A Very Early Look at Potential Nugget Draft Picks in 2016

The Nuggets should be able to garner a top five pick since they have a shot with their pick as well as the Knicks since they will get to keep the better of the two. The Nuggets can forget about drafting Jamal Murray or Kris Dunn, two of the top point guard prospects, because Mudiay fills that need. I would also be surprised if the Nuggets went with a center unless Nurkic took no steps forward in his game. That leaves power forward, shooting guard or small forward if a prospect really sets himself away from the field. I really believe they need to upgrade at the power forward spot. I love Faried, but I think it is time for him to start coming off of the bench where he would be better suited. If the Nuggets end up getting a top two pick in the draft, they would be set with either Ben Simmons Skal Labissiere. They are the two best prospects in the draft. Drafting either of these two would be a dream come true for the Nuggets. Ben Simmons can possibly play either forward spot, although he is probably better fit for playing the four in the NBA. He has tremendous athleticism and once finds an offensive game in the NBA, he will be deadly on both sides of the floor. Skal can play either center or power forward, but I think he will fit better at the four in the NBA due to his light frame. Both of these guys can shoot, which is a almost a must for big men now. Drafting either of these two would be the best case scenario for the Nuggets at this point.

Say the Nuggets land the fifth pick, they would probably draft Ivan Rabb or Dragan Bender. Both of them are a bit more raw than Skal and Simmons. Rabb is a 6-10 220 pound power forward who needs to work on expanding his post move repertoire. He also needs work on his low post defense, other than shot blocking he does not seem to provide anything else on defense. Dragan Bender is a 7-0 215 pound power forward coming out of Croatia. It is not known if he will come to the NBA the year that he is drafted. He also needs to put on weight and still has a very raw game, he is much like Porzingis in that regard.

The Nuggets will likely also have Houston's draft pick as long as they make the playoffs. If Portland surprises and makes the playoffs (not likely), then they would also get their pick. Houston's pick will likely be in the late 20's. The Nuggets might want to look at a 2 guard in order to add depth at the position. If Gary Harris does not improve, they will be very thin in that area heading into the 2016 season if they do not pick someone up.



*Obviously it is very early and things could change dramatically considering all of the players I listed had not played one minute of college basketball. However, it fills the gap between free agency and training camp.

How I Feel About the Nuggets' Offseason

The Nuggets will not be a good basketball team this year. They were not good last year and lost their best player. However, that does not mean that I hate their front office right now. They have done the best one could hope with the circumstances bestowed upon them. Ty Lawson had to be traded after his second DUI in five months. I thought the Nuggets should have traded him for whatever they could get on draft day after Emmanuel Mudiay dropped because I did not think his stock would go up with teams knowing they would trade him and him having to share minutes with Mudiay. Unfortunately, they could not trade him on draft night, then the second DUI came and the Nuggets traded him for scraps from Houston and a protected 2016 first round pick. The fact that Mudiay is on the Nuggets makes me very excited because he has the potential to become a star for this team. He probably will not be very good this year because he needs to work on his jumper. However, he can get to the hoop and pass with extremely good vision.

The Nuggets also extended Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari. Wilson received $46.5 million over 4 years while Gallo signed a 2 year $34 million extension, which keeps him on the team until 2018. Both are key players on this team. If Gallo can stay healthy and play like he did last season then he will be worth the money.  Wilson is a good defender who scored 14 points per game last season and pulled down 6 rebounds. He is a good player to have around a locker room with a lot of young players. 

Nikola Jokic was finally signed, he was the 41st pick in the 2014 draft. He stands at 6 foot 10 inches 250 pounds. I think he has all of the tools to become a good big man in the NBA. Him and Nurkic would be a rough duo to bang down low with. Im glad they got a deal done because this is the year to try anything out so they might as well see how good Jokic will be. 

The Nuggets get the option to swap picks with the Knicks in the draft. They don't project to be too good either, which is a very good thing for the Nuggets. They could have a good season, which in this teams context would be being out of the bottom 10, and still receive a top five pick if the Knicks do not play well. They could also play poorly and it would work out because they would have two chances to win the lottery. 

Nuggets Race to the Third Seed

The third seed is in sight, after a terrible start to the season when it looked iffy that the Nuggets would even make the playoffs, they are only 2 games behind the Clippers and 1.5 behind the current third seed Memphis. They also have the tie breaker over both of those teams.

The Clippers are far from the team that they were in December when they won 17 straight. They have still been good, but they have not stepped up to the elite level. They still have a fairly easy schedule with a lot of home games and their away games are against easy teams. The Nuggets need them to lose a couple of games they shouldn't in order to catch them without the race going down to the wire.

Memphis's schedule is a little bit tougher with a lot of away games in touch places to play. When they traded away Rudy Gay I thought they would be lucky to make they playoffs, I was wrong. They have still been a top team, but they lack a go to scorer. The Nuggets should have no problem catching them and taking home court advantage in the first round.

They play the Grizzlies one more and it is in Denver. This should be a win. I have the Nuggets losing at least 3 games, maybe four to six. If they only lose 3 they will finish with 57 wins which should be more than enough to lock down the three seed. If they lose 6 they are likely stuck with the 4th seed and would play Memphis in the first round.