Forgotten draft mistakes come back to torment the Nuggets

In the 2020 draft, the Denver Nuggets had the opportunity to choose Jaden McDaniels with the No. 22 pick. Instead, they passed on him and selected Zeke Nnaji. Meanwhile, McDaniels was drafted at No. 28 by the Los Angeles Lakers and traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the same offseason. Six years later, he may have become public enemy No. 1 in Denver, while Nnaji could soon be out of the league.

We can't really blame the current Nuggets front office for the blunder, as Tim Connelly called the shots back then as the president of basketball operations. Interestingly, Connelly inherited McDaniels when he took over as the Wolves' lead executive in 2022.

McDaniels tormented the Nuggets in more ways than one

Some Nuggets fans might still feel irritated upon hearing McDaniels' name. And who can blame them after the damage he had done to the team in the first round of the playoffs?

The 25-year-old swingman stole the headlines after Game 2 when he called Denver's players a bunch of bad defenders. He wasn't completely wrong. While the Nuggets limited the Wolves to just 112.0 points per game in the series, they couldn't stop their opponents from getting buckets on key possessions or from feasting inside the paint.

McDaniels also backed up his trash talk by playing well throughout the first round. He averaged 17.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest, and scored a career-high 32 points in Game 6. In addition to his impressive production, he also helped limit Jamal Murray to 35.7 percent shooting from the field and 26.2 percent shooting from three, and irritated the Nuggets with his on-court antics.

And just when it looked like it's all good between McDaniels and the Nuggets after he seemingly exchanged pleasantries with Jokic at the end of Game 6, he added fuel to the fire by saying on "NBA Today" that Denver isn't in the same class anymore as Minnesota. Harsh.

Nuggets basically got nothing out of their 2020 draft pick

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt as much that McDaniels has been a godsend for the Wolves if the Nuggets found a rotation-level player in the 2020 draft. Obviously, that isn't the case.

Nnaji has been underwhelming in his six seasons with Denver, recording just 4.1 points and 2.3 rebounds per contest. Right now, it's tough to envision him as nothing more than a trade filler for the Nuggets. He hasn't shown enough reason to stay with the organization for much longer.

Things probably would have been different had the Nuggets drafted McDaniels instead. He's exactly what the team needs right now because of his productivity and no-nonsense attitude. Other notable players still available when the Nuggets were on the clock included Immanuel Quickley, Payton Pritchard, and Desmond Bane.

Hopefully, Denver won't make a similar mistake in this summer's draft, as it will certainly need to extract the most value from its No. 26 pick to help extend Jokic's championship window.

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