Kenneth Faried seems like the sore thumb on a lively, young Denver Nuggets roster, and the team appears to be more than aware of it.
According to a report by Zach Lowe of ESPN on Thursday, the Nuggets have been shopping Faried on and off for the last three years and are still continuing to do so.
The 26-year-old Faried, who had reportedly received trade interest from the Minnesota Timberwolves over the summer, averaged 12.5 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game for Denver in 2015-16. But he has exhibited little, if any, improvement since his rookie year in 2011-12 and has become a clunky fit in a versatility-driven NBA with his inability to create, defend the rim, or expand his range past the paint.
With Euro towers Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic looking like a lock for heavy minutes (perhaps even alongside each other in certain situations) and first-round pick Juan Hernangomez arriving in town, Faried may be left standing in the Denver frontcourt’s game of musical chairs.
Rest assured, plenty of other teams would still love to have an energy drink big man like Faried who crashes the glass and finishes efficiently in the restricted area. But finding a mutual price point with a Nuggets team who everybody and their shooting coach knows no longer has much of a need for the Manimal could be the real challenge here.
