Now that the 2023 NBA Draft has come and gone and the league enters its free agency frenzy, it’s time to reflect back on the deals that helped the Denver Nuggets reach where they are as a franchise.
The current NBA champs and Colorado sports betting favorites have made their fair share of deals with other franchises, landing current cogs in the Michael Malone-coached system (like Aaron Gordon) and pillars of the franchise’s past (such as Fat Lever in 1984 and Rashard Lewis in 1987).
BetColorado.com looked at the most frequent trade partners of the Denver Nuggets in team history. Utilizing Basketball-Reference.com, BetColorado.com gathered the amount of trades made between the Nuggets and another team — as well as highlighting the most successful acquisition.
Denver’s Most Frequent Trade Partners
The Nuggets have now moved into a tie for first on the BetMGM Sportsbook Colorado NBA championship odds board. The Nuggets are +450, tied with Boston.
Who Do The Nuggets Trade With The Most?
The Nuggets most common trade partner over the years has been the Oklahoma City Thunder (and Seattle SuperSonics prior to their move), with 14 trades between the two.
The best deal, VORP and win share wise, for the Nuggets was the deal in 2017 that netted former Iowa State star Monte Morris.
Morris posted 4.2 VORP and 18.5 win shares combined in his five-year run with Denver between 2017 and 2022, averaging 10.5 points, 4.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game before being dealt to Washington in July 2022.
The other two NBA clubs Denver has dealt with the most are Orlando and Portland, who have made 12 trades apiece with the Nuggets over the last 56 years.
The 2021 trade that netted Gordon from Orlando has proved to be the most impactful one between the two clubs, with the former Arizona Wildcat posting 3.3 VORP and 13.3 win shares during his run with the Nuggets.
Gordon averaged 13.3 PPG, starting all 20 games of Denver’s playoff run which resulted in a championship and big results for those on sports betting apps in Colorado.
The 1984 deal between Denver and Portland for Lever was another touchstone trade for the Nuggets as a franchise, with the Arizona State University alum making two All-Star appearances and posting 26.0 VORP and 47.9 win shares with the club between 1984 and 1990.
Lever still has the eighth most win shares of any Nuggets player in franchise history, coming in behind Dan Issel (94.8), Nikola Jokic (94.5), Alex English (84.2), David Thompson (56.8), Byron Beck (55.0), Carmelo Anthony (53.5) and Nene (51.1).
