4 players Nuggets must avoid in 2024 NBA Draft
06/26/2024 12:50 PM
The Denver Nuggets didn’t reach the NBA Finals this season. The year prior, they not only made the championship series, but they also won their first title. Denver has an understanding of how to win it all, and they have the itch to get back to the NBA’s highest stage. For the most part, Denver is going to run it back with nearly the same roster (assuming Kentavious Caldwell-Pope picks up his player option).
The team does have both a first (28th overall) and a second-rounder (56th overall) at their disposal in the 2024 NBA Draft, though, and they will use those picks to add to their roster and get back over the hump. The team never quite replaced the pieces they lost last offseason (Bruce Brown and Jeff Green), so hitting on their draft picks will be key.
The Nuggets aren’t built like your average team. Denver is obviously led by their three-time MVP, Nikola Jokic. The offense runs through the elite passing big man, and although Jokic makes all of his teammates better, not every draft prospect fits perfectly on their roster. Surrounding Jokic with knockdown shooters and elite cutters is important to maximizing the center’s skillset. So, check out the gallery to see which players the Nuggets should avoid in the 2024 NBA Draft.
4. Carlton Carrington: Pitt, PG
Denver has plenty of scorers capable of controlling the ball. Obviously, the offense runs through Nikola Jokic, but Jamal Murray also needs the ball in his hands a lot. Michael Porter Jr. needs to get shots up, and even Aaron Gordon is occasionally given on-ball duties. On top of that, all three of Jokic, Murray, and Porter Jr. like to get shots up in the mid-range.
Carlton Carrington is another player with an affinity for the mid-range jump shot. Teams can only take so many middys, though, especially in this era of analytics that doesn’t prioritize the shot as much as previous generations. The mid-range shot is by far Carrington’s best attribute, but on the Nuggets, he likely wouldn’t be given the chance to use it as much as he’d like.
The Nuggets could use an upgrade at the backup point guard position after Reggie Jackson had an underwhelming season, but a more traditional playmaker and someone who can get to the rim more effectively than Carrington is probably the way Denver would prefer to go.
3. Ryan Dunn: Virginia, SF
For years, a key for Denver was surrounding Nikola Jokic with elite defensive players. Ryan Dunn is just that, but Denver doesn’t need defense as desperately as they once did. Jokic has improved on that end and is now above average defensively. The team also traded for Aaron Gordon and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and they drafted Christian Braun and Peyton Watson.
All of those players thrive on the less glamorous side of the ball. It led to the Nuggets ranking in the top 10 in defensive ranking last season, according to NBA.com. Considering the team’s starting lineup is set (and is arguably the best in the NBA), the Nuggets will likely only be drafting backups.
The backup unit needs a boost on offense, not defense, so a defensive specialist like Ryan Dunn doesn’t make sense for Denver. Dunn is one of the draft’s best players on that end, but he really struggles offensively. He doesn’t score well, he isn’t much of a playmaker, and his jump shot is nonexistent.
With the bench unit, Denver needs a spark plug scorer who can carry the burden when it comes to putting basketballs in the bucket when the starters sit. And any backup needs to be able to knock down shots off of Jokic’s passes if they were to see minutes with the starters. Dunn’s inability on offense means he doesn’t fit in any role on that end in Denver, and he is a player they should avoid because of that.
2. Tyler Kolek: Marquette, PG
In the 2023 NBA Draft, Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth prioritized play-now prospects with lots of collegiate experience. After taking freshman Julian Strawther in the first round, Booth drafted Jalen Pickett and Hunter Tyson in round two. Both players played five years of collegiate basketball.
Tyler Kolek is an older prospect with proven production at the college level, and he fits the bill of a Calvin Booth prospect because of that. However, the Nuggets shouldn’t draft him in 2024. Despite being drafted to play right away, neither Pickett nor Tyson made a big impact as rookies, and their ceilings aren’t high enough for fans to be convinced that they will be impactful going forward.
Kolek might have a similar problem finding playing time right away, and his ceiling isn’t high enough to project lots of development either. Plus, any potential backup point guard minutes for Kolek are going to be blocked by Pickett, as well as Reggie Jackson and Collin Gillespie. Jackson is a veteran who already picked up his player option for 2024, and Gillespie is another player who entered the NBA with lots of college experience.
Drafting young, one-and-done prospects has become the norm in the NBA Draft over the last decade, and although Denver ducked that trend last year, they’d be smart to draft a younger prospect with a higher ceiling than an older prospect who, in theory, could play right away, because in reality, any rookie is going to struggle to get minutes with Denver early on.
1. Zach Edey: Purdue, center
The backup center position is a need for Denver, but Zach Edey isn’t the one the Nuggets should target in the 2024 NBA Draft. Denver’s center, Nikola Jokic, has an incredibly advanced skillset for a big man. You can’t expect a prospect to have close to the talent in shooting, passing, IQ, touch, or really any skillset that Jokic has.
Denver would like their MVP’s backup to have a more modernized skillset than Edey, though. Edey doesn’t have much ability at all when it comes to passing the basketball or scoring it outside of the paint. It may be hard for Denver’s roster to adjust to playing with a player whose skillset is such a polar opposite of Jokic’s.
In the past, Denver has prioritized passing out of their backup bigs. Mason Plumlee and Isaiah Hartenstein – former Nuggets backups – obviously weren’t the passers that Jokic is, but they both had some passing ability in their arsenal.
There are plenty of options who fit better, including Kyle Filipowski, Kel’el Ware, Adem Bona, and DaRon Holmes, the latter of whom has already been linked as a draft day target for the Nuggets. By no means are any of those centers elite passers, but their skillsets are more suited for the current NBA than Edey’s is. Filipowski and Ware have shown promise as shooters, and Bona and Holmes have much better mobility than Edey.
It is very possible that Denver walks out of the draft with a new center, but Zach Edey doesn’t seem like the right one.
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