The Denver Nuggets are owners of the 26th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. With the draft being a week away let’s take a look at some potential options for the Nuggets.
Denver Nuggets NBA Draft targets: Miles McBride
Quickly climbing up the draft board is the 20-year-old point guard out of West Virginia, Miles McBride. Only a couple of weeks ago the 6’2”, 200-pound prospect was considered to be an early second-round pick. The guard is now projected to go in the high-teens due to successful pro-day workouts for various teams around the league and for good reason.
Averaging more steals than turnovers (1.9 and 1.8), the floor general is a menace on the defensive end. He has great lateral quickness with the ability to check the opposing team’s best player 94 feet if necessary. McBride fights through screens, dives for loose balls, and rarely falls for even the best pump fakes. His defensive prowess alone is enough to garner interest from any NBA team.
Offensively, the Cincinnati native has a wide array of NBA-ready skills. He has the quickness to create his own shot, whether he’s shooting from deep or pulling up in the mid-range, he can score out of ISO, pick-and-roll, or catch and shoot situations.
He averaged 15.8 points on 43 percent shooting and a blistering 41.4 percent from deep, all of which are vastly improved areas from his freshman season.
McBride only averages 4.9 assists per game, but that is not indicative of his passing ability, more so the offensive sets run at West Virginia. He also can rebound fairly well for a guard, posting nearly four rebounds per outing.
And Miles agrees. When speaking with media during pre-draft workouts with the Nuggets, he said:
"“I think I’m one of the best competitors in the draft, if not the best competitor. I play [good] defense and on the offensive side, I attack downhill. I really play locked in the whole game.“I’m a team player. Whatever the team needs, I’m going to be able to do it. Whether it’s rebound, play defense, hit shots, or bring the ball up, just a total team player right here.”"
Jamal Murray’s torn ACL with no timetable for his return and Will Barton declining his player option leaves some significant holes at the Nuggets’ guard position.
While Sam Vecenie, The Athletic has him ranked as the 40th-best prospect, Colin Ward-Henninger, CBS Sports sees his stock rising and has him being selected at 27.
If McBride is on the board at 26, the Denver Nuggets could walk away with the steal of this year’s draft. Otherwise, there are some potential trade options in which we could see the Nuggets moving up a couple of spots in order to snatch him.
Denver Nuggets NBA Draft targets: Jaden Springer
In the event that McBride is off the board when it’s Denver’s time to draft, Jaden Springer is another reliable option to bolster up the guard position. The 6’4” combo guard out of Tennessee has a lot to bring to the table.
His 6’6” wingspan and lateral quickness allows him to guard multiple positions from point guards to undersized power forwards. The 18-year-old freshman provides agility and athleticism that could prove to be quite useful on the defensive side of the ball for an offensive-minded team.
Averaging 12.5 points on 46.7 percent shooting, Tennessee’s leading scorer has the ability to get the ball in the basket. He is extremely effective in the open court and consistently makes the right reads; something that bodes well for Denver’s fast-paced offensive style.
However, his half-court game could use some work as he is an average ball-handler who occasionally struggles to create his own shot. Since point-center, Nikola Jokic operates as the primary ball-handler with the ability to create open shots for others, I don’t see this being an issue as Springer continues to develop early in his NBA career.
He also shoots a staggering 43.5 percent from behind the arc, even though he takes less than two attempts per game the young guard shows a lot of promise and could be a solid addition to the Denver Nuggets’ roster next season.