For short-term relief, Denver has an open roster spot to sign a player or can wait until Jan. 5, the date teams first sign players to 10-day contracts. The Nuggets also have two trade exceptions ($6.9 million and $5.4 million) available for trades. Since the exceptions were created after July 1, they can use either exception and still exceed the first pad. Denver is $402,000 above the luxury tax, and signing a player or further using the exception would end the tax. The Nuggets are expected to pay a luxury tax penalty for the fourth consecutive season. One thing they don’t have available is draft capital. They sent their last available first-round pick to Brooklyn in June to acquire Johnson and only have two second-round picks. ——Bobby Marks
ESPN
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: For short-term relief, Denver has an open roster spot…