Ranking the top 5 Denver Nuggets draft picks of all-time

The NBA draft is less than ten days away and Denver Nuggets executives and scouts are hard at work evaluating which prospects can contribute to this young Nuggets team when the season kicks off this fall. Head coach Michael Malone and general manager Tim Connelly have three first round draft picks to play with on June 23, starting with the No.7 overall selection. While it’s highly unlikely that they’ll use all three picks, they’ll still be looking to add top-flight talent in this draft.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the talented amateur prospects the Nuggets have selected in the draft over their nearly five decade history.

Looking through the Nuggets’ draft history isn’t exactly a thrilling experience. There are certainly plenty of misses and a number of picks that simply never contributed at the NBA level. However, there are a few names that stick out in the annals of the franchise’s draft history.

To be considered for this list, a player had to actually be selected by the Nuggets, meaning players who were selected for the Nuggets by another organization as part of a trade do not qualify for this list. They also had remain a Nugget for at least a full season, and make significant contributions during their time in the NBA.

5) Jalen Rose, PG/SF, No. 13 Overall Pick in 1994

Today, most NBA fans know Jalen Rose as the relaxed, passionate face of the NBA on ESPN. However, Nuggets fans will probably always remember him as the talented young forward who never quite embraced the city of Denver.

Selected with the Nuggets’ first draft pick in the 1994 NBA draft, Rose would play two seasons in Denver before going on to play another nine seasons with the Pacers, Bulls, Raptors, Knicks, and Suns.

As a Nugget, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 1995, played a total of 161 games, averaged .467 from the field, averaged 9.1 points per game, and set a career high for average assists in a season with 6.2 in 1995-96.

In addition to his current role on NBA Countdown, Rose is also remembered for being one of the primary defenders on Kobe Bryant during Bryant’s 81-point game against the Raptors in 2006.

4) Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, PG, No. 3 Overall Pick in 1990

For the first several years of his career, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf was thought of as one of basketball’s fastest rising stars. During his six seasons with the Nuggets, Abdul-Rauf averaged 16.1 points per game, 4.1 assists per game, and a jaw-dropping free throw percentage of .916. That percentage is still the best in Nuggets franchise history.

However, his fortunes changed in 1996. Abdul-Rauf, a devoted Muslim, refused to stand during the singing of the national anthem. Abdul-Rauf claimed that the American flag was a symbol of oppression and that the United States had a “history of tyranny.” The protest caused him to be suspended by the NBA and would ultimately mark the beginning of the end of his NBA career.

Now, Adbul-Rauf is largely remembered for that incident and not the statistical success he accrued during his time with the Nuggets, where he is still listed in the top ten in virtually every major offensive statistic in the franchise’s history and was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 1993.

3) Kenneth Faried, F, No. 22 Overall Pick in 2011

It’s important to remember that this list is based on players who were actually selected by the Denver Nuggets. That list is far more limited than you might imagine and on such a limited list, Kenneth Faried stands out as a bonafide stud.

Since being drafted by the Nuggets five years ago, Faried has been an energizer bunny on the boards and a powerful, albiet inconsistent, force on the offensive end of the floor. In 331 games as a starter with the Nuggets, Faried has averaged more than 12 points per game and almost nine rebounds a night. He was a member of the NBA’s all-rookie team in 2012, and is an embedded piece of the USA basketball program.

Faried still has plenty left in the tank, and while he’s yet to fully live up to the potential he showed in his first two seasons in Denver, his continued growth could see him climb up this list in the future.

2) Dikembe Mutombo, C, No. 4 Overall Pick in 1991

You’re doing it, aren’t you? You’re totally wagging your finger right now. No one blames you.

During his five seasons with the Nuggets, Mutombo developed into one of the truly great shot blocking phenoms in NBA history. In Denver, Mutombo blocked an average of 3.8 shots per game and recorded a career high 4.5 blocks per game during the 1995-96 season. Additionally, Mutombo’s five years in Denver marked the best scoring stretch of his Hall of Fame career. As a Nugget, Mutombo averaged almost 13 points per game and averaged a career high 16.6 points during his rookie season in 1991-92.

Mutombo became Mutombo while he was a Nugget. He’s still listed among the top ten in franchise history in over 20 statistical categories and sits atop the list in rebounds and blocks.

Mutombo was a genuine force of nature that shut down opposing offensive threats and gave tremendous effort on the boards. It’s one thing to be 7-foot-2, and it’s another thing entirely to use that size properly. Mutumbo did just that. As a result, he’s the only player drafted by the Nuggets in their nearly 50 year history to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

1) Carmelo Anthony, SF, No. 3 Overall Pick in 2003

Lingering bitterness over how he left the Mile High City may make this a tough pill for Nuggets fans to swallow, but the simple reality is that Carmelo Anthony is far and away the best player the organization has ever drafted. The numbers speak for themselves.

Just eight seasons with the Nuggets was enough for Melo to make his mark on the history of the franchise. In Denver, Anthony averaged nearly 25 points per game and he finished his time with the Nuggets ranked in the top-10 in franchise history in virtually every offensive category excluding assists and field goal percentage.

When he was a Nugget, he was the Nuggets. Anthony’s usage rate of more than 31 percent is the most in franchise history. He was a three-time All-Star with the Nuggets, made the All-NBA second and third team rosters a combined four times, and led the organization to the first conference finals appearance in their history.