The Denver Nuggets have been tied via rumor to several point guards this offseason, from Eric Bledsoe to George Hill. Now word comes that the Nuggets appear deep in discussions to a completely unheralded player (at least State-side) out of the Turkish Basketball Super League, Brad Wanamaker.
Wanamaker played for the former coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, David Blatt, on Darussafaka Dogus. The former Pitt guard was a second team Euroleague All-Star last season and at age 28 was already rumored to be trying to make the jump to the NBA with the Celtics or Nets. Like all current and future stars, though, he may find himself in the Western Conference instead.
Here is a good recent article on him titled, “the best American Point Guard you’ve never heard of.” Hopefully if he signs with Denver the first part of that statement is as true as the second. The article’s conclusion:
I believe Wanamaker is a clear-cut NBA player who will find success here if he comes over, so I don’t want to leave on that negative note. The last thing I will discuss on Wanamaker is that he is a good defender, and I expect that to transfer over to the NBA. It starts with what I’ve already mentioned: His size and speed. Wanamaker’s physical prowess means most guards won’t overpower him, with the exception of the guys who overpower everybody like John Wall and Westbrook.
Wanamaker will probably be a back-up, which means he’ll mainly go up against backup guards like Shaun Livingston, Patty Mills, Marcus Smart and others. He should be able to stick with these guys without much of an issue, making it very easy for Wanamaker to be a contributing role player in the NBA.
That is Wanamaker’s floor in the NBA, while his ceiling is becoming a bottom-end starter or top-end back-ups like Reggie Jackson or Jordan Clarkson.
If he does sign, Denver will have to move some point guards as well as power forwards this summer - they’re really racking up the need for consolidation deals at this point.
Had I ever seen actual footage of Wanamaker before looking for a video for him? No. Based on Denver’s track record overseas we can only assume he’ll be awesome however. All Denver international transactions are now rated on the Jokic Upside Scale, where players are only capable of being All-Stars. Take a look.