Nuggets stay idle in NBA draft with no picks; Tamar Bates agrees to 2-way contract

Denver was the sleepiest town in the NBA on draft night Both of them The only unit without a pick in either round the Nuggets stayed idle in a NBA draft that felt twice as uneventful thanks to the in recent weeks implemented two-day format Limited in future guidance and under new front office leadership Denver decided it wasn t worth it to business into the draft With a dry laugh in recent weeks promoted association executive Ben Tenzer admitted afterward that his th draft with the organization wasn t his preponderance fun In fact the pact territory was surprisingly dormant league-wide after widespread anticipation that a hectic two nights were in store It doesn t really make a lot of sense for us to kind of jump in and get draft fever front office newcomer Jon Wallace declared We were able to kind of sit back and assess what the landscape is and we ll try to make a few more decisions from here Still the Nuggets did consider transactions in both rounds We had our targets We looked hard at those targets Tenzer noted Had to evaluate where they would get to could we get there It s tricky But I would say we were moderately close to trading for a pick in a couple of different scenarios Denver s first-round pick belonged to the Orlando Magic representing the final piece of the blockbuster exchange for starting power forward Aaron Gordon Orlando s final return consisted of Gary Harris RJ Hampton and Jase Richardson who was selected th on Wednesday The Nuggets second-round pick was traded to Charlotte last summer in a move designed to shed the salary of former point guard Reggie Jackson If Denver had demanded to transaction into the draft using future assets Wednesday or Thursday its only trade-eligible pick would have been a first-rounder Thursday night did end with a transaction though Missouri guard Tamar Bates agreed to a two-way contract a league source described The Denver Post Bates played two college seasons at Indiana and two at Missouri averaging points last season on shooting from the field and outside the arc Teams can sign three two-way players Denver s last season were PJ Hall Spencer Jones and G League Rookie of the Year Trey Alexander There s a good chance certain of the guys from last year are back Tenzer commented We re still trying to work through the players that weren t drafted and kind of where they re at with our situation from a two-way standpoint We ll look at everything and I think there s a good chance we ll have various from last year back The draft which will be remembered the majority for Cooper Flagg going to Dallas first overall took place two days after the Nuggets disclosed their restructured front office Tenzer took over as executive vice president of basketball operations after a two-month stint as interim general manager and Wallace was hired from Minnesota as executive vice president of competitor personnel Related Articles Josh Kroenke explains Nuggets new front office structure with Ben Tenzer Jon Wallace Keeler CSU Rams star Nique Clifford s road to NBA Draft Derrick White helped light his path Josh Kroenke makes alarming comment about trading Nikola Jokic but also says Nuggets will offer him extension Nuggets NBA draft preview Why Denver is allegedly in for a boring draft Nuggets championship odds What sportsbooks think of Denver s chances after Thunder s NBA Finals win We were excited to do this together for the first time and with a great group Tenzer mentioned We feel like the process was really good This marks the first time since that Denver has not made a pick That was the year that Tim Connelly stepped in as the band s head of basketball operations in the last week before the draft similarly to the current duo Denver proceeded to contract the th pick to Utah which selected Rudy Gobert But even without a pick this year the Nuggets will be adding first-round talent for the - season They traded up to No last year to select Dayton big man DaRon Holmes II who tore his right Achilles tendon in his Summer League debut the next month After losing his rookie season to rehab Holmes recounted The Post this week that he s planning to play for the first time back at Summer League in Las Vegas