Golden State 2.0: Nuggets Can Model Future after Warriors

The Warriors are a powerhouse team, but they built from the ground up with smart drafting, trading, and signing.

The Warriors just lost to the Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals, but they added yet another HUGE asset to their already stacked roster in Kevin Durant. Durant ultimately signed with the Warriors because he saw them as a championship contender. The Warriors didn’t become NBA champions and a “super-team” all through free agency. Just around 7-8 years ago, the Warriors were in the same spot that the Nuggets are in now. They are not good enough to make the playoffs quite yet, but they are not bad enough to get a top-3 pick.

The Warriors weren’t gifted Anthony Davis or Derrick Rose. They had the 7th pick in 2009, and drafted Stephen Curry, who became a two-time NBA MVP. In 2010, they took Epke Udoh out of Baylor, who ended up becoming a bust as they missed out on Paul George, Gordon Hayward, and multiple other solid players, but they made up with it by taking Klay Thompson, 11th overall in the 2011 NBA Draft. The 2012 Draft was possibly Golden State’s best draft. They left the draft with Harrison Barnes, Festus Ezeli, and Draymond Green.

Golden State was not given a championship either; they EARNED it.

The Nuggets have had a great start to rebuilding by drafting Gary Harris, Jusuf Nurkic, Nikola Jokic, Emmanuel Mudiay; and the trio from the 2016 NBA Draft. If 2 or 3 of those players could become All-Stars, the Nuggets would have leverage in free agency like the Warriors had this past season with Kevin Durant.

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The Warriors not only built through drafting and signing big names in free agency, but taking risks on players like Shawn Livingston who proved his worth in multiple big time games. Livingston wasn’t looked at as a good free agent partly because his injury history, but the Warriors took a chance on him, and he panned out quite nicely for the them. Key bench players like Livingston are extremely helpful to a team. There were other key contributors to the Warriors that they got for virtually nothing including Anderson Varejao and Ian Clark, a former Nugget.

The Nuggets have never moved up in the lottery, but they have managed to obtain top three talent. And, since Tim Connelly took over, their only mistake was drafting Erick Green, who wasn’t terrible, but he was not good enough to stay in the NBA. Outside of Green, the Nuggets have done a great job of drafting quality players with their picks, much like the Warriors, who got draft steals in Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Festus Ezeli.

The Nuggets have recently resigned Mike Miller who will provide a great help in the development of the young players on the Denver roster. If the Nuggets could produce a star or two out of their draftees, they too could have leverage in free agency and be well on their way to bringing the Nuggets their first championship.