Key takeaways from the Nuggets' first pre-draft workout

The Nuggets hosted six prospects — Daniel Amigo (Denver), Cody Martin (Nevada), William McDowell-White (Brose Bamberg), Isaiah Reese (Canisius), Admiral Schofield (Tennessee) and Reid Travis (Stanford) — Monday morning for their first pre-draft workout of the offseason. All six players are rated as second-round or undrafted prospects ahead of next month’s draft.

Most of Denver’s front office watched the workouts. President of basketball operations Tim Connelly, general manager Arturas Karnisovas, assistant general manager Calvin Booth and Nuggets coach Michael Malone were all in attendance. Assistant coach Ryan Bowen ran the six prospects through drills. Gary Harris, Tyler Lydon and Monte Morris were also at the facility Monday morning.

Media was only allowed to watch the final 10 minutes of the workout, but here’s what the buzz was straight from the Nuggets’ practice court.

Two prospects from Monday are worth keeping an eye on

Admiral Schofield is a physical 6-foot-5, 238-pound wing from the University of Tennessee who’s built like a linebacker. While most prospects are trying to put on muscle and build up their frames at this stage in the pre-draft process, Schofield is NBA-ready from a physicality standpoint right now.

Schofield, 21, averaged 13.9 points during his junior season for the Volunteers and shot an impressive 39.5 percent from three on 4.6 attempts per game last season. Schofield said he shot 1,000 threes a day between his sophomore and junior seasons as he transitioned from playing down low to on the wing. He also averaged 6.4 rebounds per game last year.

He was the most charismatic out of all the prospects when speaking with the media. Schofield was also candid in saying that right now he’s not considered a first-round pick and whether or not he can get that coveted first-round grade will likely determine if he stays in the draft. Schofield has not signed with an agent, so he could return to school next year.

Schofield was born in London where his father, who served in the Navy for 24 years, was stationed. He’s named after Admiral Insurance — a UK-based car insurance company (seriously). He said his father was in the car when a commercial for the company played and decided on the spot that’s what he was going to name his son. He has a brother named General. Yes, just like The General Insurance.

William McDowell-White is the other name to watch as the June 21 draft approaches. McDowell-White was born in Australia and played last season for German powerhouse Brose Bramburg after he couldn’t get academically eligible to play at Fresno State. The 20-year-old mostly logged minutes for the club’s second team and averaged 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game but said playing abroad helped him grow as both a player and person.

“Before I went there I was just a little kid who didn’t know what I was doing on the court,” McDowell-White said. “I went there and I learned so much just about the game and being a pro especially away from the court, how to take care of my body and stuff like that.”

McDowell-White garnered buzz in 2016 when he played in the Nike Hoops Summit — a prestigious showcase game that pits the top prospects outside of the United States against the top U.S.-born players. He’s a high-IQ point guard who sees the floor well and has good size at 6-foot-5. McDowell-White’s biggest weakness is his three-point shot. He hit just 27 percent of his three-pointers last season.

ESPN’s draft analyst Jonathan Givony gave McDowell-White a second-round grade and rates him as the 94th-best prospect in the draft. The Nuggets currently hold the 43rd and 58th selections in the second round.

Nevada’s Cody Martin had a very specific NBA comp for himself

A stock question at every pre-draft workout is “who do you pattern your game after?” Typically, prospects rattle off All-Stars and Most Valuable Player Candidates. Martin had a much different answer.

“The biggest thing for me is trying to resemble my game after Shaun Livingston in terms of offense and try to be like Andre Roberson on defense,” Martin said.

In college, Martin did a little bit of everything at Nevada. He averaged 14.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. He averaged 18.6 points across three games in the NCAA tournament in March, and along with his twin brother Caleb, helped Nevada make a run to the Sweet 16 where they eventually lost to Cinderella story Loyola-Chicago.

Martin was also coached by ex-NBAer Eric Musselman at Nevada. Musselman spent 10+ years on the NBA sidelines before returning to college in 2012. Martin said Musselman’s pro experience has helped him prepare for the next level.

“The biggest thing that helped me was the terminology, just talking,” Martin said. “He has a lot of NBA offensive sets. Just the way he thinks, the way he does things is very professional.”

Final thoughts

Short of breath – For many of these prospects, it’s difficult to get used to the altitude in Denver. “The altitude is crazy,” Schofield said. “It’s my first time out here so it really gave me a shock. I didn’t believe it but it’s serious.” But Stanford’s Reid Travis, who played at the University of Colorado countless times throughout his college career, wasn’t too affected. “It’s all about catching your second wind,” Travis said.

Local presence – The Nuggets like the bring local college players in for workouts early in the pre-draft process, and the University of Denver’s Daniel Amigo was in attendance Monday morning. Amigo is a strong, 6-foot-10 center with a steady post game who averaged 15.3 points and 6.7 rebounds last season. BSN Denver’s Christian Clark detailed Amigo’s rise under head coach Rodney Billups. Amigo isn’t an NBA prospect and doesn’t have any future workouts scheduled, but the Nuggets aren’t opposed to doing a small favor and giving an NBA evaluation to a local kid who’s worked hard on his game over the past few years.

King’s reign – I asked McDowell-White, Martin and Travis who their favorite players in the NBA are. Both McDowell-White and Martin said LeBron James without hesitation. Travis said he likes to watch guys who play a similar style to him like Paul Millsap and Marcus and Markieff Morris.