Henry Roldán
A few days before the 2022 NBA Draft, the teams begin to move pieces and players, with the experienced JaMychal Green being one of the names used to acquire picks for next Thursday, June 23.
The 31-year-old Green, who has eight years of NBA experience, moved from the Denver Nuggets to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday in a move that has implications for the upcoming Draft.
As reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Thunder traded their 30th pick this year and two future second-round picks to Denver in exchange for Green and a protected first-round pick for the 2027 Draft.
Green debuted in the 2014-2015 campaign with the San Antonio Spurs, a team with which he only played four games before being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. With them, he had his best performance on the circuit in 2016-2017, a season in which he saw action in 77 games, 75 of them as a starter, and he averaged 27.3 minutes, 50% shooting from the field and 8.9 points per duel.
In 2020 JaMychal Green arrived in Denver as a free agent, and, before this season began, he signed a two-year, $16.4 million contract with the Nuggets –a salary that will now be assumed by the Oklahoma City team.
How the Change of Jamychal Green Affects the Picks of Both Teams
The move made on Monday with JaMychal Green has multiple readings for the Thunder and Nuggets. For the Oklahoma City team, it represents an injection of veteran in a team full of young talent, while Denver wins an important selection after taking a late first-round pick.
Handing over the 30th pick to the Thunder was no problem, as due to some clever restructuring by GM Sam Presti, the organization will likely have the most important young core in the NBA next season.
In addition, last year Josh Giddey, one of the best rookies of 2021-2022 in sixth place overall, was acquired. But this year, Oklahoma City will have picks number 2, 12 and 34 to add more talent to a team that will give a lot to talk about in the coming seasons in the circuit.
For their part, the Nuggets, who did not take until the 21st position, add another first-round pick by sacrificing a player who barely had eight starts and averaged 16 minutes in the 67 games he played this season.
