Amid the NBA playoffs the NBA Lottery draft for the non-playoff bound teams took place and with it the NBA draft order has now been determined. For the lottery teams this year's draft marks hope and optimism as he talent pool here is deemed to be considerably better than it has been in the past few years; mind you it seems like the draft pundits say this same thing every single season.
Nonetheless, the teams who are holding lottery bound picks must be looking at ways to complement their rosters, be it by using the upcoming selection or via a trade on draft day. Not every team with lottery selections are able to address their needs via the draft as there is only so much talent available at each position and since these rookie deals are guaranteed, the new incoming salary amounts must be accounted for within the team's salary cap.
As the NBA Draft approaches eDraft.com will look at each of the lottery teams and identify their needs heading into the draft as well as who might be available to fill hose teams needs. Our draft coverage won't stop there though as post-draft we will have analysis of the picks as well as report cards for each of the teams as to how they fared.
Next up are the Denver Nuggets who are currently holding the seventh overall pick in this draft. The Nuggets were not a good basketball team last season as they limped their way to a 30 win season. Compounding their misery on the court was the fact that Kenneth Faried had a horrible season fresh off a big contract signing and Ty Lawson found himself on the wrong side of the law due to some alcohol related driving infractions. The Nuggets also decided to part ways with coach Brian Shaw after about three quarters of the season and installed Melvin Hunt at the helm for the remainder of the year. Hunt is still in place as the head coach and given that the Nuggets appear ready to blow their squad up and hit the reset button, no need to pay big bucks to an experienced head coach when a lame duck rookie coach can lose games just as well and at a fraction of the price.
Key Pieces to Build Around:
The Nuggets were once thought of as a team with potential. They have Ty Lawson at point who is a solid guard in the league, Kenneth Faried who can play like a beast as he showed during the USA Basketball FIBA Championships and they had the skilled Danilo Gallinari. As it stands now though; Lawson and Faried are being actively dangled as trade bait and Gallinari is fragile after coming off a torn ACL which caused him to miss all of the 2013-14 season and then a second knee operation for a torn meniscus in December of 2014 which caused a few more weeks on the sidelines. Two young players on the Nuggets did show some flashes of brilliance; however, certainly nothing worthy of building a team around. Although if the Nuggets can keep Will Barton and Jusuf Nurkic in the fold they could blossom into decent enough NBA players.
State of the Union - Denver Nuggets
At this juncture, it is clear that the Nuggets would prefer to move on from both Faried and Lawson and go into full rebuilding mode for the foreseeable future. Even with all these guys in the mix here they still are just not good enough to compete for a playoff spot in the ultra-competitive Western Conference.
The Nuggets need athletes and players of all shapes and sizes. If Denver thinks they can find a taker for Lawson then they might look point guard here, but it's likely that both the top-rated point guards will be off the board by his pick. The Nuggets would do well to find some size and athleticism here to fill that need at the three spot.
Draft Needs:
This pick will come down to go is left really as the Nuggets have surely ranked at least ten prospects just in case something strange happens on draft day or a trade comes through causing ripple effects. The Nuggets could do a lot worse here then grabbing the one and done Justise Winslow from Duke University.
Winslow is the kind of athlete that will do well in a fast paced offense as he is a solid finisher and plays well in the open court. He can shoot and score off the dribble and he uses his length well on both ends of the floor. Winslow has a NBA-type physique and he should be able to step in play some minutes right from the start. He will need to improve on his shooting mechanics as well as his in-game intensity and focus moving forward but in terms of a prospect with big upside and limited experience thus far, Winslow is a good fit here for a team looking a few years down the road in terms of development.