When the Denver Nuggets dealt Reggie Jackson to the Charlotte Hornets earlier in the offseason, it was pretty clear who the team was looking to get back. Of course, the Nuggets ended up sacrificing three second-round picks to acquire Jackson in a somewhat puzzling move.
Jackson was coming off an up-and-down season, but he was living up to his expiring $5 million contract. The messy trade left the Nuggets short on backup guards, but they solved that problem by signing future Hall of Famer Russell Westbrook, recommended by Nikola Jokic. But what if Jokic is still recommending a player to play in Charlotte and is clearly a good fit?
According to NBA source Marc Stein, Serbian point guard Vasilije Micic is potentially on the way to the Nuggets.
But the Nuggets don’t have any roster space and will be facing the second apron supertax they’ve been trying to avoid all summer.
“Vasije Micic, who is making $7.7 million this season with a team option for $8.1 million for 2025-26, continues to be mentioned as a future trade target for Denver due to his close relationship with Nuggets star Nikola Jokic,” Stein wrote. “But keep in mind that Denver is just about $5 million shy of the luxury tax second apron, so they can’t absorb Micic’s contract without the dreaded second apron issue. The Hornets could also choose to keep Micic on the team to play behind former All-Star LaMelo Ball.”
If the Nuggets were to acquire Misic, it would likely be as a third guard or if Westbrook doesn’t work out or if either Westbrook or Murray gets injured. Denver would need to either clear a roster spot for sophomore Jalen Pickett, who struggled in Summer League, add some salary or trade Zeke Nnaji to acquire Misic.
Jokic and Micic have a long history, playing together for Belgrade’s Kosarkaski Club MegaBasket nearly a decade ago and being drafted into the NBA together, 11th overall behind each other, in 2014. Jokic is a three-time NBA MVP and Finals MVP, while Micic was the 2021 EuroLeague MVP and the 2021 and 2022 Final Four MVP while leading Istanbul’s Anadolu Efes to back-to-back titles.
The now 30-year-old Misick then jumped ship to the NBA, signing a three-year, $23 million contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The guard didn’t play much, however, and was traded to Charlotte at the deadline. After averaging just 12 minutes per game with Oklahoma City, Misick took over the starting role after Ball was injured and averaged 10.8 points and 6.2 assists in 27.2 minutes per game over the final 30 games of the year.
Micic proved his chemistry with Jokic was still strong as Serbia won the bronze medal, with the guard finishing as the team’s third-leading scorer behind Jokic and Bogdan Bogdanovic and second-leading assist earner behind Jokic.
While a move isn’t likely to happen this summer, keep in mind that the Nuggets could be a target before the trade deadline if something goes wrong, especially in the backcourt, which has plenty of questions to start the season.