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

Denver Nuggets NBA draft Option No. 2: Tyrese Maxey

The 6’3″, 198 lbs guard for the University of Kentucky averaged 14 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 42.7 field goal percentage and 29.2 3-point percentage in 34.5 minutes per game. Tyrese Maxey is a creative finisher, decent shooter, and an excellent defender, which sounds like skillsets that could compliment Murray and Gary Harris very well.

It may seem unlikely for the Nuggets to draft Maxey because they already have guards in Harris, Monte Morris, and P.J. Dozier. Though the Nuggets have all of these players, they may be looking to upgrade or plan for the future.

Morris’s contract ends at the end of the 2020-21 season, while Harris’ and Dozier’s ends at the end of 2021-22. So, it may make sense for the Nuggets to plan ahead and develop a guard. Also, Harris has been injury-prone during these past two seasons, and Monte Morris can only do so much alone with the second unit.

That said, the Nuggets should consider drafting the former Wildcat. Maxey is not a true point guard, which the team doesn’t necessarily need. Maxey can provide relief for any point guard that he plays with and will bring tenacity and an edge that seems to be missing from the Nuggets.

Murray brings the swagger, and Morris brings the steadiness. But Maxey would bring the grit and grind (not a reference to the Memphis Grizzlies) that is missing because, to put it short, Maxey is a gamer.

To start, Maxey is a solid finisher around the rim, which explains why he completed 56 percent of his shorts at the basket. He possesses decent enough speed to get by defenders, maneuver in traffic, and finish through contact. Furthermore, his craftiness, body control, ability to finish at weird angles, and the capacity to use either hand make scoring around the hoop easy for him.

Maxey also demonstrated that he has the potential to be an effective scorer with his jump shot. He has solid footwork and balance when taking a jumper. He’s also shown the ability to stroke it from deep beyond the arc, which would help create floor spacing (not that it’s an issue for the team). However, he does need to tweak his shooting mechanics because he has a low release, but that shouldn’t be hard to accomplish.

Maxey’s leading case is his defense because he is a demon on that end of the floor. With his athleticism and defensive IQ, Maxey is like Liam Neeson from Taken. He will find you, and he will kill you.

While isolated, Maxey has demonstrated the ability to mirror his opponent’s movement with ease. He possesses the twitch muscles to move his feet and hips fast enough that it’s hard for anyone to get by him. Even when the opposition sets a screen on him, he is rarely caught off guard and gets around the screener with ease to stay in front of his man.

During off-ball, Maxey knows how to communicate, rotate effectively and efficiently, and cause opponents to eat time out of the shot clock.

Now even though there are positives about Maxey’s game, there are areas he needs to improve.

For one, his 3-point shooting needs work because he shot 29.2 percent in college. I already mentioned that his mechanics do need some tweaking for him to become a consistent shooter, and fixing shot mechanics is, for the most part, curable in the NBA. So, there shouldn’t be a concern that Maxey could become a league-average 3-point shooter (or close to it).

Another aspect of Maxey’s game that needs work is his passing, especially in the pick and roll. On average, Maxey can make accurate passes for simple reads, such as kick-outs and swing passes. However, when it comes to making the advanced reads (aka dropping dimes), he tends to force passes that aren’t there because he doesn’t grasp the angle necessary to get the ball to his teammate. You usually see this occur when he is the ball-handler in the pick-and-roll trying to make a pass.

His last weakness is his lack of top-end speed. But that shouldn’t be a concern because players don’t need to be the fastest to make an impact on the court. Just look at Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet. They don’t possess the best top-end speed, but they’re quick enough and understand how to use their body to make an impact at their own pace.

The Nuggets would make a solid choice in taking Maxey because he would offer an edginess that the team is lacking.