The Nuggets, ignored and desperate, are itching to pull off a big trade at the NBA draft. General manager Tim Connelly will make and take calls 24/7 until the last second Denver is on the clock with the seventh pick in the opening round. But ambition is not the problem. The real issue: Can Connelly even get in the conversation on a blockbuster deal?
For all the Nuggets like to boast about the desirable players and affordable contracts on their roster, does any team in the NBA really value the oft-injured Danilo Gallinari, an undersized Kenneth Faried or any of Denver’s three picks in the first round?
The NBA draft will be a referendum on the talent that wears Denver uniforms. If Connelly cannot make a deal to move up in the first round or acquire a veteran star, the league will have spoken: The Nuggets lack the trade bait to land a big fish.
Heck, we all dream of the Nuggets getting DeMarcus Cousins or Jimmy Butler to play in Denver. But, in reality, it’s going to be extremely difficult for Connelly to do it. I’m afraid the Nuggets love their talent more than the rest of the NBA does.
If all Connelly does Thursday is select seventh,15th and 19th in the first round, he will claim to be happy, but the team will have done nothing meaningful to move the needle in the standings or the stands, which are half-empty on too many nights in the Pepsi Center.
The Nuggets do not want to trade 20-year-old point guard Emmanuel Mudiay or 21-year-old center Nikola Jokic, two of the top 10 rookies in the league last season. Nobody can blame Denver for its desire to keep them. Jokic and Mudiay have shown flashes of being legitimate stars.
But what else does Denver really have to offer in trade?
At age 27, Gallinari has proven an ugly knee injury in 2013 was not the ruination of his career. His comeback was brave and relentless. He wants to lead on the court and in the locker room. He’s not afraid to shoot at crunch time.
But in seven pro seasons, Gallinari never has averaged 20 points per game, never been named to the all-star game and never advanced out of the first round in the NBA playoffs. He’s a trade chip, but does Gallo have the power to obtain the No. 3 pick in the first round from Boston in a draft whose superstar potential ends with LSU’s Ben Simmons and Duke’s Brandon Ingram?
Faried is the Manimal. He has earned a tryout with the U.S. men’s Olympic team. Nuggets management claims that fans love him, although not enough to prevent Denver from being dead last in league attendance.
How the Nuggets have used Faried, however, reveals the truth about his game: The energy he brings is valuable, but his limited skill set is best suited to be a sixth man on a playoff team. During five seasons in Denver, Faried has played for three coaches, and none of them played him an average of 30 minutes per game. Michael Malone gave the undersized power forward even less court time than Brian Shaw saw fit, and Shaw’s lack of faith infuriated Faried. As a defender, Faried surrendered as many points per 100 possessions last season as Carmelo Anthony did. Is that the profile of a player that can get Denver in the hunt for Cousins, Butler or any proven veteran that might be on the trade block?
While Denver controls five choices over the course of two rounds in this year’s draft, it’s more likely the volume of picks will allow the Nuggets to swing a minor trade rather than a major one. At No. 7 in the opening round, the best scenarios Denver can hope for are A) 7-foot-1 Croatian teenager Dragan Bender slides down the board, or B) guards Buddy Hield and Jamal Murray are both available to pick. Any of those three prospects would be good gets for the Nuggets, but it would also be unreasonable to expect any of them to propel Denver to a playoff berth next season. Shopping the seventh pick will generate interest but not a bidding war.
LeBron James shared tears of joy with Ohio, and the Nuggets watched, wondering when it was going to be their turn for a parade. Kevin Durant declares his impending free-agency will be about basketball rather than money, and Denver won’t get a sniff. The Nuggets have a lottery pick in the draft. But agents for all the top prospects insisted that a trip to Colorado for a workout isn’t worth their time.
The Nuggets are sick and tired of being ignored. The organization does care about winning. Denver is desperate to get back on the NBA map.
Here’s hoping the Nuggets make a big trade on draft night. It’s not impossible. Nothing’s impossible.
But if Connelly can get a blockbuster trade done with nothing more to offer than Gallinari, Faried and the No. 7 pick, he should be named the NBA’s executive of the year before the first three-point shot of next season is fired.
