DENVER NUGGETS owner Josh Kroenke hinted at trading Nikola Jokic.
The chief discussed the second apron and the rules around the salary cap.
Nikola Jokic would be in high demand if made available for a trade[/caption]
And although he said the Nuggets are not worried about the limitations put in place, he is concerned about injuries.
The Nuggets currently have Russell Westbrook sidelined and this year have seen Aaron Gordon, Hunter Tyson, Michael Porter Jr, Peyton Weston, Cristian Braun and Jokic miss games through injury.
Kroenke is concerned an injury hit squad would mean he has to find ways to free up salary elsewhere.
He fears that could even mean losing their most prized possession – No15 Jokic.
Kroenke said at a press conference, unprompted: “I think for us as an organisation going into that second apron is not necessarily something that we’re scared of.
“I think there are rules around it that we need to be very careful of with our injury history.
“The wrong person gets injured and very quickly you are in a scenario that I never want to contemplate, and that is trade No15.
“We are very conscious of that pushing forward and providing resources we can when the moment arrives.
“That second apron, is it a hard cap? I’m not 100 per cent sure, but it is obviously something teams are very aware of going forward.”
Meanwhile Westbrook has declined his $3.4 million player option for next year.
That means the veteran point guard will be a free agent from June 30.
Westbrook, 36, signed for the Denver Nuggets 12 months ago after leaving the Los Angeles Clippers.
The former MVP carved out a big role under former Nuggets head coach Michael Malone.
He appeared in 75 regular season match ups, averaging 13 points, six assists and five rebounds in 28 minutes per game.
Malone, 53, was fired with just three regular season games remaining.
One contributing factor was said to be the former championship-winning coach’s tendency to lean on Westbrook, rather than recent Nuggets draft picks Jalen Pickett, Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther.
Nevertheless, Westbrook continued to feature heavily in the playoffs under David Adelman.
The nine-time NBA All-Star produced some productive performances in the Nuggets’ seven-game round one series victory over the Clippers.
But he struggled as Denver fell valiantly to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semi-finals.
