Why it makes sense for the Nuggets
The Nuggets have been criticized for letting good players get away the past two offseasons. Since winning the 2023 championship, they've replaced Bruce Brown, Jeff Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with Russell Westbrook and Dario Saric. They desperately need at least two of Christain Braun, Peyton Watson or Julian Strawther to pop.
The other option is to make an all-in move on a ready-made star. Someone who can replace – nay, upgrade – the overall roster talent quotient from their last Finals run.
Here's what B/R's Andy Baily wrote of the deal:
"There isn't a player in the world who'd be better at leveraging Butler's cutting and slashing than Jokić. The two-man game between those two would be unstoppable, giving the Nuggets another late-game option beyond the Jokić and Jamal Murray interplay."
While it's true that Butler would thrive as a cutter next to Jokic and could cede some of the scoring load to Murray, Denver's spacing and depth would take a meaningful hit in this deal.
Michael Porter Jr. isn't the dynamic player Butler is (and it feels like we know what he is at this point), but he's a knock-down shooter (41% from 3 for his career) who, at 6-foot-10, can stretch the defense. Butler doesn't do that.
Also, by losing Watson and Strawther, the Nuggets lose two of their more exciting prospects who fill out the rotation.
The addition of Butler should be enough to overcome those issues. He's a dynamite defender who can create extra scoring opportunities for his team and NBA Finals-tested. The fit might be clunky at first, but Jokic and Butler are smart enough to figure it out.