The Denver Nuggets were in the market to upgrade their shooting and got one of the better shooters available in a three-team trade with the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs.
Denver will acquire Bryn Forbes from San Antonio and will send the Spurs a 2028 second-round pick. To create the roster space for Forbes, and to stay under the luxury tax, the Nuggets are trading Bol Bol and P.J. Dozier to the Celtics. Boston will send Juancho Hernangomez to San Antonio.
Forbes is shooting 41.7% from behind the arc this season. That’s a boon to a Nuggets team that has slipped to the bottom half of the league in three-point shooting.
For the Celtics, this puts them in range of avoiding the luxury tax. Boston is one more salary-clearing move away now from being out of the tax entirely.
The Celtics have no plans to immediately waive Bol or Dozier, who are both expected to be out for the season. A deal sending Bol to the Detroit Pistons was recently voided. In recent days it was announced Bol would have foot surgery, which will sideline him for 8-12 weeks.
For their part, the Spurs pick up a second-round pick for a player who wasn’t part of their future. San Antonio can now focus on playing their younger guards. Hernangomez is fully non-guaranteed for 22-23, so the Spurs added no long-term salary in this deal, as well.
