Denver Nuggets 5-on-5 Roundtable

Worst case scenario for Denver: let’s say the Nuggets either make the playoffs or their pick and the Knicks pick both fall in the late lottery (10-14), giving them a poor pick in a weak draft. Do you keep the pick?, if so who do you take and if not who or what do you trade it for?

TD: Well this all depends on whether we obtain any other first round picks, it’s looking increasingly likely that we take the Rockets first round pick and most likely the Trailblazers as well. Then were looking at three picks between 10-16. I would package that up and try to make a deal that would bring us at least one pick between 1-3 or two picks between 3-8. There aren’t enough spots on our roster with Chandler coming back from injury next year, because I don’t see the front office really willing to waive anyone come the summer. So hopefully we can make a deal that could land us one of Simmons, Ingram or Murray.

EW: I would be so mad if this scenario played out for Denver, them playing well lately is ultimately doing their franchise a disservice by making this scenario more and more likely. I would totally trade this pick if I were in Tim Connelly’s shoes, given that I don’t really buy alot of the prospects in this draft, that will be selected in this range come June. Prospects such as Ivan Rabb, Henry Ellenson, Buddy Hield, Skal Labissiere and Diamond Stone are all either extremely overrated, flawed or poor fits for Denver in my opinion. And none of which would really make the Nuggets a signficantly better team. I would like to see the Nugges trade this pick for a couple later round selections or maybe a future first round pick in next year’s draft, which is far superior to this one in terms of talent.

If Denver did keep the pick, I’d like to see them take Frenchmen and Mega Leks guard Timothe Luwawu. It would make sense given Denver’s international scouting ties and influence, also filling a need for the team as well. Luwawu is a tremendous defender, maybe the best in this class, who possess good length and effort, really forcing his man to fight to create space. His awareness defensively is phenomenal, making him not only a great individual defender, but also a great team defender. He has very underrated handles, vision and ability as a shooter, something Luwawu has been knocked for, but something that I don’t see as nearly as big of a concern as most draft pundits. I think he’s a great fit under Mike Malone and could be one of the true steals of this draft.

AU: Picks are a great bargaining chip, but in looking at the roster as constructed now it’s going to be hard to find minutes for 2-3 players that won’t come at the expense of  Jokic, Nurkic, Barton, Harris and Mudiay. That being said, in the case that this happens I could easily see a situation where they try to trade out of the pick or simply take the best player available which would be someone like a Deyonta Davis from Michigan State or Ivan Rabb from California, providing they declare for the draft of course.

AN: In that situation I think the Nuggets package the picks and try to move up as far as possible. I’d try and target Buddy Hield.

JD: It really depends, if it’s the 8th pick I would keep it and hope Buddy Hield is still up on the board, as he would be an improvement over Garry Harris at the two. But we keep hearing about how this is a weak draft and the Nuggets will have a lot of of picks left. I would look to package this with other picks to either move up in the order, or try and swing a blockbuster trade. The Nuggets should look to consolidate their roster and swing for the playoffs next season, so this is the right time to start looking to bring in some big name players to complement their young core.

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