With the 2016 NBA Draft upon us, it’s time to break down the best-case scenario for the Nuggets. With a few issues needing to be addressed, there are a lot of different ways to go about the potential chaos that is the draft.
With a plethora of teams looking to trade and no general consensus on who will rise or fall, anything could happen come 5:30 p.m. MST.
The Nuggets will be looking to add perimeter shooting, perimeter defense, a versatile power forward and, if possible, a star player. While goal No. 1 should be getting an All Star to Denver, the odds of that happening today are slim to none. With that being said, the idea of trading for a DeMarcus Cousins or Blake Griffin will not be covered in this article.
Overall the Nuggets have two open roster spots. Once Darrell Arthur formally opts out of his contract with the Nuggets, there will be three. Axel Toupane and JaKarr Sampson are both on non-guaranteed deals and could be cut to make more room as well.
The Nuggets own the seventh, 15th and 19th picks in the first round. They also own the 53rd and 56th selections in the second round.
The Nuggets largest issue heading into draft night is the youth and depth already on the team. Simply put, Tim Connelly and the front office can’t and don’t want to use all five of their draft picks. Likely, the simplest remedy to this conundrum is to package multiple picks together and move up in the draft.
Packaging the 15th and 19th picks together to move up to the 10-13 range and select Timothe Luwawu would be a top priority in my eyes. I broke down Luwawu as a potential 15th pick earlier in the week, but odds are that he ends up going closer to the 10 than 15 or 19.
Likewise, if the Nuggets have found a prospect they can call “their guy,” they need to make sure they go get him, even if that means moving up into the top five. The Celtics are reportedly prepared to trade the third pick to the 76ers so they can select Kris Dunn. Either that, or the Celtics seem to be ready to draft Dunn or Jaylen Brown themselves. This carries more gravity then most realize. If Bender starts to fall into the range of five or six, look for the Nuggets to trade a combo of Kenneth Faried and one of their picks to move up a couple spots and grab Bender. The most likely trade partner would be the Minnesota Timberwolves who have been rumored to be interested in Kenneth Faried.
If the Nuggets can find a way to get their top guy outside of Ingram and Simmons by moving up with a combination of the 15th or 19th pick and a player, Connelly will come out of draft night a major winner. Who they select, though, is an entirely different story. I know who I like (Bender, Brown), but who the Nuggets see as the best fit is unknown.
