Four years ago, the Monday after the NBA all-star break brought about the Nuggets-New York Knicks megatrade involving Carmelo Anthony.
This year? Not so much.
For the Nuggets, the next four days are about building assets.
They are approaching Thursday’s trade deadline in a “sellers” mind-set for the first time in many years. In return, they hope to collect more draft picks — preferably in the first round — and perhaps a player or two they can go forward with as they begin an eight-month retooling of a current roster that has fallen well short of preseason expectations.
Arron Afflalo has risen to the top of the most coveted Nuggets players heading into the deadline, and for a few reasons. First, he’s a solid scorer from the shooting guard spot. He’s second on the team at 14.5 points per game on 42 percent shooting and 33.7 percent from 3-point range. He can score in a variety of ways, and he remains a capable defensive player.
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However, Wilson Chandler’s numbers are similar. He is averaging 13.9 points per game on 42 percent shooting from the field and 33.8 percent from 3-point range. Outside of Chandler’s rebounding advantage — he’s averaging 6.0 per game to Afflalo’s 3.6 — the difference between the two is primarily in their contracts.
Afflalo’s contract has a player option after this season, which teams have targeted as an opportunity to get a highly productive player at a cheaper cost. The Nuggets want a mid- to late first-round pick for Afflalo, at which other teams so far have rolled their eyes, not ready to give up a pick that high for a player who could walk out on them at the end of the season.
Chandler, meanwhile, has a year remaining on his current contract, and it comes with a bonus for any team that wants him: The final year isn’t fully guaranteed. So not only could a team keep him for next season if they wanted, they could cut ties with him at the end of this one without taking a big financial hit (just $2 million). It’s the best of both worlds, which could give the Nuggets more leverage in prying that mid- to late first-rounder out of a team wanting Chandler. The caveat here is the Nuggets might not be willing to part so easily with the versatile and personable veteran. Still, as the days get closer to the deadline, offers will improve, and their grip on Chandler will be tested.
There are no untouchables on the roster, save for the rookies — center Jusuf Nurkic and shooting guard Gary Harris — whom the Nuggets want to keep and develop.
The Nuggets made two trades in recent weeks. They got two first-round draft picks for veteran center Timofey Mozgov on Jan. 7, and they acquired reserve guard Jameer Nelson from the Boston Celtics in a trade for Nate Robinson on Jan. 13.
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or
