Former Siena point guard Jalen Pickett was scheduled to board a flight for Denver on Sunday for his formal introduction to the NBA champions.
The highest draft pick of any Saints alumnus in history, Pickett will be a rookie with the Denver Nuggets, who beat the Miami Heat in five games this month for their first NBA title.
“I mean, you couldn’t ask for a better situation,” Pickett said Saturday from his home in Rochester. “These guys know how to win. They’re still hungry to get more championships and I can be a backup point guard there, hopefully, and just try and learn from the best.”
The Indiana Pacers selected Pickett, who played the past two seasons at Penn State, with the second pick of the second round (32nd overall) of Thursday’s NBA Draft. They traded his draft rights to Denver as part of a four-team deal.
Pickett watched the draft from at the Hyatt Regency Rochester with a crowd of supporters that included his mother, grandmother, former Siena head coach Jamion Christian and ex-Saints assistants Graham Bousley and Harley Fuller.
Pickett came to Siena in 2018 to play for Christian. He spent three seasons in Loudonville, the final two under head coach Carmen Maciariello after Christian left for George Washington.
When the draft selection was announced, Pickett reacted relatively calmly while the crowd erupted around him.
“I was trying to maintain, but I dd get emotional a bit,” Pickett said. “I couldn’t hide it.”
He said he thought he might get drafted even higher than 32nd.Â
“I had a workout with the Nuggets earlier (in Denver) and it went well,” Pickett said. “I had a couple of other workouts and, yeah, I actually played pretty good in them and I was good at the (NBA) combine (in Chicago). My agent was doing a great job talking to these teams.”
His agent is Dan Curtin, who represented Pickett when he tested the draft…
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