The Denver Nuggets are one of the more intriguing Western Conference teams, mixing a number of promising international prospects with home-grown talent and a solid coach in Mike Malone. The future certainly looks brighter than years past, and it helped that Brian Shaw was relieved of his duties after Denver looked out of sorts under his watch.
The Nuggets look like one of the up and coming teams in the West — it’s going to be fun watching them develop into potential playoff contenders. How did they get to this point?
The Nuggets current core started in the 2011 draft, when Denver had a late-first round pick at 22nd overall and opted to take power forward Kenneth Faried. Faried is similar in many ways to the player he came into the league as, using his energy and athleticism as a dominant rebounder and finisher near the rim. Denver got plenty of value after trading its second rounder at 52nd overall to Detroit for swingman Arron Afflalo.
In the 2012 draft, Denver had another late-first round pick at 20th overall and opted to take French swingman, Evan Fournier. Fournier played two seasons in Denver before being traded to Orlando for Arron Afflalo in June of 2014 and has since been one of the most improved players in the league for the Magic.
The Carmelo Anthony trade in February 2011 landed Denver another second round pick, which the team used on swingman Quincy Miller. Miller needed time to recover from an ACL injury, played in the D-League a number of games before making appearances for the Nuggets during his first two seasons. He was waived in October 2014 and currently plays in Serbia.
With their own second round pick at 50th overall, Denver opted to go international with big man Izzet Turkyilmaz. There’s no word if Turkyilmaz will ever come overseas.
Perhaps Denver’s biggest mistake in the past five years was not selecting Rudy Gobert at 27th overall in the 2013 draft, instead opting to trade him to Utah for just a second round pick and cash considerations. Instead, it selected combo guard Erick Green with the 46th overall pick obtained in the Gobert deal.
Green has yet to make much of an impact in the NBA after playing in the D-League. The team also sent center Kosta Koufus to Memphis for Darrell Arthur and another second round pick. The Nuggets took French big man Joffrey Lauvergne, who plays a bench role for the current team. Despite their decision to trade Gobert, Denver rebounded nicely in the second round.
Denver made out like bandits in the 2014 draft, selecting three cornerstones to their current core. First, the team traded away its 12th pick to the Chicago Bulls for picks 16 and 19. The Nuggets opted to go with international center Jusuf Nurkic at 16th overall. Nurkic showed a lot of ability as a rookie last year, but a back injury slowed him down during his sophomore campaign, and he still is looking to get back into rhythm.
Gary Harris was the pick at 19th overall, and Harris struggled as a rookie. But Harris has improved this year, looking like a defensive stopper, slasher and floor-spacer. Denver’s best pick might’ve been in the second round at 41st overall when the team opted for Nikola Jokic. Jokic has been one of the league’s best rookies this year, and shows touch, IQ and physicality well beyond his years.
Lastly, this past year Denver owned a lottery pick at No. 7 overall, its highest selection during this five-year run. The Nuggets selected point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, hoping he’d be their point guard of the future.
Mudiay still has a long way to go as a shooter, but the playmaking, size and talent are there for him to develop into one of the league’s top point guards for years to come. Denver acquired another international talent for Cheikh Samb and cash to the Clippers for their 57th overall pick. Point guard Nikola Radicevic was the pick, and it remains unclear when he might come overseas in the future.
Grade: B+
When you take into account how bad the Nuggets looked last year under Brian Shaw, the progress they’ve made has been tremendous so far. The team has an abundance of young talent, with vets like Danilo Gallinari, Kenneth Faried and Darrell Arthur there to groom the young talent. Denver has been one of the biggest surprises this year, and if they’d kept the Gobert pick, who knows where the team might be today. That’s really the only regret Denver might have from the past five drafts, and when you consider where they are now — it could certainly be worse.