The Nuggets lost Bruce Brown in 2023 and now face another tough summer in which they may be without another key member of the team in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The 31-year-old forward has a player option to continue in Denver, but it has also become clear that if he declines it and goes to free agency, he could make a successful deal.
This is exactly the information that journalist Mark Stein is dealing with. the Player's choice Caldwell-Pope for 2024-25 is $15.4 million. However, both the Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers are strong suitors if he declines, as they have salary cap space to put a significant contract in front of him.
Given such a scenario, everything indicates that Colorado's franchise player will opt to become a free agent, at which point the Nuggets themselves will have to decide how indispensable he is to them. They made it clear last summer that saying goodbye to Brown and others like Jeff Green would ease the pressure on young players who could be trusted to make them grow. In the regular season, things didn't go completely wrong, but in the playoffs it wasn't enough to get past the Eastern Conference semifinals.
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