Barring any trades, the Denver Nuggets know for certain that they will make the 13th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. Let’s rank the options that could still be available.
The Denver Nuggets don’t have many holes to plug on their roster, but the potential departure of Danilo Gallinari means the wing spot could become an immediate priority for the front office.
The 2017 NBA Draft might be the perfect place for a team with Denver’s timeline to fill that vacancy, and as Gary Harris represented the franchise at lottery night, the front office crossed its fingers for a miracle.
With the slimmest possibility of receiving the third overall pick in play, the idea of grabbing a dynamic wing like Josh Jackson or Jayson Tatum had every Nuggets fan’s mouth watering. But the odds of jumping up were never in their favor. It was no surprise to hear the Nuggets called when the 13th spot in the draft was filled.
Denver still have a great opportunity to add even more young talent to their team with the 13th pick. But an opportunity to move into the top-10 would be hard to pass on should it present itself. Perhaps that’s why general manager Tim Connelly is reportedly looking into doing just that.
Connelly saying that if they find a player that is impactful at 8 or 9 they will look to move up if possible.
— T.J. McBride (@TJMcBrideNBA) May 17, 2017
Would it be worth it for Denver to move up? They might consider moving their own pick, a veteran like Wilson Chandler, and/or a prospect like one of their young guards or Juan Hernangomez. The right package could give them a shot at drafting players like Jonathan Isaac, Lauri Markkanen or Zach Collins.
But it’s still too early to tell if moving up is possible, or what exactly the asking price would be. For now, it should be expected that Denver will indeed use that 13th pick.
Connelly and his staff have several different paths they could take. They could look to fill their potential biggest need at small forward, but they could also go the route of looking for the right backup center to play behind Nikola Jokic. Such a move could allow Denver to move on from restricted free agent Mason Plumlee this offseason.
There’s also the philosophy of drafting talent over need — something we saw Connelly embrace when he selected a point guard with the seventh overall pick for the second draft in a row last year.
There appears to be little consensus as to which prospect fits best in Denver. By MileHighSports.com’s count, six different writers have the Nuggets taking five different players across four different positions in the latest round of mock drafts. For your convenience, we’ve compiled one list of Denver’s top five options that could still be available at No. 13.