Strike 2: The NBA Draft starts tonight, and there have been all sorts of prognostications regarding who the Denver Nuggets could potentially be in a position to draft with the 28th selection.

How about looking at who the Nuggets should not draft, and scratching some names off the board already?

The whole idea of drafting “best player available” is nonsense. Teams like Denver draft the best player available at a position of need. And there are one or perhaps two positions, depending on how you group them, where Denver has no need at all.

Maybe you call it small forward, or shooting guard, or “wing” player, but regardless, the Nuggets should absolutely not spend another draft pick on a 6-foot-7 guy “with a long wingspan who can guard the two or three and can shoot the three ball…”

The Nuggets have plenty of those already. “Wing” is not a position of need.

Peyton Watson. Hunter Tyson. Julian Strawther. Vlatko Cancer (if they bring him back after missing a season even after declining his contract option). Braxton Key. They’re all going to enter training camp behind Michael Porter Jr, Christian Braun and whatever other veteran Denver brings in to help bolster the bench.

Therefore, it would make zero sense to spend a valuable draft pick on Serbia’s 6-7 Nikola Djurisic, or France’s 6-8 Pacome Dadiet, or Virgina’s 6-6 Ryan Dunn or 6-8 Baylor Scheierman from Creighton. Wingspan be damned. Where is the competitive advantage of getting deeper at a position you’re overstocked at?

It’s very clear what the Nuggets’ needs are. They start with depth in the front court. Specifically a back up for Nikola Jokic in the middle. A rim protector. Another rebounder. Someone who can hold things together when the MVP needs a break.

Purdue’s two-time NCAA Player of the Year Zach Edey (7-4) fits the bill, as does Baylor’s 6-10 Yves Missi and Kyle Filipowski (6-10) from Duke.

All three are likely to be selected before the Nuggets pick at No. 28, meaning some sort of move up in the draft order would be needed. Perhaps the Nuggets could package that 28th pick with one of their current crop of young wing players to move up a bit?

Once again, however, the safe bet is that the Nuggets stay at No. 28 and draft a guy like Daron Holmes II from Dayton, a true power forward with a lot of college experience and the ability to back up Aaron Gordon. Power forward is not at the top of the Nuggets list of needs, but it would be better than getting another young “wing” player to add to the needless stockpile.

Meanwhile, that would put the spotlight back on free agency, where Denver would need to find not only a solid backup for Joker, but a reliable scorer off the bench as well.

Who knows at this point if any of the Nuggets “wing” players will ever become rotation guys? Watson showed signs during the regular season before falling out of favor as the postseason began. Strawther, last year’s first-round pick, had an issue staying healthy, and couldn’t find consistency with his highly touted 3-point shot. Tyson and Keys only say mop up duty, so who knows what their future with the Nuggets looks like.

All we really know is that at this point in the Nuggets championship window, more young players with great wingspans should not be a priority.