Nuggets Analysis: Nikola Jokic asked for depth. By trading MPJ for Cam Johnson, Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace delivered

Nikola Jokic was blunt and unsparing when he needed to be throughout the last season It was a relatively new maturation a seasoned superstar learning to use his voice publicly learning to feel calm with its sway When the Nuggets lost to the reeling Wizards last December and fell to - he suggested pay cuts as a method of motivation It was in jest but maybe not comprehensively Jamal Murray was off to a slow start averaging points on shooting He had signed a max contract extension three months earlier Later in December he turned a corner When the Lakers snapped Denver s nine-game winning streak in February Jokic forthwith pointed out the low quality of current opponents without fear of offending those teams Maybe we tricked ourselves into thinking that we are playing good he explained reporters a remark that still echoed months later when KSE vice chairman Josh Kroenke claimed he had almost fired coach Michael Malone right around that time Winning can mask a lot of things he disclosed at one point And when the Nuggets season ended after Meeting in Oklahoma City Jokic didn t duck a postgame question about their lack of depth It seems like the teams that have longer rotations longer bench that s the teams who are winning he declared pointing to OKC Indiana and Minnesota Kroenke acknowledged a sparse days later that he heard those comments loud and clear The crew s actions since then have reflected that Trading Michael Porter Jr to Brooklyn for Cam Johnson on Monday night was ultimately a transaction designed to help Denver get deeper even if it was a one-for-one exchange of similar players The Nuggets traded their starting small forward who s not really small and best movement shooter for a new one but they also handed in their only tradeable first-round pick for the flexibility to check another critical box The starting lineup was never the concern Even in their second-round playoff series which they lost to OKC the Nuggets posted a net rating in minutes with their starting five on the floor Jokic Murray Porter Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun had the synergy necessary to topple the eventual NBA champs The bench behind them was solely nowhere near the same standard And the only way to meaningfully improve that was to make a sacrifice Four players accounted for of the payroll More money needed to be allocated to other roster spots Porter step right up The first-round pick will make million next season and million during the last year of his contract His replacement Johnson is owed million and million in the last two years of his Denver wouldn t have been allowed to make its second commerce for Jonas Valanciunas without the first one The NBA collective bargaining agreement prevents first-apron teams from taking back more salary than they send out in a business The Nuggets had been a first-apron club for two years running until the Porter-for-Johnson maneuver Suddenly they were able to kill two birds with one stone Tuesday morning by getting off Dario Saric s contract and using it to acquire a new backup center Of lesson Valanciunas barely qualifies as a backup He has started for the bulk of his career He is at worst an underwhelming but durable innings-eater Former coach Michael Malone once described Jokic s rest minutes as man s search for meaning If that s true then mankind is closer to an epiphany than ever before This emerged as the net sum of Denver s two trades Porter Saric and a distant first-round pick out Johnson and Valanciunas in with million saved in - salary One rotation performer turned into two No skill sets sacrificed One position of need added It s a tidy bit of business by freshly hired executives Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace the Nuggets newest two-man challenge that s giving Jokic and Murray a run for their money Neither Tenzer nor Wallace had held an NBA general manager position before last week As co-GMs they ve already proven themselves to be bold and efficient no matter how next season goes Bruce Brown and Tim Hardaway Jr will both arrive in Denver on veteran minimum contracts soon as well Those cost-effective free-agent additions were merely the icing on the cake Here s how the Nuggets depth chart is shaking out after their moves with out of roster spots filled Point guard Jamal Murray Bruce Brown Jalen Pickett Shooting guard Christian Braun Tim Hardaway Jr Julian Strawther Small forward Cam Johnson Peyton Watson Hunter Tyson Power forward Aaron Gordon DaRon Holmes II Zeke Nnaji Center Nikola Jokic Jonas Valanciunas Between their young players who ve shown signs of promise on rookie contracts and their veteran newcomers the Nuggets are significantly deeper and cheaper on paper Related Articles Nuggets Tim Hardaway Jr agree to terms on one-year deal source says Nuggets deal Dario Saric to Kings for Jonas Valanciunas source says Nuggets hire former DU coach Rodney Billups J J Barea to David Adelman s staff Nuggets championship odds What sportsbooks think of Denver s chances with Cam Johnson Michael Porter Jr transaction gave Nuggets more free agent money Who can they target They should have genuine position battles in training camp competition for minutes throughout the season They should have lineup optionality Brown might make more sense as a wing sharing the floor with a more natural point guard sometimes Holmes might slide in at backup center to provide five-out looks occasionally They should have more opportunities to rest their starters without it feeling like the end of the world They should have a better chance to make it to the finish line healthy To be at their best in May and June Jokic questioned for depth and he got it Want more Nuggets news Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis