Who’s the biggest draft bust in Nuggets history?

The Denver Nuggets are not exactly known for their incredible success in the NBA draft. Which one of their picks is the biggest bust?

The Denver Nuggets enjoyed tremendous success in the 1980’s, and jumped back into relevance under George Karl in the modern era. But the Nuggets have had a number of high draft picks with tremendous promise go down the drain and fast.

The team’s first ever draft pick, Tom LaGarde, ranks among the worst picks in team history. LaGarde was selected ninth overall in the 1977 NBA draft, only three years after the Nuggets switched their name from the Rockets.

Despite having a strong career at North Carolina from 1973-1977, LaGarde played just one season in Denver and ended up with the Sonics for the next two years. In the 1980 expansion draft, LaGarde was selected by the fledgling Dallas Mavericks, for whom he played another two years. LaGarde finished his underwhelming career with the New Jersey Nets.

For a team looking to establish itself in the NBA, LaGarde was a huge swing-and-miss for a top ten pick. In 1992, the Nuggets pulled the trigger on LaPhonso Ellis with the fifth overall pick. Ellis lasted six years in Denver, but never made an all-star team and registered just 12 points a game.

He then bounced around between the Hawks, Timberwolves, and Heat, and never established himself as a consistent contributor for any of his four teams. The Nuggets had won just 24 games the prior season, and were counting on Ellis to help pull them out of NBA mediocrity. Standing tall at 6”8, Ellis also posted an underwhelming 6.5 rebounds a game throughout his career.

But by far the worst draft bust in franchise history is Tony Battie. Selected fifth overall in 1997 out of Texas Tech, Battie went on to have very little success despite hanging in the NBA for thirteen seasons. Battie played only one season in Denver before he was shipped off to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a trade for Nick Van Exel. That same season, he was traded to the Celtics for Travis Knight.

Battie spent six years in Boston before being traded again to the Cleveland Cavaliers, only to be moved once more to the Magic in 2004. He managed to be involved in yet another trade five years later when he was acquired by the New Jersey Nets in 2009, and then signed with the Philadelphia 76ers prior to the 2010 season.

Battie was drafted to be a franchise cornerstone the way Alex English and Dikembe Mutombo were, and he ended up being traded nearly once for every point he averaged in the NBA. His six points per game made him among the more expendable and bench-warming players in the NBA despite his draft status, and remains the biggest draft bust in Denver Nuggets history.