In just a few days, a few ping pong balls could decide the fate of the Denver Nuggets franchise. A lucky bounce and Denver could be looking at drafting the NBA’s next great superstar. Status quo and the Nuggets could be hoping they find a rotational player.
The NBA Lottery may seem like a childish way to decide something as important as the No. 1 pick, but it’s unquestionably exciting, especially this season.
While every offseason is important, this offseason could be franchise defining for the Nuggets. They’ve got the building blocks for a contending team in place, but they’re missing the final component, the transcendent talent that pushes the organization from interesting to great.
Could that missing component be a point guard? Well, no, not in that sense. The Nuggets already have that in Emmanuel Mudiay. But they could use another young point guard, a guy who can run the bench unit, in their backcourt.
With three first-round draft picks and two more seconds, here are five point guards the Nuggets should be targeting:
5. Marcus Paige
Experience: Senior Size: 6-foot-0, 157 pounds
Last Season: 12.6 points; 2.8 assists; 2.5 rebounds; .398 FG%; .356 3P%
A disappointing senior season dropped Marcus Paige from a potential first-round pick to a late second-rounder, but if the Nuggets are looking to take a chance on an experienced kid who’s played in big-time games against big-time opponents, this is their guy.
Paige may never be a starting point guard in the NBA, but the Nuggets wouldn’t need him to be. If he can come off the bench and be a pure scorer, he’ll be doing his job. And with the talent he’s shown, especially in his sophomore and junior seasons, he could turn into a heck of a second-round draft pick, even if it takes a year or two for him to find his niche.
