Denver Nuggets: 15 best draft picks of all-time
By John Buhler
Swingman James Posey is best known for being an important role player on two NBA championship teams in the 2005-06 Miami Heat and the 2007-08 Boston Celtics. Before he carved out a rotational role on some great teams, Posey was a former first-round pick by the Nuggets.
Denver took Posey No. 18 overall in the 1999 NBA Draft out of Xavier. Posey would spend his first 3.5 NBA seasons with the Nuggets. He would make the All-Rookie second team in 1999-00 when he averaged 8.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 25.3 minutes per contest.
Posey would be traded to the Houston Rockets in a three-team deal with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2002-03. While he would go on to win championships with the Celtics and Heat, Posey would never spend more than two seasons in one spot for the rest of his career. Posey would retire from playing after the 2010-11 NBA season with the Indiana Pacers. He is currently on the Cleveland Cavaliers coaching staff, winning another NBA Championship with the 2015-16 Cavaliers team.
In three years and change with the Nuggets, Posey would average 9.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in 28.4 minutes per contest. Posey is in select company as a player who played in more than the maximum 82 games in a regular season. This happened in 2002-03 when he was sent from Denver to Houston in the three-team deal with the 76ers.