Denver Nuggets: 3 options with the 22nd pick in the 2020 NBA Draft

The Denver Nuggets have the 22nd pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, and it will be interesting which position they decide to fill.

The Denver Nuggets have been making strides as an organization, considering they’ve exceeded expectations in their postseason performances. During the 2018-19 season, they made it to the Western Conference Semi-Finals and took the Portland Trail Blazers to a seven-game series. This season, Denver overcame back-to-back 3-1 deficit (the quarter and semifinals) to face the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

Even though the Denver Nuggets would lose to the Lakers, they demonstrated that they’re an up-and-coming team that will be around for a while with Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic at the helm.

However, the Nuggets face some serious questions this offseason, and they should be answered this week and maybe next. The Nuggets have a few players who will be free agents (either restricted and unrestricted), and the team needs to make decisions about which holes they want to fill through the draft. And strangely enough, they’re going to have holes at all positions. So, they will be an exciting team to watch come draft night to see which direction they decide to go.

The Nuggets have the 22nd pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and what makes this draft interesting for Denver is that they didn’t have a draft pick last year.  And what makes this draft twice as attractive is that this is not an unfamiliar spot for the Nuggets to draft.

Denver has drafted twice with the 22nd pick within the last twenty years, and they did pretty well. The first time they had the 22nd pick within the previous 20 years was in 2005 when they drafted Jarrett Jack (then traded that same night to the Portland Trail Blazers), who became a solid player in the league.

The second 22nd pick was in 2011 when they drafted Kenneth Faried. He was a solid role player who had a limited repertoire in the league. Nevertheless, he was still decent for the Denver Nuggets, wasn’t considered a bust, and had a seven-year career with the team between 2011-18.

So, fans should have some hope that the team will be successful with this pick. And with Denver back in the 22nd spot, the team should have a few options based on what mock drafts are projecting. So for the sake of this piece, these are the top three choices for the Nuggets if they decide to stay put.

Denver Nuggets NBA draft Option No. 3: Josh Green

The 6’6″, 210 lbs wing from the University of Arizona averaged 12 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 42.4 field goal percentage, and 36.1 3-point percentage through 30.9 minutes per game. Josh Green would provide high energy defense, 3-point shooting, and crafty playmaking for the Nuggets.

The Nuggets should consider taking another small forward because Michael Porter Jr. and Will Barton are the only contracted wings. At the same time, Torrey Craig will be a restricted free agent, and Jerami Grant will be an unrestricted free agent. And even if the Nuggets do bring back either Craig or Grant, there is nothing wrong with having a plethora of wings, especially since Denver emphasizes position-less basketball.

The combination of Green’s versatility to guard multiple positions and his high energy play on defense is the most significant aspect of his game. He plays a smart, aggressive style of basketball, whether it’s on or off-ball. When Green is on-ball, it’s like he creates a wall to prevent adversaries from either driving into the paint or trying to get their jump shot off. Green makes his wall-like defensive presence felt by his ability to stay in front of his opponent by moving his hips and feet quickly to adjust.

When playing off-ball, he knows how to situate himself to prevent his opponent from getting in their spot to make a move or score. And through his help defense, he knows how to rotate quickly and effectively to either create difficult shots for the opposition or cause the offense to reset and eat time out of the shot clock.

Now, even though Green’s defense is the most impressive aspect of him as a prospect, his shooting and scoring potential creates great intrigue. In particular, his shooting is a fascinating characteristic of his game because he would provide floor spacing to any team. It’s clear that Green can hit his shots, whether it’s by catch-and-shoot or spot-up, because he ranked in the 67th and 60th percentile, respectively. We haven’t seen his actual ability to shoot off the dribble, but with the small sample size, it’s promising to say the least.

Yet even though all of Green’s strengths would help add a dimension to the Nuggets, his weaknesses would limit the impact he has out of the gate.

One weakness of Green’s is his ability to finish around the rim. He only finished 26-of-70 shots around the rim, which translated to 37.0 percent and placed him in the 12th percentile. His finishing is lackluster because he is unable to embrace contact when driving into the lane. Even though he has a nice lengthy frame, he doesn’t have the weight to embrace contact.

However, while he is an inefficient scorer around the rim, he does know how to take it to the hoop. Whether he’s on-ball and driving to the rack or consistently moving off-ball and cutting through the lanes, Green knows how to use his size and athleticism to get past defenders and get in the paint.

Another weakness of Green’s is his playmaking, and there are two reasons for that. His ball-handling and passing ability.

While dribbling, he doesn’t possess firm enough control to protect the ball. He dribbles the ball high – with a little slow motion to it – making it easy for defenders to feast. Furthermore, he currently lacks the touch to make accurate passes. Because of his weak handle and passing, it is difficult for him to be an instant playmaker.

Now don’t get me wrong, Green has shown flashes where he can be a crafty enough playmaker to relieve the lead ball-handler from being solely reliant on initiating the offense. But he would need to continue to improve his handle and accuracy to make that leap, which is not too difficult to do in the NBA.

Green’s final concern is that he had torn labrum surgery in 2019, so that may be a concern for the Nuggets. But getting injuries in sports is no new phenomenon, so it shouldn’t prevent the Nuggets from taking the former Wildcat.

Green would be a solid choice for the Nuggets because he would provide depth at the wing. It would also give the Nuggets flexibility to trade one of their wings or move on from them if they wanted a younger player on a cheaper deal.