NBA Draft: Every team’s best all-time selection in the lottery

Best NBA Draft Lottery pick: Denver Nuggets, Carmelo Anthony

The Denver Nuggets front office must be fortunate that the Detroit Pistons took Darko Milicic with their second pick during the 2003 NBA Draft. This selection opened the door for the Nuggets to take Carmelo Anthony, who wound up becoming one of the top pure scorers from his era.

During his time with the Nuggets, Anthony was a force on the offensive side of the ball. He had the explosiveness to barrel on by to the basket with ease. And more so, Nuggets fans enjoyed watching poetry in motion with his craftiness to score from mid-range. While he did not win the title of scoring champion over his eight seasons with the Nuggets, he did post multiple seasons with at least a 25 points per game average mark, which was an impressive feat in the arduous Western Conference.

One could pinpoint to a multitude of stout performances that Anthony had with Denver, but his 2009 playoff run is surely up there. He averaged 27.2 points per game over 16 playoffs games that season, which included a strong run to the Western Conference Finals. Despite coming up short in the end at the hands of the Lakers over the Western Conference Finals, Anthony was lauded for his ability to step his game up and lead the Nuggets with multiple 30-point performances over the run.

While Anthony departed from the team on sour terms, his run there will always have him up as among the greatest Nuggets players in franchise history.

Carmelo Anthony Denver Nuggets stats and accomplishments

• 564 games, 24.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists per game
• 4X All-Star, 2004 All-Rookie