The Denver Nuggets are coming into the NBA Draft with the 26th pick of the first round, but a recent NBA insider report says the Nuggets could be looking to trade up in the draft. Who do the Nuggets have their eyes on, and what bold deal could the Nuggets be cooking up?
NBA insider Jake Fischer reports in the latest edition of The Stein Line (subscription required) that the Nuggets, along with the Boston Celtics, are "increasingly interested in trying to move up the draft board."
That's great news to hear that the Nuggets could be aggressive in finding youth and playable talent right out of the gate in this deep draft. But who do they have their eye on? Could it be one of, if not the best defender in the draft, Morez Johnson Jr., who is expected to be a late-lottery pick?
Or do the Nuggets have someone else in mind who could be an immediate help to the rotation, like his teammate, Yaxel Lendeborg?
What could the pre-draft trade look like?
What kind of deal could it take for the Nuggets to move up in the draft? For starters, it will require this year's first-round pick, the 26th, and certainly some capital along the way, but who would be a likely target? Is it a team with two picks in the first round, and how high are the Nuggets looking to move up? We don't have answers to those questions, but we can speculate.
If the Nuggets want to simply move up inside the top-20, they could be looking at the Charlotte Hornets at 18 or 14, or, gulp, the Oklahoma City Thunder at 17 or 12, but the Thunder don't seem likely due to their own salary cap and second apron constraints. The Memphis Grizzlies have the 16th pick, and the Chicago Bulls are at 15, while both teams have top-five picks as well.
The Hornets have future draft capital and an expiring contract in Miles Bridges that they could move, but that would require either Aaron Gordon or Jamal Murray, and the Nuggets probably would not give up that much to get into the middle of the first round. If it were the Grizzlies, could it be a franchise-altering blockbuster that sent Murray out for Ja Morant, and this year's 16th pick plus other future picks? Morant has the upside to move Murray.
Or does someone like the Bulls at the 15th pick want Julian Strawther enough, plus the 26th pick, to help them in their rebuild over someone like Johnson Jr. alone, who could be available at 15? Maybe they can take Zeke Nnaji with the massive amount of cap space they have? Probably wishful thinking for that one.
It's going to be a busy and interesting lead-up to the draft, and the news drop from Fischer exemplifies that.
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