Denver Nuggets general manager says that the NBA draft is his favorite night of the year, and with the luck the Nuggets have had in back-to-back drafts who could blame him?
After taking Emmanuel Mudiay, a projected lottery pick, with the seventh pick in the 2015 NBA draft, the Nuggets managed to land two more previously projected lottery picks in 2016.
The Nuggets selected University of Kentucky guard Jamal Murray with the seventh pick in Thursday night’s draft and were ecstatic to see that Murray was still available when they were on the clock — they had him ranked as the third-best prospect in the draft.
According to Connelly, the Nuggets had even considered packaging a few of their assets to move up (reportedly as high as No. 3) and make sure they secured the sharpshooter from Kentucky.
“We talked about moving up,” Connelly said. “We were pleasantly surprised. Certainly that was the guy that we really wanted.”
While the Nuggets selected Murray first, their best pick might’ve come later in the first round.
Thanks to a trade that sent Arron Afflalo to the Portland Trailblazers in February 2015 and Ty Lawson to the Houston Rockets prior to the 2015-2016 season, the Nuggets possessed the seventh, 15th and the 19th pick in Thursday’s draft, and it was with that 19th pick where the Nuggets were even more surprised to find Malik Beasley still on the board.
“We were shocked that he was there at 19,” Connelly said. “I think Beasley has a chance long term to be a next-level defender.”
Beasley underwent surgery early in June to repair a stress fracture in his right leg. According to Beasley, he’s been running and should be ready for training camp.
“We had him graded out as a lottery pick prior to the injury,” Connelly said. “You gotta take risks sometimes to get talent like that.”
With a loaded back court, Connelly doesn’t expect Beasley to be an impact player in 2016. If the Nuggets can give Beasley a season or two to develop, though, he could shape up to be a great pick down the road.
