Denver Stiffs: Nuggets draft recap
This blog isn’t old enough to have had an NBA Draft Recap column. In fact, prior to tonight you’d have to go back to 2006 to even evaluate a Nuggets draft pick. That year, the Nuggets took Leon Powe 49th and promptly traded him to the Celtics for a future second round pick (which in a roundabout way turned into J.R. Smith via Chicago).
As a result of this prolonged absence from participating in the draft, the post-Kiki Vandeweghe Administration of Bret Bearup, Mark Warkentien and Rex Chapman has been accused annually (by yours truly among others) of being lazy with the draft and not properly valuing it. Having no first round pick in 2006 wasn’t the present administration’s fault as that pick was dealt to the Nets as part of the Kenyon Martin trade, foolishly orchestrated by Kiki. And having no pick in 2007 was understandable in that the pick had been traded to the Sixers in order for the Nuggets to acquire Allen Iverson (a trade most Nuggets fans – including this one – whole heartily agreed with at the time).
