Nuggets sit out another loaded NBA Draft
The Nuggets drafted Julius Hodge in 2005. Hodge is a forgettable player who has traveled the world playing for lesser leagues, but he is the key to Denver's Draft Day woes.
- Image by KEVY47 via Flickr
The Denver Nuggets have developed a disturbing trend of sitting out the NBA Draft.
What began with an ill-fated Draft Day decision the year after Carmelo Anthony was drafted in 2003 has become a legacy of poor draft-related decisions by the Denver Nuggets’ front office. (See Recent Draft History below)
You will remember the Nuggets’ pickup of Ty Lawson in 2009, trading with Minnesota on Draft Day to grab the young dynamo that would back up the aging Chauncey Billups at point guard in 2010 and beyond. This move paid dividends back when the Nuggets were still a contender. Back before Kenyon’s knee buckled. Before coach Karl’s heart-wrenching trip to chemotherapy.
But the move to grab Lawson was indicative of a larger strategy employed by the Denver front office that has failed to pay off. Buckle up and get ready for a sad ride through Nuggets Draft History over the last eight years…
2003-2005
Since the Nuggets drafted Carmelo Anthony in the 2003 NBA Draft, Denver has had only three players come out of the draft and onto the court in a Nuggets uniform… and that includes Melo.
One was 2009 Draft Pick Ty Lawson. The other was the ill-fated Julius Hodge, who is better known for being shot in Denver than playing here.
Hodge came within 5 minutes of bleeding to death on I-76 North of Denver proper after a night of clubbing in the city. The 15 minutes of fame that resulted from a drive-by highway shooting statistically outpaced his 14 games played with the Nuggets in Julius’ 2005-2006 rookie campaign. After playing in four games the next season, Hodge was off to Milwaukee and then a series of lesser basketball leagues.
Denver drafted point guard Jameer Nelson, now of Orlando fame, in the 2004 Draft. Nelson was an NBA All-Rookie Second Teamer and was an NBA All Star in 2009. He and Dwight Howard teamed up to ferry the Magic to the Finals that same year.
The Nuggets, fronted by GM Kiki Vandeweghe, did not see Nelson as a talent worth keeping, though. They traded Jameer on Draft Day ’04 for Orlando’s 1st Round Pick in ’05. Nelson went on to play starting point guard for the Magic every year after his rookie season. The Nuggets went on to experiment with the likes of Allen Iverson as they desperately searched for a competent PG accompaniment to Carmelo.
And who did the Nuggets draft with the 2005 1st Rounder they garnered for Nelson?
The forgettable Julius Hodge.
Denver’s other 2005 picks were Jarrett Jack and Axel Hervelle. Jack went immediately to Portland for Linas Kleiza and Ricky Sanchez. Hervelle was the first player from Belgium drafted to the NBA, but never played a single minute for the Nuggets. Kleiza struggled in the NBA and ended up regressing to the Greek League after the 2009 season.
2006-2008
In 2006 Denver picked up Leon Powe with their only selection, then ship him off to Boston for a 2nd Round Pick in the 2007 Draft.
The 2007 Draft saw Denver fritter away two 1st Round Picks (and accomplished assist-man Andre Miller) in exchange for point guard Allen Iverson. The Iverson Experiment was made necessary by the Nuggets’ decided lack of a PG that could challenge defenses independently and open up the court for Carmelo.
This is the perfect moment to think back on the Jameer Nelson Experiment that never was. It does little good to wonder what the Nuggets could have accomplished with Jameer’s ability to disrupt defenses and create plays for his teammates, but still…
Instead of holding onto Nelson with that 2004 pick and building a young nucleus around Jameer, Carmelo & Nene (drafted by Denver in 2002), the Nuggets ended up trading for and wasting a 1st Round Pick on Julius Hodge, trading away two 1st Round Picks for Allen Iverson, and then settling for the tail end of Chauncey Billups’ career.
Really, Detroit bailed out the Nuggets’ front office by accepting Iverson’s ball-hogging and poor shooting in exchange for a great all-around player and perennial All Star Billups. And yet it still wasn’t enough come playoff time. Chauncey showed his age each of the last two seasons in the playoffs, looking weary and playing well off his A-Game when it mattered most.
As a result of the Iverson trade and other transactions the Nuggets did not make any draft picks in 2007 or 2008.
2009-2010
That all brings us full circle; back to the drafting of another point guard, Ty Lawson, in the 2009 Draft. The Nuggets’ front office, championed by GM Mark Warkentein since 2006, went out on a limb and grabbed Lawson fresh off his NCAA Championship at North Carolina.
This was, by most accounts, a good draft pick. But it all ties back to that first mistake; letting Nelson go to Orlando for future considerations. It would seem that Denver’s draftnicks have been trying to mend that mistake for seven long years through six stacked NBA Drafts only to come up with an undersized point guard who will need to have a revelation of a 2010-2011 sophomore season just to make up for the legacy of failed point guard experiments that precedes him. (Earl Boykins anyone?)
That is, of course, if Lawson even plays for the Nuggets next season. Word on the street has Ty on the trading block. Perhaps for a big man to back up the aging/injury riddled/underwhelming Denver frontcourt. Perhaps for a draft pick to post up for future Nuggets’ teams.
Or maybe the Nuggets will trash Lawson and a couple of future draft picks for another short-term solution to the franchise’s biggest problems.
Denver Nuggets Draft History 2003-2010
(Round-Pick #, Player Name, College/Country, NBA Teams Played For)
2003 NBA Draft, June 26
1-3 Carmelo Anthony* (Syracuse) DEN
2-46 Sani Becirovic (Slovenia)
2004 NBA Draft, June 24
1-20 Jameer Nelson (St. Joseph’s) ORL
(Traded to Orlando for 2005 1st Round Pick)
2005 NBA Draft, June 28
1-20 Julius Hodge* (North Carolina State) DENx2, MIL
(Pick from Washington via Orlando)
1-22 Jarrett Jack (Georgia Tech) PORx3, IND, TOR
(Traded to Portland for Linas Kleiza & Ricky Sanchez)
2-52 Axel Hervelle (Belgium) DEN, MIL
2006 NBA Draft, June 28
2-49 Leon Powe (California) BOSx2, CLE
(Traded to Boston for 2007 2nd Round Pick)
2007 NBA Draft
No Picks
2008 NBA Draft
No Picks
2009 NBA Draft
1-18 Ty Lawson (North Carolina) DEN
(Acquired from Minnesota for 2010 1st Round Pick)
2010 NBA Draft
No Picks
Denver Nuggets GM’s 2001-Present
Kiki Vandeweghe 2001-2006
Mark Warkentein 2006-Present
