The last time the Denver Nuggets had a lottery pick, they used the No. 3 selection on Carmelo Anthony, then went on to make the playoffs for the next decade.
They are back in the lottery this year after an injury plagued season, with the No. 11 pick.
But the Nuggets are shopping that pick around to see what they can get, reports the Denver Post.
Trading the selection for a veteran and moving up in the draft are the two areas of most interest to the Nuggets.
A number of teams have multiple picks or are overstocked with young players or disappointed with their draft position (even if it is higher than the Nuggets’) and would be willing to deal.
“I don’t think things will pick up until the next week or so,” (Nuggets general manager Tim) Connelly said. “But after a relatively quiet trade deadline, I think we’ll see a more active build-up to the draft. I would imagine we’ll have a lot of trades.”
He’s right about that — pretty much everyone around the league expects some big draft day moves, plus some larger trades in July. In recent years we’re seeing current GMs move more away from pressured deadline deals in February to making moves in the summer when they have the luxury of more time.
With a lot of teams looking to make moves the Nuggets have options, but so do their trading partners. Most likely the Nuggets will have to package that pick to get either a veteran or to move up, but they have assets.
Just something to watch as the draft nears.