The Denver Nuggets have agreed to trade Kenneth Faried, Darrell Arthur, a protected first-round pick and a 2020 second-round pick in exchange for Isaiah Whitehead, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Let's grade the deal.
The two cardinal rules of dumping salary in the NBA are as follows:
1) If at all possible, protect any first-round picks involved as the cost of doing business. There's little worse than losing a top-10 pick in a matter of bookkeeping.
2) If you're going to unload salary, make sure you're unloading enough salary—and have enough real opportunity—to make the process worthwhile.