NBA Draft 2018: 5 targets for the Denver Nuggets
By Daniel Lewis
While the 2017 draft will go down in infamy for the Nuggets, they turn their attention to the 2018 draft to try to get back into the playoffs behind Nikola Jokic.
Did you know that the Denver Nuggets traded Donovan Mitchell to the Utah Jazz on draft night last year? No?
The Nuggets tried to outsmart the rest of the league on draft night, moving the eventual second place finisher for the Rookie of the Year award to their division rival in exchange for Trey Lyles and the No. 24 pick. The plan, hatched by the front office, was to get Lyles and then snag OG Anunoby later in the draft. Unfortunately, their plan was foiled by former Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri and the Toronto Raptors, who drafted the Hoosier sophomore, adding a piece that would help them earn the No. 1 overall seed in the playoffs and advance to the second round of the playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Nuggets would use the No. 24 pick on Syracuse sophomore Tyler Lydon, who would wind up playing two total minutes in the NBA before suffering a season-ending knee injury while playing in the G League.
The Nuggets lost to the Timberwolves in the final game of the 2017-18 season, in a game where the winner advanced to the playoffs and the loser got to start their summer vacation early. The Nuggets wound up losing on the road in overtime, beginning a difficult offseason for the front office earlier than everyone in the organization was hoping for.
The Nuggets have a lot of questions to answer during the 2018 offseason, with a bulk of those questions dealing with free agency. Will Wilson Chandler and Darrell Arthur exercise the player options on their contracts? Will the Nuggets try to bring back Sixth Man of the Year candidate Will Barton, who is an unrestricted free agent that several teams will likely be interested in after a strong campaign in Denver for the last three years. Will the Nuggets decline their team option for their franchise star, Nikola Jokic, making him a restricted free agent, but giving them an option to extend him on a max contract? Will the Nuggets move the No. 14 pick in connection with Kenneth Faried, who has been on the trade block for three years, freeing up space on their books for Jokic’s max contract?
These questions impact the Nuggets’ draft plans. If Chandler opts in, will they feel the need to address the small forward position with their first pick? If they re-sign Barton, will they feel the need to add a bench scorer with their first pick? If they can move Faried for a backup point guard, will they look to draft a point guard for the fourth year in a row (Mudiay, Murray, Morris … Melton? Milton?
Last year was a disaster for the Nuggets — but they’ve had success with their current front office in the past. Perhaps it’s an odd/even year thing — they’ve drafted poorly in odd years, and well in even years. With this draft being an even year, perhaps there are good things in store for a team that is at risk of missing an opportunity for playoff contention.
Here are five targets for them in the NBA draft.