2 new players for Nuggets fans to watch as potential draft prospects in the Sweet 16

The first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament weren’t exactly littered with upsets, but a chalky bracket leads to excellent matchups and star players playing deep into March. That is certainly the case this season as the Sweet 16 is chock full of great teams and NBA prospects.

Before the big dance got going, I previewed four players to watch for as potential Jokic backups. I wanted to take a look at some big men who could be available late in the first round - where the Nuggets will be picking - and could be a nice upgrade for the Denver bench.

Three of those guys are still playing as Zach Edey is alive with Purdue, Kyle Filipowski is still playing with Duke, and Oso Ighodaro is still going with Marquette. Nuggets fans should absolutely still have their eye on those players, and everything I said last week remains true.

But the Nuggets depth is pretty thin all around, and they should jump at any opportunity to add talent to that group. Especially with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope likely to decline his player option and become a free agent this offseason, the Nuggets may find themselves in need of some guard play and ballhandling soon.

It’s tough to project which players will be available by the time Denver is on the clock, but here is a look at two guards who have thrived in the NCAA Tournament so far, and could make for good draft picks for the Nuggets in June.