If the Nuggets want to get aggressive and trade their way into the NBA Draft, the move is right there to be made. Several teams are looking to save a buck or two by foregoing their second-round pick(s), and telegraphed it to the league.
To start the day, teams reportedly looking to trade out of the second round were the Bulls, Warriors, Hornets, and Raptors. So far, the Bulls and Warriors have already dealt their picks, with the Bulls sending the 45th overall pick to the Lakers and the Suns swooping in to score 41 overall from the Warriors.
But the Hornets still hold the 33rd and 34th overall picks, and the Raptors stand strong with the 39th pick. Those picks are there for the taking; Denver just has to make the call. It would be a fun show of aggression from a front office that hasn’t been aggressive in a very long time.
The team sat idly on Wednesday night as the first round passed by without the Nuggets making a pick, and Thursday night will pass the same way if Denver doesn’t get active soon. They’ve had a quiet offseason so far, with no big prospects on the horizon. They could certainly use an infusion of young talent, and the draft is usually a good start.
Trading for a 2nd round pick may be fool’s gold
Ultimately, though, at this point, it may actually be best for the Nuggets to sit this one out. Unless there’s a player that the front office loves and also thinks can come in and help right away, it just doesn’t make sense to throw away more future assets.
The Nuggets scouted a number of projected undrafted and second-round talents, and many of them will likely make it through the night without being picked. The Nuggets should be all over the market for undrafted free agents, looking to score as many as they possibly can, and hoping to score a gem or two in Summer League.
Beyond that, there’s generally very little value to be had in round two (yes, I am familiar with Nikola Jokic), and the Nuggets have precious few assets. They’d have to be willing to deal picks and swaps out into the 2030s just to land a pick on Thursday night. All that for a wild card of a player who will almost certainly take time to develop.
I wish the Nuggets had draft picks as much as anyone, but the reality of the situation is that those picks are gone and they’re not coming back. Wasting even more picks just to get some skin in the game is bad business, and the Nuggets should cut their losses and move on.