The NBA draft lottery was finally held, behind closed doors to ensure no shenanigans with the ping-pong balls, but the shenanigans still occurred for the Denver Nuggets. In fact, it couldn't have been too much worse for the Nuggets, as the Utah Jazz landed the second pick, and the Oklahoma City Thunder secured the 12th pick in what is shaping up to be a loaded 2026 draft class.
The only way the draft lottery goes worse for the Nuggets is if the Thunder or Jazz had come out higher, but given the depth of the draft, that might not even matter. The Jazz at number two are likely to have a choice between three other players who could be number one in another season. And the Thunder are going to get a chance to upgrade their roster, when their roster is already good.
And they're both in the Nuggets division. Not great. The Nuggets are likely to be the least athletic team in the division now.
The Jazz are going to be a formidable, athletic opponent
The Jazz already showed they can get to the paint at will with their reserves against the Nuggets. They were already fast and athletic, and the Nuggets allowed a whopping 84 points in the paint to the tanking Jazz in a game in late March. The Jazz were cooking in the game, and then they inexplicably started shooting jumpers with five minutes to go to pull off the tank loss.
And now they're rewarded for their work with the number two pick, essentially a number one this year. The Jazz are currently projected to take Darryn Peterson, a guard out of Kansas. Assume he starts, and the Jazz have a ridiculous starting lineup.
Peterson would join Keyonte George, Jaren Jackson Jr., a shot blocker, Lauri Markkanen, a seven-foot-one sharpshooter, and Walker Kessler, a rim protector and beast on the boards (if they're able to retain him in free agency). Plus, their bench has Ace Bailey and Brice Sensabaugh. They're crazy athletic, fast, and young, and will be built to be a formidable team for years to come.
The Nuggets division is now deeper
The Northwest division was already tough enough, but at least the Jazz had become more or less pushovers over the past couple of seasons. That will change next year, and along with the Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves, both playoff teams, the division could challenge to get all five teams into the playoffs next year with the upgrades the Jazz are going to have.
Unfortunately, the Nuggets do not have the available salary cap space to make the necessary adjustments to the new athleticism in the division and to what has been forming around the league.
They're going to have to get creative, but the best way to get more athletic is to re-sign Peyton Watson first. That and get Aaron Gordon healthy. The Nuggets' two most athletic players were missing against the Timberwolves, and it showed. Nikola Jokic can't do it all, and he obviously needed more help.
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