Nuggets to trade veteran PG to Hornets

The Nuggets have agreed to trade veteran point guard Reggie Jackson to the Hornets, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link), who hears from a source that Charlotte will also receive three second-round picks in the deal.

The Nuggets will send out their own 2025, 2029, and 2030 second-round picks in the deal, reports Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

The news comes just three days after Jackson picked up his $5.25M player option with Denver for the 2024-25 season.

Jackson, who originally signed with Denver on the buyout market in February 2023, struggled down the stretch during the Nuggets’ championship season, making just 38.3 percent of his field goal attempts (27.9 percent of his three-pointers) in 16 regular season games before falling out of the rotation for the playoffs.

However, the Nuggets opted not only to retain him for the 2023-24 season but to give him a raise, signing him to a two-year, $10.25M contract using their taxpayer mid-level exception. The 34-year-old responded with a strong bounce-back season, averaging 10.2 points, 3.8 assists, and 1.9 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .431/.359/.806.

Despite that solid 2023-24 season, the Nuggets are essentially moving Jackson in a salary-dump deal, attaching future draft assets to move him and create some additional breathing room below the tax aprons.

According to Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link), Denver’s team salary is now right around the $171M tax line and approximately $19M below the second apron. If the club wants to remain below that second apron and re-sign veteran wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who is declining his $15.4M player option, additional cost-cutting moves would likely be required.

It’s unclear whether or not Jackson will be in the Hornets’ plans for 2024-25. The team is expected to operate under the cap this offseason, so it could use cap room to take on the guard’s expiring contract. The $8M room exception can also be used to acquire players via trade now, as cap expert Yossi Gozlan tweets.