Although the Denver Nuggets’ added depth this season is a big positive, it could also create a downside—possibly losing a promising young player in a future expansion draft. NBA expansion has been discussed for years, and it seems the league is inching closer to making it happen.
If the league follows past rules, each team would be able to protect eight players, with the rest available to be selected by the new expansion team(s). In previous years, this wouldn’t have been a concern for Denver, as they often struggled to field eight NBA-caliber players.
This offseason, however, the Nuggets have built a roster with up to 12 reliable rotation players. That means they’d have to take a gamble by leaving a few role players unprotected, hoping the expansion teams wouldn’t target them.
On a recent episode of the Third Apron podcast, Yossi Gozlan, Keith Smith, and Sam Quinn held a mock expansion draft. For Denver, they protected Nikola Jokic, Aaron Gordon, Cam Johnson, Christian Braun, Jamal Murray, Peyton Watson, DaRon Holmes, and Jalen Pickett.
Julian Strawther taken third in mock expansion draft
In this scenario, the Nuggets had to leave players like Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown, Jonas Valančiūnas, Julian Strawther, Zeke Nnaji, and Hunter Tyson unprotected. While Hardaway, Brown, and Valančiūnas are veteran players on short-term deals and may not be especially appealing to expansion teams, the mock draft saw Smith selecting Strawther with the third overall pick from Denver’s roster.
Gozlan, representing the Nuggets, attempted to work out a trade for Smith to take Nnaji instead, but in this simulation, Denver lacked the draft assets to make it happen. Losing a young, talented scorer and shooter like Strawther would be a tough blow, especially after years of development and investment, but for an expansion team, he’d be an extremely attractive pick and likely one of the most sought-after players available.
Nuggets should protect Strawther instead of Pickett
One could argue the Nuggets should have protected Strawther over Pickett. Strawther is younger, has shown more upside, and has played when healthy, whereas Pickett has struggled to earn minutes.
Still, losing Pickett for nothing would be frustrating, and it’s not much of an improvement over the alternative. Even if Denver could somehow keep both, losing one of their newly signed veterans would still hurt the rotation. While Brown and THJ might not seem like ideal fits for an expansion team, those squads will still need capable players to soak up minutes and tradeable veterans at the deadline.
In the end, these are good problems to have, and the conversation might not matter for years—if at all. But one possible downside of significantly upgrading the roster this offseason is the increased risk of losing talent in a future expansion draft.
Be the first to comment