The Denver Nuggets officially have the 13th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
No, the Nuggets didn’t win the lottery on Tuesday night; then again, nobody expected them to. What they did get was a pretty good pick in what is thought to be a superb NBA Draft loaded with talent, and the Nuggets seem to always find that hidden gem. Let’s hope this year is no different.
Denver received the 13th pick via the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery, which was held on Tuesday. This year’s draft will take place on Thursday, June 22nd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
While many say that the draft lottery is about luck, it’s also about chance and based on probabilities. For the Nuggets, those probabilities were incredibly low. Here were the odds going into the lottery, via Nuggets PR:
With such a small probability at landing the top overall pick or even a top-3 pick, Nuggets guard Gary Harris was the lottery representative for Denver and attended the televised event. Not much changed as far as the expected draft order. Denver was expected to get the 13th overall pick, and they ended up with exactly the 13th pick. Denver did not move up or down for a third straight year.
The Celtics (via Brooklyn) won the lottery to end up with the top overall pick. That’s great news for them, as they are currently in the Eastern Conference Finals. Next was the Los Angeles Lakers who now have a mostly clear path to UCLA point guard Lonzo Ball. Then it was the Philadelphia 76ers, who hoped to be in the top two picks. The biggest surprise was the Phoenix Suns falling out of the top 3, but they did get the 4th-overall pick. Rounding out the top 5 was the Sacramento Kings.
The Nuggets have held the 7th overall pick the last two years, and they’ve had some success with that number selecting Emmanuel Mudiay and also Jamal Murray. In addition to the 13th pick this year, Denver also has multiple second-round picks.
Now, before you think about all of the top prospects that Denver won’t get in the first round, think about some of those late sleepers. That is where Tim Connelly has been at his best. The Nuggets can add another young and important piece at 13. Who knows? Maybe Connelly can find the next Nikola Jokic.
