The 1998–99 Denver Nuggets season was the 23rd season for the Denver Nuggets in the National Basketball Association, and their 32nd season as a franchise. Due to a lockout, the regular season began on February 5, 1999, and was cut from 82 games to 50.

Season summary

Off-season After finishing with the league's worst record at 11–71 the previous season, the Nuggets received the third overall pick the 1998 NBA draft, and selected center Raef LaFrentz from the University of Kansas. During the off-season, the team re-signed former Nuggets forward Antonio McDyess after one season with the Phoenix Suns, acquired All-Star guard Nick Van Exel from the Los Angeles Lakers on draft day, acquired second-year guard Chauncey Billups from the Toronto Raptors, and acquired second-year forward Johnny Taylor, and rookie power forward, and first-round draft pick Keon Clark out of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from the Orlando Magic. The Nuggets also hired Mike D'Antoni as their new head coach.

Regular season Under D'Antoni and despite the return of McDyess, along with the addition of LaFrentz, Van Exel and Billups, the Nuggets continued to struggle losing eight of their first nine games of the regular season. After twelve games, LaFrentz suffered a knee injury and was out for the remainder of the season, averaging 13.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. Without their top draft pick, the Nuggets posted a seven-game losing streak in March, and lost their final seven games of the season, finishing in sixth place in the Midwest Division with a 14–36 record. The Nuggets had the worst team defensive rating in the NBA.

McDyess had a stellar season averaging 21.2 points, 10.7 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 2.3 blocks per game, and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, while Van Exel averaged 16.5 points and 7.4 assists per game, and contributed 72 three-point field goals, and Billups provided the team with 13.9 points, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game, and also led them with 85 three-point field goals. In addition, second-year forward Danny Fortson stepped into the team's starting lineup in LaFrentz's absence, averaging 11.0 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, while Eric Williams and Cory Alexander both contributed 7.3 points per game, and Bryant Stith provided with 7.0 points per game. Meanwhile, Taylor averaged 5.8 points per game, second-year guard Eric Washington contributed 5.4 points per game, and Clark provided with 3.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.

Fortson finished in fifth place in Most Improved Player voting, while McDyess finished tied in tenth place. The Nuggets finished 28th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 296,965 at the McNichols Sports Arena during the regular season, which was the second-lowest in the league;

Aftermath This was also the Nuggets' final season in which they played their home games at the McNichols Sports Arena, before moving to the Pepsi Center the following season. Meanwhile, Fortson, Williams and Washington were all traded to the Boston Celtics, whom Williams previously played for, and D'Antoni was fired as head coach after only one season.

Draft picks

Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team 1 3 Raef LaFrentz PF/C Kansas 1 23 Tyronn Lue PG Nebraska 2 54 Tremaine Fowlkes SF Fresno State 2 55 Ryan Bowen PF Iowa

Roster

Roster Notes Head coach Mike D'Antoni holds American and Italian dual citizenship; he played for the Italian national team although he was born in the United States. Rookie shooting guard Kelly McCarty holds American and Russian dual citizenship; he played for the Russian national team although he was born in the United States.

Regular season

Season standings

z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPGAntonio McDyess505038.7.471.111.68010.71.61.52.321.2Nick Van Exel505036.0.398.308.8112.37.40.80.116.5Chauncey Billups454133.1.386.362.9132.13.81.30.313.9Raef LaFrentz121232.3.457.387.7507.60.70.81.413.8Danny Fortson503828.3.495.000.72711.60.60.60.411.0Cory Alexander36421.6.373.286.8412.13.31.00.17.3Eric Williams38820.5.365.231.7992.11.00.70.27.3Bryant Stith463226.0.393.292.8592.31.80.60.37.0Johnny Taylor36920.1.414.382.7392.80.70.80.55.8Eric Washington38620.0.397.381.6882.30.80.70.55.4Tyson Wheeler103.01.0001.000.5000.02.00.00.04.0Keon Clark28014.6.450.000.5683.40.40.41.13.3Carl Herrera24011.0.429.000.5562.30.00.50.32.5Kelly McCarty202.0.6671.50.00.00.02.0Loren Meyer1405.0.250.200.5001.10.10.00.21.1Monty Williams106.0.000.5000.00.00.00.01.0

Player statistics citation:

Awards and records Antonio McDyess, All-NBA Third Team

Transactions

References

See also 1998-99 NBA season