The Denver Nuggets are in a difficult position financially this offseason as they're projected to be in the second apron this offseason by $2 million at this point, and making some moves to shed salary by trading some of their existing players, and one candidate that the Nuggets would likely be interested in is Zeke Nnaji. 

Nnaji has never truly panned out as a true impact player for the Nuggets since he was drafted in 2020 and now he's sitting near the end of the Nuggets' bench while earning roughly $7.5 million next season, with a player option available to him the season after that. 

The issue with trying to trade Nnaji though is because of his lackluster performance in his career, he doesn't present with a lot of value that would entice most other franchise in the league to agree to a deal, so in order to make a move involving Nnaji, the Nuggets may need to attach additional draft capital to make the deal viable, as Marc Stein wrote in the Stein Line. 

“Their preferred scenario would be finding a trade home for Zeke Nnaji, but you know if you do that you’re attaching draft capital and the Nuggets are not exactly teeming with extra draft capital," Stein wrote (via AP Hoops). 

The Nuggets don't have an uncontested first-round pick available to them until 2031 and only have one more first-round pick available to them after that for the 2033 Draft, and with that in mind the Nuggets truly can't move either of those picks in a deal for Nnaji.

Additionally, the Nuggets only have uncontested second-round picks in 2031 and 2033 as well, which they may be more willing to move those picks, but they still don't have a lot of flexibility to move those picks either. 

This puts the Nuggets in a precarious situation where they have to choose how exactly they an secure their future by sacrificing a separate aspect of their future. Keeping Nnaji on the roster puts the Nuggets in a difficult position financially that could jeopardize their future through penalties incurred by the second apron, but trying to alleviate those penalties would require them to give up their future via the draft.

The Nuggets are tied down in a variety of ways, which can clearly explain why they have been so inactive this offseason, but now they seem to be stuck even further without a viable solution to fix it.