[NCarmean18Participant]

 The Denver Nuggets have quietly put together a really nice young core to build around for the future.  As a fan who follows the team closely, I actually feel like our rebuilding efforts won’t take nearly as long as other teams, similar to the Boston Celtics rebuild.  In my personal opinion, Tim Connelly has done an excellent job of acquiring young and valuable assets, as well as veterans that are happy to play in Denver. This has helped this team kick it up a notch in the rebuilding phase.  

Another thing Tim did a good job of was bringing in a head coach that will demand respect out of this young squad.  Malone did something no head coach was able to do in Sacramento, and that was develop a very nice working relationship with Boogie Cousins.  I still don’t understand why Sacramento fired Mike, but I am not going to complain lol.  Just a year ago, it seemed so dark and gloomy in Denver.  But with a new coach, fresh young faces, and a different mindset – Denver has turned into a respectable team that others shouldn’t overlook.  I understand the record doesn’t seem all too impressive (33-47), but between injuries, youth, and growing pains from the youth, this squad has proved to be a tough win for many teams, even being one of the few teams to actually knock off Golden State.  

As far as this offseason goes, I am really excited to see what direction management ultimately decides to go.  We will likely have two first round picks (currently projected as the 8th and 18th picks).  Now we have three options here.  

Option #1: Combine those two picks to move up in the first round.  In my personal opinion, this is the least likely to happen of the three choices.  They won’t be able to get high enough to take Simmons or Ingram, and the Nuggets aren’t really desparate to upgrade any position.  The Phoenix Suns seem like the most likely choice and I doubt that they give up the #3 overall pick for #8 & #18.  I have seen crazier things though.

Option #2: Draft two more young players to add to the young core.  As of right now, our 2016-17 roster looks like this:

PG: Mudiay – J. Nelson

SG: G. Harris – Barton

SF: Gallo, W. Chandler, J. Sampson

PF: Faried

C: Jokic – Nurkic – Lauvergne

At the eighth spot, I am likely to take a SF or PF depending on who is available.  My personal pick here would be Henry Ellenson.  He’s young, has flashed a little bit of an inside out game and has shown solid rebounding skills.  

With the 18th pick, this depends on a lot of variables but some prospects to target around this pick would be Furkan Korkmaz or Taurean Prince.  I’m sure this pick and prospects will change a lot throughout the NBA Draft process, but I like both of those players and their potential fits/roles on the team.  

Option #3: Take one of the picks (or both) and package them to upgrade at power forward.  This team can be taken over the top and they can push for a playoff spot next season if they can snag one of the two star power forwards who could possibly be on the trade block this summer, both depending a lot on playoff success.  The two players I have in my currently are Kevin Love and Blake Griffin.  

We’ll start off with Kevin Love.  The Nuggets actually attempted to trade for Love back when he wanted out of Minnesota – but the Nuggets didn’t have the assets back then and it ultimately was probably best for their future that they didn’t get him back in 2014.  The appeal for Denver is definitely there, as Love is a proven alpha who can put up really high numbers in Denver, especially as the #1 scoring option.  Love is also the type of guy who seems like he wouldn’t mind playing for a smaller market team like the Nuggets, especially considering all of the young talent who can play with through the rest of his prime.  

Now, Blake Griffin.  This definitely seems the more unlikely of the two, but if L.A. again struggles in the postseason to get past the 2nd round, I can definitely see this squad making a move.  With Griffin’s more recent history of questionable behavior off the court, now may be the best time to cut ties with Blake if the Clippers are looking to make a change. There was a rumored proposed trade from the Clippers this past offseason that was Blake & Born Ready for Jokic, Gallo, Faried, and Barton.  If this is true, then it is obvious to my why Denver would turn this trade down.  However, Denver still has some nice assets and if they really think Blake will help push the team over the top, I think we have a solid nucleus of assets to facilitate a trade this offseason.  

If any of you are still reading this, I certainly thank you.  This is honestly the most exciting being a Nuggets fan has been since before we traded Carmelo Anthony.  The future looks bright, and I cannot wait to see what is in store. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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