The Denver Nuggets are the only team entering the 2023 NBA Draft completely satisfied after a championship winning season, as Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and company ran through the playoffs en route to the franchise’s first title.
That said, Thursday’s Draft was important for Denver because they have a number of roster spots to fill this summer with Bruce Brown hitting free agency along with a handful of veterans that filled out their bench. While they’ll certainly look to add more veteran minimum deals this offseason, adding players on rookie scale deals was important enough to the Nuggets front office that they’ve already gone out and made a pair of trades heading into the Draft, acquiring the 29th and 32nd overall picks from Indiana and the 37th pick and a 2024 first from OKC.
Denver is in the quite comfortable position of having their core intact, but now they’ll be on the hunt for more depth and hoping to add another immediate impact player in the draft as they did with Christian Braun a year ago.
Roster Needs: Depth at every position
Julian Strawther (No. 29 overall), B-: This might be a bit early for Strawther in a vacuum, but Denver can be trusted to maximize his skill set. He is a fantastic shooter and has the size that Denver seems to covet. Defensively, it’s an adventure right now, but there is room to grow with his tools.
Free Agents:
Bruce Brown (UFA)
Jeff Green (UFA)
DeAndre Jordan (UFA)
Thomas Bryant (UFA)
Ish Smith (UFA)
Reggie Jackson (UFA)
Jack White (Two-Way)
Collin Gillespie (Two-Way)
Roster:
Nikola Jokic
Jamal Murray
Michael Porter Jr.
Aaron Gordon
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Christian Braun
Peyton Watson
Vlatko Cancar
Zeke Nnaji (team option)