To alleviate that salary-cap crunch, the Nuggets could opt to trade one of those four expensive pieces, and Porter's $35.9 million salary paired with his talent seems very movable. But according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, trading Porter wouldn't fly among the Nuggets owners in the Kroenke family.

There is reportedly a belief within the NBA that Stan Kroenke and his family, who own the Denver Nuggets, are attached to forward Michael Porter Jr. According to NBA insider Jake Fischer on the Marc Stein Substack, sources have said they don't believe Nuggets ownership has any willingness to trade MPJ:

“The Kroenkes have a fondness for Porter that stems from deep ties to their shared alma mater: Missouri,” Stein wrote. “Sources with knowledge of Denver's thinking have maintained for some time that they struggled to envision ownership ever approving a deal that would send Porter away from the franchise.”