"It's been a familiar refrain from a handful of front-office types during the first few days of the NBA's gradual return to offseason normalcy: Denver's Arron Afflalo is a popular choice when you ask execs to pinpoint the most attractive free agent outside of the big men.

Afflalo's Denver teammate Nene, Dallas Mavericks center Tyson Chandler, New Orleans Hornets forward David West and Memphis Grizzlies restricted free agent Marc Gasol are universally seen as the most coveted players on the open market.

But Afflalo, with a blossoming offensive game to go with his more polished D, has his own growing group of admirers if you listen to the GM grapevine.

Sources told ESPN.com that the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, despite possessing no cap space to bid for the 26-year-old swingman, will continue to press the Nuggets to see if they're amenable to sign-and-trade discussions. Sources say New Jersey and Minnesota, meanwhile, are among the teams with salary-cap space weighing whether to extend an offer sheet after free agency officially starts Dec. 9 that the Nuggets will have three days to match to keep Afflalo. "