Nuggets' path to future contention gets much harder after wild NBA Draft Lottery

The Nuggets may not have been directly involved in Monday night’s NBA Draft Lottery, but they’ll be feeling the ripple effects for many years to come. Of course, going into the night, Denver knew they wouldn’t factor into this lottery, and that they don’t have a first-round pick this year, or for several years to come.

What they didn’t know going into the night was that two of their conference rivals would be gifted incredible, franchise-altering luck that may shift the balance of power in the West over the next decade or more.

Mavericks land #1 pick and shot at Cooper Flagg

The Mavericks won the Western Conference last season and made the NBA Finals before shockingly and inexplicably trading away Luka Doncic this season before the trade deadline. It seemed like Dallas had completely nuked their own championship window for no reason, but they got gifted a miracle on Monday night, winning the draft lottery and the #1 pick.

They will almost certainly take generational prospect Cooper Flagg out of Duke, pairing him with Anthony Davis, and quickly resurrecting their franchise. In a matter of seconds, the Mavs went from one of the most hopeless teams in the West to a team with an extremely bright future, and one of the best young players to enter the league in years.

If Kyrie Irving is able to come back from his injury, he, Klay Thompson, Flagg, and AD are a very interesting core, with many other solid pieces that could also be used in a trade. This team may be back in contention much sooner than expected, and that’s a nuisance for other Western teams like the Nuggets.

Spurs get #2 pick and another young stud or trade chip

Perhaps even more concerning for the Western Conference is the Spurs rising up to get the second pick in the draft. The Spurs have the last two Rookies of the Year in Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle. They also acquired De’Aaron Fox at the trade deadline and have several other promising young players, and a plethora of draft picks.

The Spurs were coming on fast even before this lottery, but now they have another golden asset. San Antonio could choose to add another stud like Dylan Harper to their young core, or use this pick as a trade chip to go after another superstar.

San Antonio could already put together a nice trade package, and with this pick, they could probably trump any offer on the market for the star of their choosing. There’s a very real chance that at the start of the 2025-26 NBA season, the Spurs are one of the favorites to win it all.

Western Conference is absolutely stacked

The Nuggets are already facing a tough future in their own right. Nikola Jokic is now 30, the core around him is lacking, there’s not depth to speak of, and the team has no real assets to make significant upgrades.

Denver has seen their team get worse over the past couple of years, and it may continue to go in that direction this offseason. Meanwhile, teams like the Thunder, Timberwolves are all young and only improving. We’ve also still got the old guard hanging around like the Lakers, Warriors, and Clippers.

And now, we’ve got the Spurs and Mavericks on the rise and likely jumping into contention much sooner than anyone expected. For now, the Nuggets still have the best player in the world, but the Western Conference is going to be an absolute gauntlet for a very long time.