Nuggets continue stockpiling picks for middle of draft

Denver sacrificed one of their two first-round picks next summer to move into the late first and early second rounds in Thursday's draft. That's on the heels of a trade with Oklahoma City - consummated during the NBA Finals - that saw the eventual champs add second-rounders in exchange for a (well-in-the-future) first-rounder.

Now, Denver has picks at Nos. 29, 32 and 37, which will either turn into low-cost rookies or could be packaged together to move up. Perhaps that would be for a Bruce Brown replacement, should he depart after opting out of next year's contract.

This may reflect Denver's hesitation in facing a new collective bargaining agreement that punishes teams for going over the luxury tax line too far. With Nikola Jokic on a supermax extension and Jamal Murray likely to sign a big extension this summer, one way to stay out of tax penalties is to bring in low-priced talent through the draft.

One example? Christian Braun, last year's No. 21 pick, who had a big Game 3 in the Finals. No. 30 pick Peyton Watson also showed flashes this past season, while 2020 first-rounder Zeke Nnaji had a disappointing year.

The draft is something of a crapshoot, but the Nuggets believe in their development program. That's going to be important, because Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. both have big long-term deals. One consequence of the Nuggets winning it all is that Porter got his full salary guaranteed for 2026-27.

Braun contributing as a rookie was somewhat unusual, but the Nuggets are more hoping that a player they select this week can help them in the playoffs in 2025, as they hope Watson can do next year.

And they have also found a useful trade partner in Oklahoma City, who has more first-round picks than they know what to do with - 38 over the next seven years. It's such an embarrassment of draft riches that the pick heading to Indiana in 2024 is the least favorable of possibly four picks the Thunder control.

They've got so many picks, it's worth it for them to trade some for the outside shot that the Nuggets are bad come 2029. Whereas Denver will take the risk of losing a good pick for the certainty of a cost-controlled rookie.