With Ty Lawson and all of his baggage finally out of Denver’s hands, what did the Nuggets really get in the trade? Houston handed over four players and a lottery-protected first round pick in exchange for a point guard they must believe can turn his act around and return to being a quality, if not borderline star, player. Denver fans may have been relieved to see Lawson go, in lieu of his recent rebellion, but despite his recent actions, he is a talented basketball player. How does the talent Denver got in return stack up?
In the deal, the Nuggets acquired Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey and Nick Johnson, plus a lottery-protected draft pick and cash.
Papanikolaou is a 24-year-old forward from Greece who has spent most of his playing time overseas. He started his professional career in the Greek League in 2008. He was drafted into the NBA in 2012 in the second round by the New York Knicks, but returned to Europe, playing for the Greek teams Aris and Olymicacos before moving to the Spanish League and FC Barcelona. His rights were traded to the Portland Trailblazers in 2012 and in 2013 he was in turn traded to the Houston Rockets. He made his NBA debut in 2014-15 with the Rockets.
“Big Papa,” as he is often called, could be an asset for the Nuggets. The 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward had a very successful career overseas, however his rookie season in the NBA was not all that it could have been due to a knee injury. The injury caused him to take a more limited role and in the time it took for his knee to heal, Trevor Ariza and Corey Brewer had locked down the forward position. Despite that setback, he has the ability to play and a good following to back him. Last year he appeared in 43 games, including one start, in his rookie season with Houston, averaging 4.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 18.5 minutes per game.
Center Joey Dorsey was the 33rd overall draft pick in 2008 by Portland. The University of Memphis graduate was traded to Houston on draft night. In 2010 he was traded to the Sacramento Kings and then later was traded to the Toronto Raptors. In 2011, Dorsey made his way to Europe and to the Spanish League. Not even a full season in, he parted ways with his club, Caja Laboral, and signed with the Greek League team, the Olympiacos. That year, they claimed the Euroleague championship. The next season he played in the Turkish League, then he was back to the Spanish League in 2013. Dorsey returned to the U.S. in 2014 and the 31-year-old signed with Huston.
Dorsey can bring several assets to Denver. One of his best attributes is his fast hands on defense. He is effective deflecting the ball and causing steals. His size really helps under the basket for offensive rebounds, as well; he thrives on the offensive boards. The 6-foot-8, 268-pound center is not only good at getting the ball back up under the net, and this guy can dunk. Despite his underwhelming size for the position, Dorsey uses his strength to his advantage around the rim. The Nuggets could use some intensity like this.
The youngest member of the trade is Nick Johnson, 22. The shooting guard played for Arizona for three years and opted out of his senior year to enter the NBA draft. In his first year for the Wildcats he was named to the 2012 Pac-12 All-Freshman team. His junior year he was first-team All-Pac-12 and earned Pac-12 All-Defensive team honors. Johnson was also the Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2014. He was drafted in the second round by Houston in 2014.
While in Houston, he was switched to point guard from shooting guard, his natural position. The Nuggets will possibly take that position change into consideration while evaluating a possible role for Johnson. His stats were nominal in the limited playing time he had with the Rockets, averaging 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per game in 28 games. However, his numbers were much more impressive when he went down to the D-League for 20 games, averaging 18.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 33.9 minutes per game for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. After a very successful college career, Johnson is still looking for the chance to prove himself at the NBA level. At shooting guard, a position of need for the Nuggets, he could get that chance.
Prigioni is a 38-year-old Argentinian-Italian point guard, who, like Papanikolaou, has seen a lot of playing time in the Euro leagues. He played in the Argentine LNB League from 1995-2001 with a variety of teams. Prigioni had a long stint, from 2001-08, playing in the Spanish League. He was a part of 2008 Argentinian Olympic team who took home the bronze medal in Beijing. In 2012 Prigioni was signed by the New York Knicks and was the oldest rookie in NBA history. In February of 2015, he was traded to the Rockets. The Nuggets waived Prigioni on Monday. He was included in the deal mostly to make salaries align.
Each of these players has experience and some stats to back up that they are decent basketball players. That doesn’t mean they’re all good fits for the Nuggets, though. The real purpose of this deal was to rid of something that was plaguing the Nuggets organization, so if something positive comes out if for Denver, it’s a win-win.
Realistically, only Johnson offers much intrigue. He did not participate in Summer League play, due to a lingering calf issue. Denver badly needs a quality shooter and head coach Mike Malone has made it clear that he expects his team to defend. Johnson showed in college that he can do both. Can he do them well enough to secure a roster spot come November?
Sabrina Naccarato, a Mile High Sports intern and MSU-Denver student, contributed to this report