The

1999–2000 NBA season The 1999–2000 NBA season was the 54th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA championship, beating the Indiana Pacers 4 games to 2 in the 2000 NBA Finals. This would also be C ...

was the Nuggets' 24th season in the

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

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

Pepsi Center Ball Arena (formerly known as Pepsi Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Denver, Colorado. It is situated at Speer Boulevard, a main thoroughfare in downtown Denver, and is served by two nearby exits off Interstate 25. A light r ...

. The Nuggets had the 18th overall pick in the 1999 NBA draft, and selected

James Posey James Mikely Mantell Posey Jr. (born January 13, 1977) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played the small forward pos ...

out of

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 studen ...

. 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 serves as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). College career Born in Dresde ...

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 league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

, and signed free agent

George McCloud George Aaron McCloud (born May 27, 1967) is an American former professional basketball player who played eleven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Early life McCloud attended Mainland High School in Daytona Beach and Florida ...

. With

Dan Issel Daniel Paul Issel (born October 25, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, Issel was twice named an All-American en route to a school-record 25.7 points per ...

back as head coach, the Nuggets had a solid nucleus of second-year star

Raef LaFrentz Raef Andrew LaFrentz (born May 29, 1976) is an American former professional basketball power forward and center who played for the Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Boston Celtics, and Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Associati ...

, Antonio McDyess and

Nick Van Exel Nickey Maxwell Van Exel (born November 27, 1971) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Van Exel played for six NBA teams from 1 ...

with a 17–15 record to start the season. However, the Nuggets would struggle and slip below .500, holding a 21–27 record at the All-Star break. At the trade deadline, 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 for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 17 seasons in the NBA. Afte ...

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

Johnny Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar may refer to: Academics *John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487 * John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar *John Taylor (English publisher) (17 ...

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 league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

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 at Michigan and San Jose State. In 1997, the Sacramento Kings selected Sain ...

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 Worl ...

. 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 Bryant Lamonica Stith (born December 10, 1970) is an American former professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently a men's assistant basketball coach at University of North Carolina Green ...

only played just 45 games due to a leg injury. The team managed to win their final four games, and finished fifth in the Midwest Division with a 35–47 record. McDyess averaged 19.1 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, while Van Exel averaged 16.1 points and 9.0 assists per game, and LaFrentz 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 off the bench, while second-year center

Keon Clark Arian Keon Clark (born April 16, 1975) is an American former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Playing career After a collegiate career at two different junior colleges and UNLV, Clark was selected 13th overall by th ...

averaged 8.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, and Posey provided with 8.2 points per game, and was selected to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. Following the season, Stith and rookie guard

Chris Herren Christopher Albert Herren (born September 27, 1975) is an American former professional basketball player and motivational speaker. He played in the NBA and several leagues overseas. Youth and high school Herren attended B.M.C. Durfee High S ...

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 league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

, 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 league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

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 league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast D ...

, and

Cory Alexander Cory Lynn Alexander (born June 22, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player who is now an announcer for college basketball and the NBA on ESPN Radio since 2022. After a career at the University of Virginia (having graduated with ...

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 playe ...

2nd Team

Transactions

References

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

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

1999 in sports in Colorado 2000 in sports in Colorado