Nuggets had a good night

The Denver Nuggets managed quite a tightrope walk on Thursday night. They added more talent, signing Isaiah Thomas to a veteran’s minimum deal. Then they turned around and cleared off a pernicious luxury tax bill by trading Kenneth Faried, Darrell Arthur, a protected first-round pick, and a second-round pick to the Nets for Isaiah Whitehead, who will be waived by Denver. To make it all happen, the Nets traded Jeremy Lin to the Hawks.

I.T. is something of a question mark after that hip injury ruined his 2017-18 season and sent him careening from the Celtics to the Cavaliers to the Lakers to a fruitless free agency over 10 months. But he was a second team All-NBA guard two years ago. He was one of the best scorers in the league. Denver already has a great offense, but a healthy, locked-in Thomas takes it to another level.

Meanwhile, the Nuggets’ front office has gotten plenty under the tax line, according to Bobby Marks, which means they won’t have to cut talent at the trade deadline to save money. Losing Wilson Chandler (sent out in a previous cap space deal), Faried, and Arthur hurts Denver’s frontcourt depth, but Chandler was the only one who played much last season. Will Barton should play more in smaller lineups, freeing up the hot scorer off the bench role for Isaiah. It’ll be fine.

The Nets used their cap space effectively, getting that protected pick and maintaining 2019 cap space. Atlanta gets a veteran point guard who isn’t Dennis Schroder. Smart moves all around!

The Raptors somehow became betting favorites to add Kawhi Leonard this summer, despite few reported ties between Toronto and the Spurs. Oh well! It’d be a phenomenal idea nonetheless, whether the Raptors traded Kyle Lowry or DeMar DeRozan to land Leonard . It’s hard to imagine what the team’s identity would be, and I’m struggling to imagine Kawhi immediately falling in love with Toronto without knowing his personality beyond what tiny glimpses we’ve seen.

The price would need to be right: giving up O.G. Anunoby and a pick would be steep without assurances from Kawhi. But if the team needs a remix, you can hardly imagine a better player to plug into that selfless system.

Why the Spurs might choose to blow it up.

The Cavaliers’ playoff suits thing happened because of a conversation between Dwyane Wade and designer Thom Browne at a swanky Manhattan restaurant. Because of course.

What if Dirk Nowitzki stuck to tennis instead of basketball?

I ranked the top 17 free agents still available. Isaiah was No. 2 and is now off the board. No. 6 Wayne Ellington is also off the board after re-signing with the Heat.

Kevin O’Connor on what the Nets are building.

Apparently there is a group of athletes who are all about LinkedIn.

Everything that goes into considerations for a Marcus Smart sign-and-trade.

The founder of Papa John’s stepped down this week after being revealed as using the n-word on a conference call. The Minnesota Lynx have Papa John’s sponsorship, and as of Wednesday were still tweeting promos for fans. Can the Lynx get out of that deal? Should they?

The dark side of free agency, starring cheating agents and lying front offices.

The band of merry Kevin Knox believers is growing.

An artist painted over his cool LeBron mural in LA after it was repeatedly defaced.

Sue Bird has been the best creator in the WNBA this season.

An extremely brave dealer in Vegas got Charles Oakley arrested for cheating at cards.

And finally: Magic Johnson is prescient.

Be excellent to each other.