The NBA draft is deep.
Everyone says so. The number of quality college, international and high school players who have made themselves eligible for the June 28 draft back those claims up.
But the Nuggets have a warning: It doesn’t necessarily mean the team’s first-round picks, Nos. 20 and 22, will have any impact on next season’s squad.
In fact, Nuggets officials are betting they won’t.
“If you could have all of your wishes, yeah, let’s get a guy to come in and make an impact,” general manager Kiki Vande- weghe said. “But the odds are that if you can get somebody to help you in a year or two that will be a success.”
Monday, the Nuggets brought in a round of college players for workouts – Kentucky’s Kelenna Azubuike, Georgia Tech’s B.J. Elder, Duke’s Daniel Ewing, North Carolina’s Jackie Manuel, Notre Dame’s Chris Thomas and Charlotte’s Eddie Basden. Another group, headlined by sharpshooting Arizona guard Salim Stoudamire and Kansas forward Wayne Simien, is in today.
“I’m not sure that (the draft) is deep enough where we’re picking 20 and 22 that we’re going to get a guy who will get in the game next year. I’m not saying we won’t, but I’m not confident we will,” assistant general manager David Fredman said. “I can’t look at Coach (George) Karl in the eye and say ‘Hey, we got a guy that’s going to go right into your rotation.’ I can’t do that.”
History shows the Nuggets are right. Players such as Craig “Speedy” Claxton, Brendan Haywood and Kareem Rush were chosen with the 20th picks and are solid NBA players, but have taken a few years to get there.
Last year, Denver selected Saint Joseph’s guard Jameer Nelson with the 20th pick and shipped him to Orlando for a future first-round pick. Nelson had a solid rookie season as part of the regular rotation for the Magic.
The best player selected with the 22nd pick in recent drafts was Stanford’s Casey Jacobsen in 2002. But it doesn’t mean gems aren’t out there. Milwaukee’s Michael Redd (43rd), San Antonio’s Tony Parker (28th) and Dallas’ Josh Howard (29th) were on the board when the 20th and 22nd picks rolled around and were not selected until later.
The already hectic schedule picks up with the Chicago predraft camp next week, which Nuggets scouts will attend. Then, Vandeweghe and other front-office personnel are headed to Treviso, Italy, to get a look at some of Europe’s best talent.
“This just falls at a time where there is no vacation time,” Vandeweghe said. “Every day there is something to do and we have a lot of guys coming in.”
Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
