Harrison Ingram has been selected by the Nuggets as their top pick with the No. 28 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.
The DenverNuggets’ attempt to win the NBA championship again was unsuccessful. In the seventh game of the Western Conference semifinals, they were defeated by the Minnesota Timberwolves. They are now in the offseason because their season is done. The Nuggets’ first priority will be the 2024 NBA Draft, in which they will select with the 28th overall pick. Players like Harrison Ingram, Kevin McCullar, and Kel’el Ware might be looked to by Denver to help strengthen a bench that was exposed during this postseason run.
Over the past few years, the Nuggets have a tendency to select guys with experience. With Christian Braun, who was Denver’s best player off the bench throughout the postseason, it worked wonderfully. However, during the previous year’s draft, they also made jabs at Jalen Pickett, Hunter Tyson, and Julian Strawther. In this postseason run, neither mattered. But the three players on the list might provide something Denver’s team lacked this year in the future.
The Nuggets haven’t had a trustworthy center to replace Nikola Jokic in a long time. Any lineup that the Joker plays with will always take off. But Denver can’t keep crumbling every time he takes a nap on the bench. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Nuggets’ net rating suffered to -11.1 during the regular season when Jokic was not playing. In the postseason, that figure fell to -11.8 much lower.
There are many reasons why Denver struggles without Jokic. He controls everything on offense and gobbles up rebounds defensively. It’s almost like he’s a three-time MVP or something. But the Nuggets’ options behind him have been abysmal over the years. None of the likes of JaMychal Green, DeMarcus Cousins, Bol Bol, Thomas Bryant, DeAndre Jordan or Zeke Nnaji have been able to hold up in that backup role.
Kel’el Ware could give Denver their best shot at a sturdy backup center behind Jokic since Mason Plumlee. Ware is a seven footer who can block shots with legit offensive skills. His college career began at Oregon, but was not ready for the jump to college. He looked much more comfortable at Indiana in his second collegiate season.
