Denver Nuggets: Makur Maker is the ideal development prospect

Makur Maker could be just the prospect the Denver Nuggets are looking for in the 2020 NBA Draft.

On a team that has Nikola Jokic, a center who’s an elite passer as the fulcrum, it would be wise to have a backup center who can also operate as the team’s maestro. One such player, a prep-to-pro prospect for the 2020 NBA Draft could fill this role for the Denver Nuggets: Makur Maker.

Ranked 15th in the ESPN 100 for the Class of 2020 out of Hillcrest Prep., he’s an athletic frontcourt player whose shown the type of versatility that teams covet in this day and age.

The 19-year-old Maker is the cousin of Detroit Pistons center Thon Maker and Rio Grande Valley Vipers center Matur Maker, and he could easily be the best of the bunch with his combination of size, athleticism, perimeter play and defensive potential.

As a prep-to-pro prospect who’s bypassing college to enter the NBA Draft, he’s a relatively unknown commodity. Still, at 6-foot-11 and 235 pounds, the skillset that he has at his size makes him an intriguing prospect. In fact, in the sole game he was able to play for Hillcrest in the 2019-20 season, Maker tallied 20 points, eight rebounds, four assists, three blocks and three steals. One game doesn’t make a player but that’s one game that shows just how versatile his game is.

Maker is the type of prospect who the Nuggets could take their time developing and reap the rewards from when he shows himself ready to be a rotational player.

Last offseason, Denver drafted center Bol Bol — the son of former shot-blocking extraordinaire Manute Bol — but Bol hasn’t suited up the Nuggets at all as a rookie and has only played eight games with the NBA G-League’s Windy City Bulls. Considering how Michael Porter Jr. didn’t play during his first season and still remains a valued player in Denver thanks to his scoring ability, Bol could still turn out to be a rotational piece for the Nuggets.

That said, Maker’s combination of fluid athleticism and raw perimeter talent — including outside shooting, ball-handling and passing ability — should allow him to play power forward as well, which adds to his value and potential to be a rotation player. Particularly the value he has when Jokic is off the court.

The team relies so much on Jokic offensively, when he’s off the court the team’s offensive rating drops from 114.5 (which would be good enough to be ranked second among NBA teams) to 110.5 (which would rank 16th among teams).

In addition, Jokic (who has averaged 6.7 assists per game over the last three seasons), has been extraordinarily healthy in his five seasons but his durability isn’t guaranteed. Especially playing the most physical position there is on the basketball court.

So finding a backup center with similarities to Jokic will be extremely useful.

Interestingly enough, Makur’s cousin Thon will be a free agent in the offseason but he’s more of a scorer and defender than playmaker. The Nuggets may desire to bring back backup center Mason Plumlee but, although he’s shown himself capable of being a solid playmaker, he may place himself out of the team’s price range (per Mike Singer of the Denver Post).

In the 2020 NBA Draft, the Nuggets will only have one pick in the first round and it’s expected to fall between picks 20 and 30. They have no second-round picks, although they could choose to buy one from another team.

That said, Maker should be available from the late first-round until possibly the end of the draft. If Denver covets him as a developmental prospect, they can try to see if he falls to the second round or goes undrafted.

There would be nothing wrong with them using their first-round pick on him though, as he could definitely be one of the steals of the 2020 NBA Draft.