The Nuggets’ sneaky great draft bolsters their championship roster

At the conclusion of the 2023 NBA draft, every fan seemingly does the same thing. They want to look up the draft grades that were given to their draft selections from the main sports networks. If you were a Denver Nuggets fan, you may have not liked what you saw. Many outlets were giving the Denver Nuggets draft grades ranging from a B all the way down to a C-.

Despite this, the vision from GM Calvin Booth was clear and on full display; Denver was going to be taking “their guys” who can help them win games right away. The front office did not care about the mock drafts, the draft grades, or how some may perceive their picks as being “reaches”.

Looking back to the 2022 NBA draft, the Nuggets and GM Calvin Booth selected Christian Braun with the 21st overall pick. This pick also received backlash as being too early to take Braun, with Bleacher Report giving the Braun selection a C-. Sports Illustrated and Yahoo Sports followed suit, with each of them also grading the pick a C-. Fox Sports felt similarly and gave the Nuggets front office a C. Flash forward a year and Christian Braun ended up being the 7th best player on a championship team, averaging 5.8 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.2 APG and 1.0 SPG in the NBA finals.

The Nuggets “reached” for experience, elite shooting, and quality rebounding.

This year the “reaches” for Denver’s front office were Gonzaga sharpshooter Julian Strawther at pick 29 and Penn State’s Booty Ball assassin, Jalen Pickett, at pick 32. They also landed Clemson’s modern version of Psycho T, Hunter Tyson, with the 37th pick. What do all of these picks have in common?

First off, all three of these selections were upperclassmen who are older prospects. Julian Strawther was a junior and is the youngest of the three at 21.2 years old. Meanwhile, Jalen Pickett (23.7 years old) and Hunter Tyson (22.0 years old) were both 5th-year seniors. These three combined for 378 played games in college.

Another thing that all three players have in common is that they are all high-level three-point shooters and elite rebounders for their size. Strawther shot 40.8% from deep and averaged 6.2 RPG last season. Pickett shot 38.1% from beyond the arc and pulled down 7.4 rebounds per game, even having a 17-rebound game as a 6’4″ guard in 2022–2023. Tyson nearly matched Strawther by shooting 40.5% from three and pulling down a prolific 9.6 RPG, good for 19th in the entire NCAA this past season.

How do they fit in with the Nuggets in 2023-2024?

This year, the “reaches” for Denver’s front office were Gonzaga sharpshooter Julian Strawther at pick 29 and Penn State’s Booty Ball assassin, Jalen Pickett, at pick 32. They also landed Clemson’s modern version of Psycho T, Hunter Tyson, with the 37th pick. What do all of these picks have in common?

First off, all three of these selections were upperclassmen who are older prospects. Julian Strawther was a junior and is the youngest of the three at 21.2 years old. Meanwhile, Jalen Pickett (23.7 years old) and Hunter Tyson (22.0 years old) were both fifth-year seniors. These three combined for 378 games played in college.

Another thing that all three players have in common is that they are all high-level three-point shooters and elite rebounders for their size. Strawther shot 40.8% from deep and averaged 6.2 RPG last season. Pickett shot 38.1% from beyond the arc and pulled down 7.4 rebounds per game, even having a 17-rebound game as a 6’4″ guard in 2022–2023. Tyson nearly matched Strawther by shooting 40.5% from three and pulling down a prolific 9.6 RPG, good for 19th in the entire NCAA this past season.