It’s not fair to expect Jalen Pickett to sashay in and fill Bruce Brown’s shoes from the jump. But if the slipper fits, Cinderella …
“(He) makes other people around him better,” ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said of the Penn State guard the Nuggets picked up through a trade with the Pacers early in the 2023 NBA Draft’s second round on Thursday night.
The book on Pickett? Body like granite. Two chess moves ahead. Nerves of steel. Six-foot-2 with a 6-9 mindset. Ball-handler in the Marcus Smart mode who can step back or bang, depending on the situation.
Sure sounds like somebody we know. And grew to love.
Yet when the smoke cleared early Friday and grades for the Nuggets’ first draft haul as NBA champs came trickling in, most made the write-ups for the movie “About My Father” look … kind.
Consensus: Pickett was a reach. First-round sharpshooter Julian Strawther out of Gonzaga can’t defend. Neither can “stretch 4” candidate Hunter Tyson, a second-round find out of Clemson.
Mind you, these were the same yokels who said this after the Nuggets made pick No. 21 in last June’s draft:
• “(He’s) being overvalued as the No. 21 pick … He fits as a complementary piece to Jamal Murray and Bones Hyland and will add to Denver’s locker room culturally. That said, Blake Wesley and Wendell Moore Jr. were both on the board and I wonder if (he) could have been picked later in the round by six to seven picks.”
• “(The) upside here is a bit limited, particularly if his shooting doesn’t become more consistent. This isn’t what I would have done, but I get it.”
Interesting. The dude being “overvalued?” The one with “a bit limited” upside?
So, yeah. Two things. First, kindly shut your pie holes. Second, excuse me for giving Nuggs exec Calvin Booth, who cut his teeth as a college scout, the benefit of the doubt here. Every time.
On paper, at least, Booth and the Nuggets landed insurance for Michael Porter Jr./Zeke Nnaji (Strawther) and Reggie Jackson/Ish Smith (Pickett). And a little cover-your-backside protection in case another franchise offers Bruce Brown his own off-shore oil rig.
Mind you, none of this means Booth was necessarily tipping his hand regarding BB11’s future in Denver. The love story between the Front Range and Cowboy Bruce ain’t over ‘til the fat wallet sings. Backup point guard help was always on the shopping list.
So, too, was range and reach. Which explains how former Gonzaga star Strawther, who’s got more than a little Braun in him, joined the picture Thursday.
“(The Nuggets) are getting a guy who’s a winner,” Bilas told the ESPN audience after Strawther was tapped with pick No. 29. “Very good cutter … I think he’s just a really good all-around basketball player.”
When last we saw Strawther, blessed with a cat-quick release and zero fear, he was lighting up Ball Arena for 38 points, 19 rebounds, five treys and two blocks over two NCAA Tournament games at Ball Arena.
That works. The more toys for Nikola Jokic to play with on the perimeter, the better.
Welcome to the NBA summit, Julian. You, too, Hunter. Tyson’s a 6-8 catch-and-shoot type who scouts say is the perfect foil for a premier shot-creator to feed.
We know a few of those guys, too.
The Nuggets got deeper, longer and stronger in the span of about 30 minutes Thursday. More importantly, they added collegiate vets to a championship mix who can contribute as soon as conceivably possible.
No projects.
No prayers.
No pouters.
The Joker-Murray train is moving at warp speed now. Coach Michael Malone isn’t interested in baby-sitting while his franchise has a big ol’ target on its back.
Speaking of targets, three of the first five picks selected by teams in the Western Conference happened to be 6-foot-9 or taller. Five of the first 11 were long, scoring point guards or rangy wing guards who were at least 6-4.
Coincidence? Not on your life. The Nuggets were in a dozen war rooms Thursday evening without firing a single shot.
“My main focus is winning,” former Baylor guard Keyonte George, tapped by Utah with pick No. 16, told us a few months back during his NCAA Tournament stop at Chopper Circle.
“When you have that mindset, you don’t care about the points (or) care about yourself. (Baylor has) that culture.”
So do the Nuggets, as Pickett’s about to find out. The path to Titletown was built on poise, pertinacity and pride, kid. Not passengers.
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