The Nuggets have mostly done well in building their roster over the years and it has resulted in one championship and a team that is still ready to contend. But as good as the team has been and as well as they are set up for the future, they do have some problems. The roster is getting very expensive and will be hard to keep together long-term.
They’ve already seen key contributors like Bruce Brown and Jeff Green depart in free agency and there’s concern over Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and others following suit this offseason. The team has limited means to improve going forward and they are largely bereft of assets and resources.
The Nuggets made a mistake drafting Zeke Nnaji
Beyond draft picks and minimum contracts, one of the few chips the Nuggets have to work with is trading the contract of Zeke Nnaji. Nnaji was drafted with a pick the team traded for in 2020, They took him with the 22nd overall selection, hoping he would blossom into a solid small-ball center and a reliable big man off the bench.
Unfortunately, things haven’t exactly panned out with Nnaji and he’s struggled to carve out a spot in the Denver rotation. The Nuggets are in desperate need of solid rotation players and people who can add depth. Hitting on draft picks is a huge part of that and it seems more and more like the Nnaji pick may have been a waste.
The Nuggets could have drafted Desmond Bane
To make matters worse, the Nuggets could have solved all of their problems and then some by nailing that 2020 first-round pick. If the team had drafted Desmond Bane instead of Nnaji they could have added an elite two-way guard/wing who has blossomed into a star from the Memphis Grizzlies.
Bane would have been a legitimate third star for Denver who would bolster the offense as a legitimate third option and someone who could run offense and create gravity off the ball. He’d also be a stout perimeter defender and someone who could possibly replace either one of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope or Michael Porter Jr. in the starting lineup.
Desmond Bane is one of the most accurate step-back 3P shooters in NBA history…
— NBA University (@NBA_University) June 17, 2024
Step-Back 3P%
’20-’21: 53.3%
’21-’22: 41.5%
’22-’23: 45.5%
’23-’24: 40.0%
Accuracy has persisted amid growing volume. His growth as an on-ball scorer is going to make Memphis VERY scary next season pic.twitter.com/wk7M4Jdb0T
The Nuggets could be a borderline superteam if they had simply drafted Bane in place of Nnaji. Obviously, hindsight is 20/20, but this would have been a dream come true. If not the team also could have taken Jaden McDaniels - the elite defensive wing for the Timberwolves.
There were several options, and almost all of them would have been better than Nnaji, but what’s done is done. This is one mistake the Nuggets will have to live with.