The 44–20 Denver Nuggets are back in action Monday night, taking on the 23-41 Toronto Raptors at Ball Arena. The Nuggets are mired in a hotly contested three-team race for the number one seed in the Western Conference with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder.
All three teams are within just one game of each other entering play on Monday night. Things are clearer for the Raptors, as they sit in 12th place in the Eastern Conference standings, six games out of the 10 seed and final play-in spot.
Yet there is still much uncertainty with Toronto due to the status of their draft pick. At the 2023 NBA trade deadline, the Raptors acquired center, Jakob Poeltl from the Spurs in exchange for a 2024 first-round pick that was top-6 protected.
At the time of the trade, it seemed like the Raptors were trying to get better and to try and compete, so it appeared likely the pick would convey in 2024. However, the Raptors have since lost Fred Van Vleet to free agency and traded away Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby.
The team has fallen further and further in the standings and currently holds the seventh-worst record in the entire NBA. That’s a notable number, of course, because the Raptors will keep their 2024 first-round pick if it ends up landing in the top six.
Unfortunately for the Raptors, if the pick doesn’t convey it will roll over to another top-six protected pick in 2025, and the same goes for 2026. Experts seem to think the 2025 draft will be stronger than 2024, so there is some belief that the Raptors would actually be best suited to convey the pick this year and get the trade over with.
Either way, it will be interesting to watch how they play it down the stretch, and they’ll have to do it while missing a lot of talent.
Raptors injury report
The Raptors will be without multiple starters as Scottie Barnes (hand) and Jakob Poeltl (finger) are both ‘Out’ indefinitely and may not return this season. Old friend Bruce Brown has yet to be ruled ‘Out’ officially, but he’s missed several games with knee inflammation and there has been no timetable for a return.
DJ Carton will also miss the game with an ankle injury. RJ Barrett was a late scratch on Saturday with an illness and he is listed as ‘Questionable’ for Monday night’s game in Denver.
Nuggets injury report
For the Nuggets Vlatko Cancar remains ‘Out’ with a knee injury. Nikola Jokic was a surprise addition to the injury report on Saturday but was listed as ‘Probable’ with an arm injury, and was able to play 32 minutes.
Betting odds
The Nuggets are currently listed as 13.5 favorites and the over/under sits at 225.5 points.