In a rare trade involving an NBA Finals participant, the Denver Nuggets are acquiring a 2024 first- and second-round pick and a 2023 second-round pick in a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder for a protected 2029 first-round pick, sources told ESPN on Friday.
As the Nuggets try to maximize this championship window, they'll get the least favorable of Oklahoma City's first-round picks in the 2024 draft, and the 37th pick in the June 22 draft, sources told ESPN.
Denver will have the 37th and 40th pick in this draft, and the deal gives Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth additional opportunities to acquire low-cost contracts and create some trade tools as the franchise navigates the luxury tax with this star-laden team built around Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. The league's new collective bargaining agreement will make it more difficult for tax teams to add veteran talent, and there will be a greater premium on drafting and developing young players.
Oklahoma City still owns Denver's top-five-protected 2027 first-round pick from the JaMychal Green trade last year.
The Thunder had a glut of picks in the next few years and now spread those out with a protected first-round pick in 2029. Oklahoma City has one of the deepest rosters of young talent in the league and owns 15 first-round picks through the 2029 NBA draft.
ESPN's Bobby Marks contributed to this report.
