightly rotation, so he should not be a priority target this offseason.

Despite having a plethora of names hitting the open and restricted markets, the Nuggets do not have a lot of draw to their players from a Charlotte point of view. When compared to the potential acquisition of someone like Zach LaVine, none of these names speak to me.