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Unexpected

July 24, 2020

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.”

~Henry David Thoreau

Tell me which NBA star had this pre-draft camp report…

somewhat disappointing, although solid at times
athleticism does not look as good as in college
body carries too much weight for his size
will have to work on becoming quicker and more explosive around the hoop
lacks touch around the rim
footwork is slow but solid, which does no good when you are unable to finish inside
shooting stroke needs a lot of work
during one game, went 1 of 8 from the free throw line
doesn’t have the face-the-basket game that he needs
lacks height
burned on defense a few times when players took him away from the basket
lacks lateral quickness
will need to improve his defense to become a regular rotation player

Well… He plays around the rim, or why would he need a face-the-basket game, right? He’s heavy for his size, so you’re probably looking at a four or five. But if he is lacking height, and needs a mid-range game, I’m going to guess maybe he’s a four. Oh wait, I already know the answer here, but am poorly leading you to it as well.

That’s actually one of the last pieces of pre-draft reporting on this guy…

…

It’s true. Paul Millsap was the surprising recipient of that less-than-flattering review. A kid out of Louisiana Tech who fell to the 47th pick in 2006. Millsap must have taken his pick position personally, because the reporting coming out of that year’s Summer League sounded like a different guy…

arguably the most impressive player at any of the Summer Leagues
skillset is going to translate over to the NBA better than anyone
on another level
can score with his back to the basket or facing it
a man amongst boys

It goes on. You get the picture. His Summer League emergence – 17.2 ppg in 25 minutes with a 61% FG average – had been a bit unexpected. Through a career of All-Star appearances and amazing achievements, things have stayed the same. Unexpectedly, Millsap became one of the best values out of that draft, with the longevity to match. Of the 46 guys drafted ahead of him, only six are still in the league, and only one of them – LaMarcus Aldrige, chosen in the second slot – has played more games. Paul Millsap turned out to be very much not what the pundits expected.

When Bol Bol put the Nuggets back in the news for a hot second the other night with his first-scrimmage emergence, the general mood from the national media seemed to be a very, “who would have ever expected this?” sort of a vibe. Bol’s teammates had seen the emergence of his play in the shorthanded practices he’d been participating in, and word was leaking to Nuggets Nation that the kid was coming in hot. As with any newcomer, Bol has a tough road ahead of him to fulfilling the potential he shows, but his gifts and advantages make him a nightmare for Nuggets opponents down the road. All of this for a kid who had gone from being projected a top-five pick to a tough night in the invite-only green room, falling to 44 in front of a massive worldwide audience. By the time Bol was off the board, it was clear that to most teams, not much might be expected from him at all.

The well-covered draft of Nuggets cornerstone Nikola Jokic is such a part of team lore now as to be old news. The best way for that story to someday end is for the former 41st pick to someday have his own Quesarito commercial with Taco Bell, in which he simply takes a bite and proclaims, “Mmmm, Cheesy…”

But such ignominious beginnings had so little to do with the arc and trajectory that the Denver superstar now has the team set upon. While there were high hopes that Jokic was a diamond in the rough, even the people closest to the team spent that next offseason astounded that the Joker had been so much more than any of them had ever expected.

The roster is filled with stories of such lowered expectation. Even first-round sweethearts like Jamal Murray and Michael Porter, Jr. came to the team as “steals” for their draft position, as something along the way lowered teams belief in what they could become at their peak. They looked like a bit too risky a bet to make that leap. Top to bottom, these Nuggets are filled with guys who fell down the ladder of expectation because someone just a little brighter and shinier was in front of them. Each of them could play with a bit of a chip on their shoulder as they have outpaced those original expectations and limitations by miles.

So as you watch this converted rocket ship light the fuse on the last booster of the world’s longest NBA season… don’t be too wildly surprised to see this group of unexpected guys that make up the unexpected Nuggets do something unexpected and pull off 16 wins in these playoffs.