Even after sending Wilson Chandler to the 76ers in a salary-dump trade, the Nuggets are still well over the luxury-tax line.
But Denver isn’t pinching pennies with Torrey Craig, who was on a two-way contract last year.
Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports:
The Denver Nuggets are signing forward/guard Torrey Craig to a guaranteed two-year, $4M deal, agent Johnny Foster tells Yahoo.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 9, 2018
Craig’s minimum over two years was $2,937,614. So, this is a nice and somewhat surprising raise for him.
Craig earned it by defending small forwards well – a major need for the Nuggets, especially after losing Chandler. Denver’s oversized big backup combo forwards (Juan Hernangomez and Tyler Lydon) are too slow for many matchups.
There’s a clear role for Craig on this team, to the point the Nuggets waded deeper into the luxury to keep him – though that’s not assessed until the final day of the regular season.
Expect Denver to attempt to dump Kenneth Faried or Mason Plumlee, which could get the Nuggets out of the tax completely. That was always an obvious goal for Denver, but with Craig re-signing, it carries great significance.