The

1999–2000 NBA season The 1999–2000 NBA season was the 54th season of the National Basketball Association. The season began on November 2, 1999, and ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA championship, beating the Indiana Pacers 4 games to 2 in the 2000 ...

was the 24th season for the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, and their 33rd season as a franchise. It was also their first season playing at the

Pepsi Center Ball Arena (formerly known as the Pepsi Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Denver, Colorado, United States. It is situated at Speer Boulevard, a main thoroughfare in downtown Denver, and is served by two nearby exits off Int ...

. The Nuggets had the 18th overall pick in the

1999 NBA draft The 1999–2000 NBA season, 1999 NBA draft was held on June 30, 1999, at the MCI Center (now Capital One Arena) in Washington, D.C. It was the first draft in which four players from the same college were picked in the first round, with Elton Bran ...

, and selected small forward

James Posey James Mikely Mantell Posey Jr. (born January 13, 1977) is an American professional basketball assistant coach for the Phoenix Suns and former player. He played the small forward position for the Denver Nuggets, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Miami He ...

out of

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

. During the off-season, the team acquired

Ron Mercer Ronald Eugene Mercer (born May 18, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. After his career at the University of Kentucky, Mercer played for several teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA); he ended his career with ...

and

Popeye Jones Ronald Jerome "Popeye" Jones (born June 17, 1970) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who most recently served as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). College career B ...

from the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

, and signed free agent George McCloud. With

Dan Issel Daniel Paul Issel (born October 25, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He played college basketball for the Kentucky Wildcats, earning All-American twice en route to a school-record 25.7 points per game for his ...

back as head coach, the Nuggets played .500 basketball with a 17–15 record to start the regular season, but soon struggled and slipped below .500, holding a 21–27 record at the All-Star break. At mid-season, Mercer was dealt along with

Chauncey Billups Chauncey Ray Billups (born September 25, 1976) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing college basketball with ...

, who only played just 13 games due to a sprained ankle and a shoulder injury, and Johnny Taylor to the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

in exchange for

Tariq Abdul-Wahad Tariq Abdul-Wahad (born Olivier Michael Saint-Jean; November 3, 1974) is a French basketball coach and former player. As Olivier Saint-Jean, he played college basketball for the Michigan Wolverines and San Jose State Spartans. In 1997, the Sacra ...

, and

Chris Gatling Chris Raymond Gatling (born September 3, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player. Gatling played for many National Basketball Association (NBA) teams from 1991 to 2002. He played for the US national team in the 1990 FIBA Wor ...

; however, Billups never played for the Magic, because of his shoulder injury. The Nuggets went on a 7-game losing streak in March, as Bryant Stith only played just 45 games due to a leg injury. The team managed to win their final four games of the season, and finished in fifth place in the Midwest Division with a 35–47 record, missing the

NBA playoffs The NBA playoffs is the annual Playoffs, postseason Tournament#Knockout tournaments, tournament of the National Basketball Association (NBA) held to determine the league champion. Since 1949, the four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held afte ...

for the fifth consecutive year. Antonio McDyess averaged 19.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, while

Nick Van Exel Nickey Maxwell Van Exel (born November 27, 1971) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who last served as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Van Exel played for six NBA ...

averaged 16.1 points and 9.0 assists per game, and led the Nuggets with 133 three-point field goals, and second-year star

Raef LaFrentz Raef Andrew LaFrentz (born May 29, 1976) is an American former professional basketball Power forward (basketball), power forward and Center (basketball), center who played for the Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, and Portland Tra ...

provided the team with 12.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. In addition, McCloud contributed 10.1 points per game and 107 three-point field goals off the bench, while second-year center Keon Clark averaged 8.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, and Posey provided with 8.2 points per game, and was named to the

NBA All-Rookie Second Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

. Following the season, Stith and second-round draft pick Chris Herren were both traded to the

, while Gatling was traded back to his former team, the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

, who then sent him to the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

in a three-team trade, Jones was dealt to the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

, and Cory Alexander signed as a free agent with the

Draft picks

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

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

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Player statistics

Regular season

Player Statistics Citation:

Awards and records

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for play ...

2nd Team

Transactions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1999-2000 Denver Nuggets Season Denver Nuggets seasons

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

1999 in sports in Colorado 2000 in sports in Colorado