No magic in this number: Nugs maintain 14th overall selection
One of the more bizarre streaks in the NBA continued Tuesday night. The Nuggets, who have never moved up in the league’s draft lottery in franchise history, kept the No. 14 selection when the pingpong balls bounced in Chicago.
The NBA draft will be held June 21 at the Barclays Center in New York, where Denver will aim to add complementary pieces to a roster featuring the young core of big man Nikola Jokic and guards Gary Harris and Jamal Murray, along with veteran power forward Paul Millsap. Prospects that could be available for the Nuggets to select at No. 14 include Texas A&M center RobClippers ert Williams, Kentucky small forward Kevin Knox and Kentucky point guard Shai Gil geo us Alexander. Denver also has two second-round picks, acquired via trades with the Los Angeles and Golden State.
Murray, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2016 draft, was the Nuggets’ on-stage representative in Chicago. President of basketball operations Tim Connelly was Denver’s representative in the draft lottery room, while coach Michael Malone was also in attendance.
After missing the playoffs by one game, Denver had the worst odds (0.5 percent) to land the No. 1 overall pick. That selection went to Phoenix, which had the best odds to receive the top selection (25 percent) after posting an NBA-worst 21-61 record this season. Sacramento, Atlanta, Memphis and Dallas round out the top five picks for what experts are calling one of the most
talented drafts in recent memory. Arizona big man DeAndre Ayton, Slovenian shooting guard Luka Doncic, Duke power forward Marvin Bagley III and Michigan State center Jaren Jackson Jr. are projected as potential franchise-changers.
In last year’s draft, the Nuggets held the No. 13 overall pick — which became rookie of the year contender Donovan Mitchell — before trading it to Utah for reserve forward Trey Lyles and the 24th pick, which Denver used to select forward Tyler Lydon.
The NBA draft combine, also held in Chicago, will take place Wednesday through Sunday.