Strike 1: NBA Draft, June 25-26.
Everyone knows that the Denver Nuggets don’t have a selection in this week’s NBA Draft. And since their new co-general managers are brand new to the gig, it’s probably for the best.
Even when they did have an experienced GM in Calvin Booth, the Nuggets recent history in the draft has been spotty, at best. That is, when the picks haven’t been traded away.
When they have made their own selections, Denver has clanked quite a few and even tossed up some air balls since drafting Nikola Jokic in 2014. Along with Murray, Denver did draft Doug McDermott and Rudy Gobert, who’ve become productive players for other teams. Denver also famously drafted Donovan Mitchell in 2017 as part of a pre-arranged trade with Utah that landed Tyler London and Trey Lyles in the Mile High.
Advantage, Jazz.
There’s Emmanual Mudiay, Juancho Hernangómez (a better actor than NBA player), Malik Beasley, Zeke Nnaji, Bones Hyland and second-rounder Max Lewis, who was Denver first selection in 2023.
Only Michael Porter Jr. and Christian Braun have made the Nuggets significantly better after coming out of the most recent drafts.
The question will always be how to best build a championship roster – draft picks, trades or free agent signings? Denver was a draft-first organization but has morphed into a “use the picks as trade chips” kind of outfit. Will the new decision makers continue that or change course?
Back in the day, the Denver Rockets-turned-Nuggets drafted hall of famers like Spencer Haywood, David Thompson (the first overall pick in both the NBA and ABA drafts in 1975) and Dikembe Mutombo. They also hit with picks like standouts Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, LaPhonso Ellis and Jalen Rose. When lean times hit in the late 1990’s, it was due in no small part to picks that flopped, like Efthimios Rentzias, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, Tony Battie and Mamadou N’Diaye. Former Nuggets hall of famer-turned head coach Dan Issel had the famous draft day quip/quote at the end of his introductory press conference when N’Diaye arrived in 2000: “No one does it like your mama do…”
Air ball.
When the Nuggets started to turn things around, they did it with first-round draft pick Carmelo Anthony, a recent selection into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Since selecting Anthony in 2003, the Nuggets have added a large group of “meh” first round picks like Jarrett Jack, Kenneth Faried and Evan Fournier, but hold the distinction of having made the best second-round pick in NBA history when they nabbed future three-time MVP Jokic. Add in Jamal Murray, MPJ and Braun, and you have the foundation for the franchise’s only NBA championship.
Like many championship contending teams, however, the Nuggets front office then shifted focus away from acquiring young talent via the draft. Instead, they traded away most of their “draft capital” for the next five years, including this one. As things stand, the Nuggets will be spectators this Wednesday and Thursday.
Getting a savvy, talented veteran like Aaron Gordon in exchange for a future first round draft pick sounds great when you’re doing it, and certainly AG has been well worth the price – which was this year’s top pick (plus solid guard Gary Harris and then-rookie R.J. Hampton.) Denver doesn’t win the NBA title without making that trade.
Looking ahead, Denver owns their top pick in 2026, but Oklahoma City has the rights to the Nuggets top pick in either ’27, ’28, ’29 or ’30. The next time the Nuggets own their own pick outright (meaning it’s usable or tradeable) after 2026 is in 2031.
Last year the Nuggets actually drafted Ryan Dunn out of Virginia in the first round, but some draft day wheeling and dealing landed Dunn in Phoenix and Dayton’s DaRon Holmes in Denver. Holmes promptly tore his Achilles tendon in the first NBA summer league game last July and has yet to take the floor for the Nuggets. He’s back and reportedly healthy and will serve as this year’s de facto top pick.
Only time will tell how much long term harm Booth did when he traded away most of the team’s draft options between now and 2031. Nuggets Nation needs to hope the new basketball decision makers will see more value in future draft picks.
