Report: Nuggets trade Monte Morris, Will Barton to Wizards for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Ish Smith

The Denver Nuggets and Washington Wizards have made a trade ahead of free agency, with Denver sending Monte Morris and Will Barton to Washington for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ish Smith.

Fantasy basketball impact

From a fantasy standpoint, it looks like Caldwell-Pope will be slotting in as the starting shooting guard for Denver alongside Jamal Murray, while the Wizards have a couple backcourt buffers in the event Bradley Beal leaves. Morris likely gets run as the team’s lead point guard. Barton should remain a rotation piece in Washington but could go into the starting lineup if Beal leaves.

Betting impact

This was mainly a salary trade for the Nuggets, who clear some long-term money from Morris off the books while taking on an extra expiring contract in Smith. We’ll see if the Nuggets can take advantage of this extra salary cap space or if they’re simply preparing to straddle the financial line when Nikola Jokic is up for a max extension.