NBA Rumors: Denver Nuggets, Chicago Bulls talk trading draft picks
By Chris Walder
With the NBA draft just 16 days away on June 26, teams around the league are jockeying for position with the hope that they can move up or even acquire assets in moving down in the draft order.
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According to a report by Chad Ford of ESPN.com, the Denver Nuggets and Chicago Bulls are in discussions over possibly swapping some of their picks.
The aforementioned move would see the Nuggets send their No. 11 pick to the Bulls for their No. 16 and 19 picks.
Chris Dempsey of The Denver Post reported last week that general manager Tim Connelly had been making a “fair share of calls” concerning the No. 11 pick and moving it to acquire a veteran talent.
That pick is the highest the Nuggets have gone since taking Carmelo Anthony out of Syracuse University in 2003.
“I don’t think things will pick up until the next week or so,” Connelly said. “But after a relatively quiet trade deadline, I think we’ll see a more active build-up to the draft. I would imagine we’ll have a lot of trades.”
Denver finished the regular season with a record of 36-46, good enough for 11th in the Western Conference. They were 13 games back of the eighth and final playoff spot.
Management feels that the team can quickly gather themselves and get back in the postseason picture in 2014-15. Rather than wait for a developing talent out of the draft and hoping he can contribute right away, perhaps the right move is go the veteran route and find someone who can immediately pay dividends.