2020 NBA Draft: Five top-10 prospects that make sense for Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets are thinking outside of the box ahead of the 2020 NBA Draft.

With the Denver Post’s Mike Singer reporting that the Denver Nuggets are looking to move into the top-10 of the 2020 NBA Draft, acquiring either the sixth or ninth overall pick, NuggLove has identified five prospects that make the most sense for the hopeful championship contenders.

The Nuggets currently have the 22nd overall pick.

Tyrese Haliburton

Although Jamal Murray is the Nuggets’ starting point guard, he’s more of an undersized shooting guard with some playmaking ability.

By drafting Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton, Denver will acquire a lead guard with nice length at 6’5,” but one that also is a strong passer, 3-point shooter and defender. If this was the 1990s or early 2000s, Haliburton would be the perfect point guard for a triangle offense but in Denver, he’ll be the perfect complement to Murray because he doesn’t need the ball to excel.

What’s more, Haliburton has greater chance taken with the ninth overall pick than the sixth overall pick, meaning he’ll be cheaper and easier to acquire.

Patrick Williams

There’s a very real chance that the Nuggets could lose both Jerami Grant and Paul Millsap to other teams this offseason; it’s just the nature of free agency. Just in case they do, having Florida State’s Patrick Williams in tow will make their lives’ a lot easier entering the 2020-21 season.

Williams’ game isn’t nearly as polished as those two veterans but he’s an elite athlete with promising defensive potential, which should allow him to mimic the role that they played on at least one end. Offensively, he’s not a high-level scorer but neither were Grant or Millsap. At his size, he could stand to learn a couple of post moves but he’s demonstrated a workable jumper and playmaking ability.

He has the look of a role player, at least right now, and that’s not usually what teams are looking for with a top-10 pick. However, he has plenty of potential and is a safety net for free agency, increasing his value to a young and promising Nuggets’ team.

Deni Avdija

Say hello to the 2020 NBA Draft’s jack-of-all-trades top-10 prospect: Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Deni Avdija.

Avdija could be the latest player in a long line of international prospects to carve out a long and successful career in the NBA but what makes him a fit for the Nuggets isn’t necessarily his long-term trajectory. It’s his NBA floor. At worst, Avdija is a player who can defend multiple frontcourt positions, knock down open jumpers, and create for himself or others with the ball in his hands.

He’s not an elite athlete but with his high basketball IQ, skillset and size, Avdija could come off the bench for Denver and play two or three positions for them regularly. He’d be a major upgrade over Torrey Craig in the Nuggets’ rotation and 10 years younger too.

Obi Toppin

It’s difficult to get a read on exactly what teams think about Dayton’s Obi Toppin but he’s widely considered to be an NBA-ready prospect whose strengths are his basketball IQ, vertical explosion, positional versatility, three-level scoring and defensive fundamentals. To the latter point, his defensive potential is dependent on if he proves he can guard perimeter players but there’s far more to like about Toppin — on both ends — than there isn’t.

In Denver, Toppin would be an interesting pick-and-roll option because of his ability to either role or pop. That said, where Williams’ skillset was more similar to Grant’s, Toppin’s is more similar to Millsap’s.

He’s not a great rebounder, which is worth mentioning because of the Nuggets’ issues with rebounding in the 2020 Western Conference Finals. Still, any prospect that wins every National Player of the Year award isn’t someone that should be slept on.

LaMelo Ball

LaMelo Ball, who played for the NBL’s Illawarra Hawks in 2019-20, has the greatest chance of any top-five prospect to slip in the draft. This, in no way, would be because he lacks talent.

A natural consequence of having an outspoken and polarizing father who loves the spotlight is having the team that wants to draft you wonder how big of an influence he is in your decision-making and what your priorities are. That said, there are conflicting reports about how Ball’s pre-draft interviews went. This brings to mind Michael Porter Jr.; due to his injury history and character concerns, MPJ fell to the 14th overall pick when he had the talent of a top-five selection.

In terms of on-court fit? While there are going to be questions about Ball’s jumper and how he looks without the ball in his hands at the start of his career, no prospect has a better combination of passing prowess, ball-handling ability and scoring potential. Ball is a creative point guard with enough length at 6’8″ to play multiple positions if he bulks up.

The scariest part of drafting Ball? His ceiling may be Magic Johnson mixed with Stephen Curry.

Scary for other teams anyway.

What prospects do you think fit best with the Denver Nuggets in the top-10?