Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly flashed a smile Thursday as he swiftly walked through a lobby area inside the and punched in a code to enter the team’s practice court.
Minutes earlier, Denver, New York and Dallas had agreed to a three-team trade that would send Mavericks veteran point guard Devin Harris to the Nuggets, Denver backup point guard to the Knicks and New York forward Doug McDermott to Dallas, a league source confirmed to The Denver Post. That turned out to be the Nuggets’ only move at Thursday afternoon’s NBA trade deadline. But it landed Denver a coveted player for its playoff push.
Acquiring Harris, which was first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, solidifies Denver’s point-guard pecking order behind a flourishing . The Nuggets also move on from Mudiay, their 2015 lottery pick who never developed consistency during his two-plus seasons in Denver. The Nuggets also sent a second-round draft pick to Dallas as part of the trade, and the Knicks sent a second-round pick to Denver.
Harris, who was in his second stint with the Mavericks after beginning his career with the franchise in 2004, is averaging 8.5 points, 1.9 assists and 1.9 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game. The NBA journeyman, who also played for New Jersey (2008-11), Utah (2011-12) and Atlanta (2012-13) before returning to Dallas, is on an expiring $4.4 million contract, meaning he will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson on Thursday called losing Harris “gut-wrenching,” a tribute to his leadership and character.
“He’s everything we want our young guys to be and that’s not lost on us,” Nelson told The Dallas Morning News. “It’s excruciating. Devin’s part of our family, will always be a part of our family … It’s a difficult day, to say the least, but this is an opportunity for Devin to play for a team that’s fighting for the playoffs.”
Mudiay, meanwhile, gets a fresh start in New York after another season in which he was in and out of the Nuggets’ rotation. The 21-year-old averaged 8.5 points, 2.9 assists and 1.7 turnovers over 42 games this season while shooting 40.1 percent from the floor and 37.3 percent from 3-point range. He also ranks last among NBA point guards in defensive real plus-minus, which measures a player’s impact on team success on that end of the floor. Mudiay only recently regained steady backup minutes after was moved from backup point guard to starting small forward.
Denver, though, kept more players than it dealt on a deadline day with mixed results.
, who’s been the subject of trade rumors for multiple years and is due $13.76 million next season, again stayed put. Ditto for , who was briefly benched last month and is putting up his worst scoring numbers since his rookie season more than a decade ago. ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported that Denver made two offers for Memphis sixth man Tyreke Evans — Mudiay and a second-round pick or an expiring contract and multiple second-round picks — that the Grizzlies turned down. The trade with the Knicks and Mavericks did not free up a roster spot for Denver to sign two-way player to a full contract, a hope coach Michael Malone had publicly lobbied for in recent weeks.
As the Nuggets finished practice Thursday, Malone could not talk about the trade because it was not yet finalized. But during his media session, Mudiay stepped back onto the practice court to hug team staffers still lingering on the floor.
Soon after, the Nuggets boarded a plane to Houston for Friday’s game against the Rockets.
