What does Kenneth Faried's extension signal about the Nuggets' future?
A look at the implications of the new deal for the Manimal as Denver has two stars and lots of future cap room.
By
Matt Moore
•
2 min read
The Denver Nuggets agreed to a five-year, $60 million extension deal on Monday with Kenneth Faried... and then it turns out that deal wasn't allowed under the CBA, as five-year "designated player" deals have to be max extensions. So now Yahoo Sports reports that the deal has been revised to a four-year, $50 million deal.
Denver Nuggets, Kenneth Faried have reworked extension agreement. Faried will sign a 4-year, $50 million deal, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) October 7, 2014
The fact that the Nuggets signed Faried to a deal that they couldn't doesn't look great, but then, I don't understand how to do my own taxes, so who am I to judge? The CBA states that that for the five-year designated-player deals, the first year must be the maximum it can be, and that raises must be 7.5 percent. But it doesn't stipulate that you have to provide a raise. So it's kind of a gray area in-between. (UPDATE: A league source confirms that the language does clearly stipulate a max contract with raises each year for the designated player. There was just clearly some confusion on this deal.)
Either way, it's a stunning year of change for Faried who came into last year as a question mark for his lack of an offensive skillset and possibly trade bait due to the concern over having to provide him with just an extension. He didn't even start under coach Brian Shaw to start the year, but eventually won the starting job and the featured player spot. He became a team leader and parlayed that into a starting position on Team USA.
The Nuggets will be cap strapped next summer, but in 2016, they'll have just over $29 million committed (if they don't re-sign Arron Afflalo, which they probably will). And, as you may have heard, that's when that new TV deal kicks in, which could lead to a salary cap anywhere between $85 and $94 million. Denver's not exactly known as a great free agent location, but they're going to have every opportunity to make it one in the next two years.
For Faried, this is great value, as he'll be making near what Ty Lawson is (while still retaining "top dog" status for Lawson). He may be slightly overpaid based on skillset and defensive limitations, but under the new media deal's impact in 2016, even if it's phased in, means it'll still be a steal. And if he improves, Denver will have a superstar for quite th relative amount, provided the numbers won't adjust as a percentage of the cap vs. a raw amount.
How Faried handles his new found confidence after Team USA's run and how the locker room molds around him will be of importance, as will whether he can become a solid defensive rotation player as well as a playmaker. (Faried makes blocks, steals, and "plays" but struggles with third and fourth rotations -- like a lot of young players.) But for the immediate future, the Manimal is a big part of the plan at Mile High.
