Denver Nuggets Will Have 3 Top-20 Draft Picks In An Important Summer
After tiebreakers were sorted out, the Denver Nuggets emerged with the chance to win three top-20 draft picks in an important summer towards bringing back relevance.
Long gone are the days where a Denver Nuggets playoff berth was a forgone conclusion; a patient fan base that has sat and waited is no longer holding its breath. This offseason is the time the team needs to start their ascension towards becoming a winning ball club again.
General manager Tim Connelly will be entering his fourth offseason with Denver and it’s time to start building a team that can win. Nuggets fans are ready to see their team playing meaningful basketball in April again.
It all begins once the 2016 NBA Draft Lottery is set and this year’s installment of the NBA Draft on June 23.
The Nuggets will have a lottery selection — either their own pick or the Knicks pick, whichever is the higher selection — along with the Houston Rockets’ 15th overall selection and the 19th pick via Portland.
This draft is not a particularly top-heavy one but with three first round picks, drafting well is key to building around the young nucleus.
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The Nuggets have done relatively well in the past couple of years, whether it be from their picks or draft day trades. They’ve found gems like Jusuf Nurkic and Nikola Jokic on the front line, as well as the backcourt of the future in Emmanuel Mudiay and Gary Harris.
It’s a long shot for Denver to land a franchise-changing talent such as Brandon Ingram or Ben Simmons, but adding another piece with its top-10 pick is huge for culture development under Michael Malone.
Denver desperately could use a go-to scorer who can get the team buckets in key situations.
Finding great veteran talent in July will also be key for the Nuggets growth. Drafting well this year will help with that. Another thing that will help is stability. Long gone are the days of a dysfunctional franchise — something that Malone helped clean up in his first year.
In an article from Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post, Connelly spoke highly of Malone.
"“I don’t have enough superlatives to say about Mo and his staff. He’s everything that I knew he was — I had the good fortune of working with him previously. He’s just an absolutely junkie. He works his butt off. Preparation is as good as any in our league. It’s not easy to give a coach a rookie point guard, a two-guard who played limited minutes, and it turned out a rookie center as well. He did a masterful job.”"
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Nonetheless, it all starts on June 23. Whether it be trade bait or sensible selections to help bolster the young roster, Denver’s ability to compete at a high-level next season all starts with that draft.