The Denver Nuggets had a very intriguing 2018 NBA Draft. They came into draft night armed with the 14th, 43rd, and the 58th pick. With tons of speculation circulating that Denver wanted to move up or out of the lottery, anything was possible on draft night, but what transpired could not have been predicted. Somehow, Michael Porter Jr., the highes-ranked high school prospect in the nation prior to the 2017-18 college basketball season, fell all the way down to the 14th slot where Denver had the good fortune of selecting him. Even with Porter Jr.’s back injury, the choice to draft him was a calculated move. Denver than followed up that shell-shocking draft pick by trading the 43rd pick and a future second-round pick to move up to grab Jarred Vanderbilt prior to selecting Thomas Welsh with the 58th pick. After all that chaos, here are the draft grades for the Denver Nuggets’ 2018 NBA Draft picks. 14th pick – Michael Porter Jr. It seemed that there was absolutely no way that the Nuggets would have been able to acquire someone as talented as Michael Porter Jr. with the 14th pick, but as he continued to fall and fall, Denver’s level of excitement grew. “We were very surprised and happy that Michael continued to fall down the board,” Connelly told the media after the conclusion of the draft. “We think he has elite tools, certainly a high pedigree guy as a guy that’s succeeded at every level. So, it’s a guy that we’re unbelievably excited to add to our group.” The Nuggets did not draft Porter Jr., as Connelly said, “with their heads buried in the sand.” They know the they are bringing in a player who had back surgery and relies on his superior athletic and physical talents, but the team saw this as a risk worth taking to potentially reach new heights. Denver made this informed decision to draft Porter Jr. as a team. According to Connelly, the Nuggets had their ownership, coaching staff, medical staff, performance staff, and front office all in the draft room and, together, they made the decision to select Porter Jr. even with the risks involved. That group effort should not be overlooked. That is what makes this draft pick such a home run: Denver basketball does not need saving right now and the team knows it. Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris and Paul Millsap have things under control for the foreseeable future which removes all pressure off of Porter Jr. to immediately get healthy. The Nuggets can take an ultra-conservative approach with their highly-touted new prospect to allow him time to get fully healthy. “He’s injured?” Tim Connelly joked. “At some point it becomes a risk/reward ratio. We think he’s an elite talent. A guy with no back issues we wouldn’t have the good fortune of drafting. I think you have to take a swing at guys like that to get lucky. We have some of the best trainers and doctors in the world in Denver. They’re confident. I think we have a plan in place. I think we’re going to be extremely patient, we’re going to take the long view with everything we do with him. But, he was there certainly because of concerns with his back.” Denver needed their small forward of the future as well as more top-end talent and that is exactly what they got in Porter Jr. Porter Jr. needed a team that could allow him the time to get back to 100 percent health while also still valuing him as an important piece for their long-term success. Because of that, the selection of Porter Jr. gets nearly a perfect mark. Grade: A 41st pick (via trade) – Jarred Vanderbilt The Nuggets mixed in a trade in the second round to ensure that they were able to snap another highly-valued prospect who was plagued by injures throughout the 2017-18 college basketball season in Jarred Vanderbilt. “He is a fascinating prospect,” Connelly explained. “I was at the hoop summit practices last year with the rest of our staff and he was a guy that entering the season was going to be a top-20 pick. His motor never stops and his rebounding numbers are hard to find a comparison for. I think he is a three-position defender, can really handle (the ball). He is very different than what we have. I joked with (Malone) that we finally got one of his guys. He is a bulldog. He plays with a chip and a toughness that can accent a lot of our skill guys. He is very different from what we presently have. We circled him in the second round as one of the biggest upside guys and if we could get him, we wanted to be aggressive to do so.” And aggressive they were. When Denver saw that Vanderbilt was still on the board after the 40th pick, they felt the need to trade up to acquire the 41st pick to ensure that he would be a member of the Denver Nuggets. Connelly and his staff sent the 43rd pick and a future second-round pick to the Orlando Magic to get the 41st pick that eventually resulted in Vanderbilt and Denver could not be more happy to get their hands on him. “In the second round we added Jarred Vanderbilt, one of the best rebounders we’ve ever seen,” Connelly explained. “High-energy guy, multiple position guy, just plays with a real passion, plays with a constant motor. His rebounding numbers fly off the page. The numbers almost have no parallel. When you watch his high school tape, he is handling the ball, and he is defending all over the court. He is a faceup four who can defend, push the ball, and rebound. He has fought injuries for the past year so you didn’t see the guy that you saw in high school — a guy that was a top recruit. ”<doc-sep>The Denver Nuggets had a busy day at the 2018 NBA Draft. They had three selections this year, one in the first round and two in the second. The Denver Nuggets had a single first round selection in the 2018 NBA Draft, as their season qualified them for the 14th overall pick. They also had two second round picks: the 43rd pick, which they received from the Los Angeles Clippers, and the 58th pick, which they acquired from the Golden State Warriors. Their original second round pick was the 47th pick, which they had previously traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. The second round can produce some gems, but as shown by the amount of movement, a second round draft pick is a good throw-in to facilitate a trade. In the past four years, the the Nuggets have had pick No. 7 twice and pick No. 11 twice. This season was the lowest starting point for the Nuggets in a draft since 2011, and they took a risk that will hopefully vault them back into playoff contention. The Nuggets selected Michael Porter Jr. with the 14th pick of the draft. In the second round, they made a move to trade up. They sent pick No. 43 to the Orlando Magic, receiving No. 41 in return. With this pick, they selected Jarred Vanderbilt. Then, at No. 58, they selected Thomas Welsh. Here’s a look at the Denver Nuggets’ complete draft grades.<doc-sep>The day after the NBA draft is always interesting. The initial adrenaline rush of the draft starts to wear off, and it’s a time to seriously start looking at the picks with a more coherent view. For the Denver Nuggets, it’s hard not to be excited about the tantalizing prospect of Michael Porter Jr., selected at 14 (! ), playing alongside an already promising core of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Gary Harris and Paul Millsap. But the reality is that this may not happen right away due to Porter Jr.’s injury concerns following back surgery late last year. This make’s the selection for Denver all the more intriguing - it could be a home run, but it could also be a strikeout. We just don’t know yet. Nuggets fans are excited, but how did the major analysts and outlets initially react to Michael Porter Jr.? The early indicators are good for Denver. Take a look below. The slide ends for Porter, who was linked to Sacramento at no. 2 overall only a few days ago. While Porter’s surgically repaired back may keep him from ever living up to his considerable potential, the 14th pick is way past the point in the draft where he’s worth a roll of the dice. Porter, like Jamal Murray, could thrive playing off of Nikola Jokic. There were concerns about both prospects’ playmaking skills coming out of college, but it doesn’t matter next to the best passing big man of his generation. ESPN: Big Winner Rolling the dice on the star power of Michael Porter Jr. -- formerly projected as the No. 1 pick in the draft last summer -- makes sense here. The Nuggets have a deep roster, affording them the possibility of bringing Porter along slowly and doing whatever it takes to get his body right so he can have a long and sustainable NBA career. They should be in no rush to get him on the floor. If Porter pans out, the Nuggets will have a star on their hands. If not, this is well worth the risk at the end of the lottery. At this stage of the draft, taking a risk on a top-shelf talent is appropriate. That’s exactly what Michael Porter Jr. is, considering his remarkable scoring ability. Though a back injury prevented him from displaying that bucket-getting acumen during his brief Missouri career, little doubt exists that his sweet shooting stroke and comfort conducting himself in both on- and off-ball scenarios should translate to the sport’s highest level. If Porter Jr. has to sit out, there will be no immediate pressure to play, and from his perspective, there will be no pressure to be the face of a franchise given that there’s already an established culture. While Thursday may have been tough for him, it could wind up a better situation than if he were to enter a franchise in complete rebuilding mode. The health questions were real. A back injury is serious. But Porter had the talent to be a top-three pick, and the value here -- to a team that needs help at forward -- is too good to pass up. The worry? The Nuggets are offensively stacked already. How will they defend? Denver is fairly well-positioned to take a patient approach with Porter, given that their core group of Nikola Jokic, Paul Millsap, Jamal Murray and Gary Harris should return intact. They don’t need Porter on the court until he’s healthy, and they can afford to slow-play his return to form thanks to a decently deep supporting cast. Porter still has questions to answer about his skill set. Does he use his scoring to make his teammates better? Can he make an impact defensively? Where is his shooting and ball handling at? Still, if he pans out and stays healthy, Porter can be a go-to scorer who can get buckets from all three levels. I can’t believe he fell this far. If his health is O.K., the Nuggets just got the best pick in the draft. If it isn’t, they wasted an opportunity to add another major piece to go with their three-man core of Nikola Jokic, Gary Harris and Jamal Murray. Assuming he can keep himself on the court, Porter is a perfect complement to those players.<doc-sep>Just days prior to the 2018 NBA Draft, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN was on TV and reported that the Denver Nuggets are trying to move up in the draft. “Denver, at fourteen, would like to move up,” Wojnarowski reported. Prior to Denver coming up in the conversation, Woj was talking about how the Sacramento Kings, Atlanta Hawks, and Memphis Grizzlies were “fielding a lot calls” surrounding the second, third, and fourth pick in the draft. Woj also brought up the Los Angeles Clippers as another team looking to move up in the draft. Here is the video clip thanks to Trey Mitchell. Wojnarowski continued to report that Denver is looking to get into the “top five or six.” To do so, they would likely have to trade one of Jamal Murray or Gary Harris and it is unclear if they would be willing to part with the assets necessary to move up that far in the draft. Here is the full quote from Woj: “Denver would love to get up higher in this draft,” Woj said. “It remains to be seen whether they’re willing to give up the assets to do that. They’d love to get up into the top five or six.” So far, this is the first that anyone has reported that the Nuggets are looking to move up in the draft. Previously, Woj has also reported that Denver has looked into pairing Kenneth Faried with the 14th pick to move off of his salary and possibly move back in the draft. All that is known is that pretty much everything is on the table for this draft. Seemingly every pick is up for grabs and this will be the first of many rumors to surface prior to Thursday night’s draft.<doc-sep>
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 16: Gary Harris #14 of the Denver Nuggets waves to the crowd during the 2017 NBA Draft Lottery at the New York Hilton in New York, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images) Looking back at recent history, we can discern what it would cost for the Denver Nuggets to move up from 14th in the 2018 NBA Draft to select a wing of the future. The 2018 NBA Draft is just a few days away. Armed with the 14th overall selection, the Denver Nuggets will have a bevy of options, some better than others. At pick No. 14, however, some of the best options might already be off the table, namely the draft’s big-name wings, Mikal Bridges and Miles Bridges. As constructed, the Nuggets’ roster is imbalanced and in need of long-term stabilization. They have guards and big men galore, but organizational depth at the wing position is nonexistent. The issue with this draft is that after Mikal and Miles, the wing depth falls off pretty markedly. There are intriguing players, like Zhaire Smith and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but they’re far more wing-adjacent than wing. Denver needs a real wing. If the Nuggets are set on adding a real wing, the only option might be trading up to snag one of the Bridges. I recently examined previous salary dumps in an attempt to discern the cost of dumping salary. In that case, history was a bit murky. Mercifully, that’s not so in this instance. In three of the last four NBA Drafts, there have been trades analogous to the jump the Nuggets would have to undertake: In 2014, the Nuggets surrendered the 11th pick to the Chicago Bulls for the 16th and 19th In 2016, the Phoenix Suns acquired the eighth pick from the Sacramento Kings for the 13th and 28th picks, along with a 2020 second round pick and the rights to Bogdan Bogdanovic. In 2017, the Portland Trail Blazers sent the 15th and 20th picks to Sacramento for the 10th overall selection. Unfortunately for the Nuggets, the going rate is clear: two firsts for a five-slot jump. In the 2018 NBA Draft, the Nuggets own the 14th and 43rd selections — one first, not the requisite two. If the Nuggets were to trade up, they’d either have to acquire another first to send to a team in the 8-10 range or offer some sort of substitute. That substitute could be anything, from a young player like Juan Hernangomez or Malik Beasley, to a future first. Now, maybe a team out there is absolutely enamored with Hernangomez, but far more likely is that moving up would cost the Nuggets their selection in next year’s first round. Whether that’s a worthwhile trade-off, I’m not sure, but if the Nuggets think one of the Bridges could be the franchise’s much-needed, long-term answer on the wing, it’d be hard to fault them for giving up whatever it takes. The 2018 NBA Draft is sure to bring chaos and excitement. For the Denver Nuggets it will be an invaluable opportunity to finally add the piece on the wing the team so desperately needs. But with this draft’s talent distribution, the Nuggets may have no choice but to trade up from their 14th pick to secure one of the coveted wings, and that would undoubtedly be a costly move.