As the Denver Nuggets continue to attempt to offload veterans and salary as part of a rebuilding project, they traded JaVale McGee to the Philadelphia 76ers, sources told ESPN.com.
The 76ers have enough salary-cap space to take on McGee, who has been plagued with injuries over the past two years and fallen out of Denver coach Brian Shaw’s plans. Unloading McGee creates an $11.2 million trade exception for the Nuggets, who will also clear the $12 million McGee had coming to him next season from their books.
To do this deal, the 76ers will acquire the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 2015 first-round pick, which the Nuggets got in an earlier trade for Timofey Mozgov. That pick is top-18 protected, and if it rolls to next year it would be lottery protected.
The Nuggets picked up another future first-round pick in a separate deal Thursday, sending Arron Afflalo to Portland.