Denver Nuggets: 15 best draft picks of all-time
By John Buhler
Power forward LaPhonso Ellis would spend 11 seasons in the NBA with four different teams. He spent the bulk of his time with the team that drafted him No. 5 overall in the 1992 NBA Draft out of Notre Dame in the Nuggets. This is the same 1992 NBA Draft that saw centers Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning go No. 1 and No. 2 respectively to the Orlando Magic and the Charlotte Hornets.
Ellis would make the NBA All-Rookie first team in 1992-93. That season, he averaged 14.7 points, 9.1 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game in 33.5 minutes per contest. Ellis would play in and start in all 82 regular season games as a rookie that year. His sophomore season in the NBA was even better, as Ellis averaged 15.4 points, 8.6 rebonds and 2.1 assists.
However, Ellis would start to succumb to injuries beginning in his third season in the league. In 1994-95, Ellis would play in just six games and never start. He would play three more seasons in Denver after that. His best season with the Nuggets came in 1996-97 where he averaged 21.9 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in 36.4 minutes per contest.
Ellis would leave Denver in 1999 when he would sign a two-year deal with the Atlanta Hawks. He would play five more NBA seasons post-Denver split between Atlanta, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Miami Heat before retiring in 2003 at age 33. In six years with the Nuggets, Ellis averaged 15.2 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in 343 career games played for Denver.