Let’s take an in-depth look at who the Denver Nuggets have spent their recent second-round picks on, and who would have been a good option in retrospect.
The Denver Nuggets are Western Conference contenders given their combined record of 97-50 over the past two seasons, but what is stopping them from getting over the hump? The Nuggets have been one of few teams in recent history to reach success with a young core of players that they drafted and developed themselves, rather than relying heavily on trades and free agents.
Seeing that Nikola Jokic was a second-round draft pick in 2014 and is now a borderline MVP-caliber player, it isn’t beyond the realm of possibility to assume that the Nuggets could be legit title favorites if they had nailed all of their second-rounders since Jokic.
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2015 NBA Draft
In the 2015 NBA Draft, the Denver Nuggets selected Nikola Radičević with the 57th overall pick. After getting drafted, Radičević was a member of the Nuggets summer league team in 2017, but has ultimately played for various teams in Europe rather than signing a contract with Denver. Obviously it is difficult to draft an impact player with the 57th overall pick, but with the advantage of retrospect, we can now look at who would’ve been a better selection.
The three players selected after Radičević were never impactful NBA players, so we have to look toward the undrafted pool here. A few undrafted players that have established themselves as viable NBA players over the past few seasons include Quinn Cook, Royce O’Neale, T.J. McConnell, and Christian Wood.
Of the listed players, TJ McConnell has been the most consistent in terms of minutes played, scoring, and assists. Not to mention he brings a lot of intangible leadership qualities and is fairly gritty defensively. He is a very solid option as a backup point guard, which would be a tremendous value at the 57th overall pick.
Christian Wood would be my second choice just because of the tremendous potential and improvement he has shown this season with the Detroit Pistons. This current season he has shattered his previous career highs in points and rebounds, proving that he could be a viable bench option as a forward, even a starter if need be.