Post by mops on Mar 26, 2009 13:32:32 GMT -5
The Denver Nuggets were a semi-major player in the 1993 UOSLR Draft this past week as they had their own selection at number 14 but they also pulled a draft day trade with the Celtics trading the Nuggets 1998 first for the Celtics 21st pick in the draft.
Going into the Draft the Nuggets GM Mops made it clear the team needed to improve on it's depth at the Forward spot and to also bring in another good guard, preferably the point guard position.
With the 14th pick Mops had this to say about his selection of Toni Kukoc, a 24 year old Italian basketball legend.
"We were really torn between drafting Kukoc or Corie Blount. With Blount we were thinking about his defense and his rebounding abilities and how they would mesh well with Vlade. The thought was we would draft Blount and then try both Blode and Blount at the PF and C spots and then move the one that best fits our team needs at PF. However, we were skeptical on how well either big man could move down one spot and still dominate at their best ability while guarding the quicker PFs in the league.
Instead we decided to stick with drafting a PF and we thought that Toni would be a great addition to this team. He brings experience in winning multiple titles from his European basketball background while also his on court ability to hit the deep three and stretch team's defenses thus opening up the lane for Vlade Divac and Clyde Drexler to work their magic.
We aren't too sure if we will start Kukoc right away as Danny Ferry has really turned himself into a respectable player. The PF spot will certainly be the hottest position battle during training camp as Ferry and Kukoc both could have good camps and become that starter. We will also explore bringing in one more big man along with resigning Dennis Scott who averaged 15 ppg last year at the PF spot. "
Nugget fans should expect to see Kukoc pay off big time for the team as he has already brought over a large contengent of fans from Italy and a trip back east is already in the works which would have the Nuggets play some exhibition games against some of the best Italian teams this summer.
With the 21st pick the Nuggets were waiting as Minnesota was on the clock with the 19 and 20th picks in the draft. The Nuggets had Lindsey Hunter on their radar but were hoping to see Corie Blount fall just two more spots and be free for the 21st pick and allow the Nuggets to explore other options at other positions instead of PF.
Instead Blount was selected with the 19th pick and the Nuggets were pleased to get Hunter as a back-up prize Mops went on to say.
"We are certainly pleased to be getting a guy of the caliber that we feel Hunter is with the 21st pick. Hunter had a great workout for us during the draft workout sessions and we felt he was flying majorly under the radar and to get him with the 21st pick is just like Christmas in July.
Hunter is going to bring that lock down defender style of play to our back court and can also hit the outside jumper pretty well. Certainly he will need to work on his handling and point guard skills but we feel like his ceiling of potential hasn't even gotten close to maxing out and his best basketball is far ahead of where he is at now. Hunter will report right to Terrell Brandon's place and they will live together as Brandon is going to help Hunter ease into his rookie season, but dont be surprised to see Hunter push Brandon for extra minutes.
Hunter wont strictly play PG for us, he will also get minutes playing back up to Jimmy Jackson at SG here and there. Jimmy is on pace to break out and become a super star in this league but we dont want to put him on the court for so long come playoffs he's gassed and has nothing in the tank. So that is where Hunter will come in, we are hoping he can get 10-15 minutes a game at that SG spot alongside Brandon and Drexler on the wings and see what he can do. Hunter is the definition of a combo guard as he will get major bench minutes right away at both SG and PG. In fact, he is most likely more ready for major minutes than Toni Kukoc is right now, but we shall see how things change going into the Pre-season after training camp. "
Going into the Draft the Nuggets GM Mops made it clear the team needed to improve on it's depth at the Forward spot and to also bring in another good guard, preferably the point guard position.
With the 14th pick Mops had this to say about his selection of Toni Kukoc, a 24 year old Italian basketball legend.
"We were really torn between drafting Kukoc or Corie Blount. With Blount we were thinking about his defense and his rebounding abilities and how they would mesh well with Vlade. The thought was we would draft Blount and then try both Blode and Blount at the PF and C spots and then move the one that best fits our team needs at PF. However, we were skeptical on how well either big man could move down one spot and still dominate at their best ability while guarding the quicker PFs in the league.
Instead we decided to stick with drafting a PF and we thought that Toni would be a great addition to this team. He brings experience in winning multiple titles from his European basketball background while also his on court ability to hit the deep three and stretch team's defenses thus opening up the lane for Vlade Divac and Clyde Drexler to work their magic.
We aren't too sure if we will start Kukoc right away as Danny Ferry has really turned himself into a respectable player. The PF spot will certainly be the hottest position battle during training camp as Ferry and Kukoc both could have good camps and become that starter. We will also explore bringing in one more big man along with resigning Dennis Scott who averaged 15 ppg last year at the PF spot. "
Nugget fans should expect to see Kukoc pay off big time for the team as he has already brought over a large contengent of fans from Italy and a trip back east is already in the works which would have the Nuggets play some exhibition games against some of the best Italian teams this summer.
With the 21st pick the Nuggets were waiting as Minnesota was on the clock with the 19 and 20th picks in the draft. The Nuggets had Lindsey Hunter on their radar but were hoping to see Corie Blount fall just two more spots and be free for the 21st pick and allow the Nuggets to explore other options at other positions instead of PF.
Instead Blount was selected with the 19th pick and the Nuggets were pleased to get Hunter as a back-up prize Mops went on to say.
"We are certainly pleased to be getting a guy of the caliber that we feel Hunter is with the 21st pick. Hunter had a great workout for us during the draft workout sessions and we felt he was flying majorly under the radar and to get him with the 21st pick is just like Christmas in July.
Hunter is going to bring that lock down defender style of play to our back court and can also hit the outside jumper pretty well. Certainly he will need to work on his handling and point guard skills but we feel like his ceiling of potential hasn't even gotten close to maxing out and his best basketball is far ahead of where he is at now. Hunter will report right to Terrell Brandon's place and they will live together as Brandon is going to help Hunter ease into his rookie season, but dont be surprised to see Hunter push Brandon for extra minutes.
Hunter wont strictly play PG for us, he will also get minutes playing back up to Jimmy Jackson at SG here and there. Jimmy is on pace to break out and become a super star in this league but we dont want to put him on the court for so long come playoffs he's gassed and has nothing in the tank. So that is where Hunter will come in, we are hoping he can get 10-15 minutes a game at that SG spot alongside Brandon and Drexler on the wings and see what he can do. Hunter is the definition of a combo guard as he will get major bench minutes right away at both SG and PG. In fact, he is most likely more ready for major minutes than Toni Kukoc is right now, but we shall see how things change going into the Pre-season after training camp. "
