The Nuggets held the 13th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft and selected Donovan Mitchell before trading him to Utah for Trey Lyles and the 24th selection. OG Anunoby fell to the 23rd pick, where Toronto took him after the Nuggets passed despite interest from the front office led by Tim Connelly. Anunoby has since become a cornerstone two-way wing, and his performance in the 2026 NBA Finals against the Spurs has amplified the long-term cost of that choice.

Anunoby signed a five-year, $212.5 million contract with the Knicks in 2024 that carries a $42.5 million average annual value and includes a player option for 2028-29. In the first four Finals games he averaged 23.8 points while shooting 58 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from three on 6.8 attempts per game, logging 36.8 minutes per night. Those numbers reflect a player who has added consistent scoring punch to elite defense without sacrificing availability.

Pairing Anunoby's length and switchability with Nikola Jokic would have given Denver a versatile forward who can guard multiple positions and space the floor at the same time. Mitchell developed into an All-Star scorer, yet the Nuggets traded him away immediately, leaving a gap at wing that persisted through multiple roster cycles. Anunoby's ability to defend stars on the perimeter while hitting corner threes at volume would have complemented Jokic's passing without requiring the same creation burden Mitchell carried early in his career.

Connelly's preference for trading back at 13 fit a pattern of prioritizing immediate assets over high-upside wings recovering from injury. That decision shaped the Nuggets' trajectory through the late 2010s. Rival teams like the Raptors and later the Knicks built around similar defensive archetypes, while Denver leaned on internal development and later acquisitions that never fully replicated Anunoby's profile. The front office's willingness to move Mitchell for Lyles and a lower pick underscored a short-term focus that left the roster thin on proven perimeter defenders.

Denver enters the 2026 offseason with decisions on extensions and trade exceptions that could address wing depth, but no single move erases the decade-long ripple from that draft night. Free agency and the 2026 draft offer avenues to add size and shooting, yet the market for established two-way wings remains expensive and limited.

The gap between what Anunoby became and what the Nuggets settled for at 13 continues to frame roster construction in Denver, where every contending window now carries the memory of a 3-and-D piece that slipped through their grasp.