NBA Draft 2020: Top 3 options for Denver Nuggets with the No. 22 pick

Possible NBA Draft target for Denver Nuggets — Josh Green

Wing | Arizona | 6’6 | 209 lbs | 19 years old

The Denver Nuggets have a roster full of talented offensive players, whether it’s Jamal Murray’s pull-up explosion, Nikola Jokić’s sweet post-game, and ungodly passing vision, or Michael Porter Jr.’s tough shot-making ability as a rookie. But the team longs for defensive help to fill in the gaps, hence the pressure to re-sign one, if not both, of Paul Millsap and Jerami Grant.

Though the team did manage to survive against offensive barrages from Donovan Mitchell’s Utah Jazz and Kawhi Leonard’s LA Clippers, defense is still a weakness for the Nuggets’ long-term playoff ceiling.

Enter Arizona wing Josh Green. The 6’6 teenager from Australia holds true upside as an impact defender at the point of attack and at the nail, possessing truly outlier hip fluidity in combination with good lateral quickness and functional strength. He swivels his hips and changes directions without hardship, using his length and physical gifts to swallow up opposing ball-handlers.

He’s capable of stunting at the nail and recovering to his man without giving up an advantage more times than not, and in the event that he does give up an edge to his assignment, he has the requisite athleticism and tools to recover. It goes without saying, but his hips don’t lie. (No, I’m not apologizing for that joke.)

Green finished his freshman year in college with averages of 12.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals on .424/.361/.780 shooting, showcasing helpful complementary passing, awesome transition finishing, and encouraging spot-up shooting (40.6% off-the-catch). The shot mechanics are a bit of a mess, largely in the rigid lower body setup, but his floater touch and foul shooting do offer hope that he can be a reliable spot shooter in the NBA.

The finishing is a mess — he only hit 37.5% of his shots at the rim in the halfcourt, ranking in the eighth percentile according to Synergy — due to a lack of flexibility and odd aversion to using his left hand, but it’s possible that a professional strength and conditioning staff (plus some sports psychology, perhaps) could help him improve in that regard.

Some Nuggets fans may be hesitant at adding a player who will slot into the Torrey Craig role in Denver, scoring off spot-ups while taking on the toughest defensive assignments when on the floor. It should be noted, however, that Green’s abilities as a connective passer and projection as a shooter are more encouraging than anything Craig has shown thus far in his brief NBA career.

Plus, it doesn’t take much to be better than Craig, who has been widely overrated as a defensive presence despite being billed as the team’s defensive specialist off the bench. The Nuggets were actually better on defense when Craig was on the bench this year, both in the regular season (116.4 DRTG on-court vs. 109.4 off-court) and playoffs (121.4 on-court vs. 112.8 off-court).

Factor in Craig’s negative offensive contributions and he hurt Denver more than he helped them, finishing the year with a minus-11.3 on-off rating and minus-3.35 Player Impact Plus-Minus (16th-worst in the NBA)

Josh Green is not a perfect prospect nor should he be the top guy on the Nuggets’ draft board with the 22nd pick, but there’s a clear path to playing time and a clear role for him in Denver.