The Denver Nuggets have a terrible record. At 13-24, the team has definitely underperformed by their own standards, even though most in the main stream media expected them to be this bad. At the beginning of the season, I predicted their first 35 games to end in a 10-25 record, and at 12-23, it wasn't far off. With so many injuries, young players, and struggling veterans, the record merely reflects the current state of the team: one with room to grow.

There are many ways to change a team, and the easiest way is to exchange players. If a GM likes what someone else has, he usually does what he can to get it. 99% of the time, that process is futile, and so far, Tim Connelly has had only moderate success on the trade market. His drafting skills are exceptional, but as for trades, he has work to be done.

This begs the question: is a trade what it takes to take the next step? Here are the potential steps I see:

1) Step Forward - Acquire pieces in order to win

2) Step Backward - Trade away pieces in order to lose

3) Move Lateral - Making moves to open up playing time or exchanging veterans

Each of these moves has its merits, and for the Nuggets, they could easily go for each of the three routes. While they are still within three games of a playoff spot, they are also within two and a half games of the 3rd overall pick. If the 2013-14 Phoenix Suns can tell us anything, the 8th seed is both a blessing and a curse. It forces management to make playoff caliber moves which the roster just wasn't ready for, and currently, the team is mired in long deals with players that just don't fit.

The Nuggets don't want to be like that. They have so much young talent that will be ready in a couple years, and has already arrived in some facets. Nikola Jokic was 4/4 against Marc Gasol and the Grizzlie this past game, and Jusuf Nurkic racked up 5 blocks the game before against the Timberwolves. The problem is Jokic still has many defensive issues, and Nurkic is shooting one of the worst percentages in the league among big men. They have their kinks that they need to work out over time, as do Emmanuel Mudiay, Gary Harris, Will Barton, and Joffrey Lauvergne.

So back to the matter at hand: the Nuggets should NOT be looking to sacrifice development in order to win games. What does that look like?

Well let's say the Nuggets look to shore up their Small Forward spot, and they trade Lauvergne and JJ Hickson to the Houston Rockets for Trevor Ariza. That's a big no no....giving up the youth in order to acquire established veterans on long term deals is a poor idea. Joffrey could develop into a better player than Ariza down the line, and he has a high chance to do so in the correct system.

So option 1 is off the table, but what about option 2 or 3?

Well option 2 seems very interesting, because we have a few veterans who are playing consistent minutes at the moment who could definitely help other teams in their quest for the playoffs. If we aren't going to compete for the playoffs, then getting back production value is not what we would want in the trade, but rather potential value with young players and picks.

An example of option 2 would be trading Kenneth Faried to Toronto for Patrick Patterson, James Johnson, and Delon Wright. Patterson would be the guy who likely fills in for Faried, Johnson could be a backup SF, but Delon Wright is the real prize. At 6'5 and as a PG, he compares physically to Mudiay and could potentially fill the same role if given more minutes, but being stuck behind one of the best starting/backup tandems in Kyle Lowry and Cory Joseph, he hasn't had anywhere close to an opportunity.

Option 2 would likely result in the team being less competitive in the short term, but provide a few more chips to play with in the long term.

Option 3 would be considered a sideways transaction by many, but for the Nuggets, it could be used as a springboard to get young players like Joffrey Lauvergne minutes on a regular basis to see whether our Euro Trio could play together. With Kenneth Faried currently starting and Darrell Arthur backing him up, only two spots at the Center position are available. If Darrell Arthur was traded for a comparable player at Small Forward (value wise), then the team wouldn't really lose talent, but would simply open the door for younger players to play more minutes.

An example of option 3 would be trading JJ Hickson and Randy Foye to the Los Angeles Lakers for Nick Young and Tarik Black. Nick Young would be a solid scorer off the bench at the 3 who would look to stay aggressive all day, while Tarik Black would assume JJ Hickson's role of come off the bench only if foul trouble or injuries happen.

While both option 2 and 3 could and should be considered, only option 3 will likely be utilized this trade season. Why you might ask? Because neither Tim Connelly nor Mike Malone truly knows what we have on this roster. With so many injuries and young pieces, the Nuggets have proven they can be competitive with the Golden State Warriors one night, and fall to *insert bad NBA team here* the next. The only move I see the Nuggets making is acquiring guard help so that either Jameer Nelson or Randy Foye don't have to play every game. Will Barton can continue to play minutes at Small Forward if that happens, so either a Point Guard or a Shooting Guard needs to be found.

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In conclusion, here's the trade label I place on each of our players:

Mudiay: Untouchable

Nelson: Shop

Harris: Untouchable

Foye: Shop

Barton: Untouchable

Gallinari: Keep

Chandler: Untradable

Miller: Keep

Faried: Shop

Arthur: Shop

Nurkic: Untouchable

Jokic: Untouchable

Lauvergne: Keep

Hickson: Shop

I don't think any of our players NEED to be traded. Sure, it would be nice to see Randy Foye and his bad shooting splits on another team, or JJ Hickson and his Leeroy Jenkins-ness doing Leeroy Jenkins things on another roster, but neither of them HAVE to be moved.

Gallinari has proven his salt and if there's a guy we should make a Nugget for life, it's him at the moment. The last game against Memphis proved to me that we don't need Kenneth Faried to rebound well or get hustle rebounds. To me, he can be shopped around to see whether teams will make an offer we can't refuse. Of course, we don't NEED to trade him, so the Nuggets have all the power in said deal.

Tim Connelly, whatever he does, should try and keep the leverage in his favor throughout the trade season. That means no arrests from players. No random quotes about players being unhappy. Everything needs to be sunshine and roses coming out of Denver for the next couple of months. We may not win a ton of games, but the mentality must stay positive.

As Nuggets fans, we have a tendency to jump the gun, but instead preach patience to the fans around you and tell them that this team will be great when Mudiay is able to buy himself a drink, but any sooner and we won't reach our potential.