The Golden State Warriors are in trouble. Not just because they're yet to make a single signing over 24 hours into free agency, but because rivals in the Western Conference are actively getting better.
The path to usurping the Oklahoma City Thunder already appears difficult enough, yet the Houston Rockets and now Denver Nuggets are creating a clear gap between themselves and the Warriors with their offseason moves.
The Rockets, of course, made a blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant without surrendering much in the way of assets, then signed Dorian Finney-Smith away from the Los Angeles Lakers on a four-year contract to open free agency.
Houston always had the young assets to go out and make moves though, making Denver's recent acquisitions the most surprising and frustrating element of free agency so far from a Warrior perspective.
The Nuggets have reloaded and are looking scary
While Golden State stand pat without a move, the Nuggets have been active in trading out the exorbitant contract of Michael Porter Jr. for Brooklyn Nets sharpshooter Cam Johnson. They quickly followed that deal by reuniting with Bruce Brown on a minimum contract, and have most recently signed Tim Hardaway Jr. from the Detroit Pistons as well.
Perhaps Denver's sneakiest move though came in regard to a former Warrior, with the franchise sending Dario Saric to the Sacramento Kings for another veteran big man Jonas Valancuinas.
After foolishly giving Saric a two-year, $10.6 million deal last offseason, it looked as if the Nuggets were stuck with paying the Croatian for another year after he opted into his player option. But following one year in Denver where Saric played just 16 games and 210 total minutes, they've been able to move him for an actual rotation piece thanks to Sacramento's need to open up space for the incoming Dennis Schroder.
Suddenly the Nuggets have provided Nikola Jokic with more outside shooting in the form of Johnson and Hardaway, added a legitimate backup that can viably eat the minutes when the 3x MVP is on the bench, and reunited with one of their key players to a championship team two years ago.
The most frustrating aspect is that the Nuggets have made all these moves despite arguably being more limited than what the Warriors are. Golden State have more in the way of future picks, and don't necessarily have the contracts of Porter and Saric that previously held little to no value.
Denver has quickly turned into the envy of the league with their moves over the past 24 hours, paving the way for a big statement next season after already taking the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games during the second-round.