Although he’s not obscure, once the No. 2 pick of the L.A. Clippers in 1995, Antonio McDyess has always been one of my favorite Denver Nuggets. I’ll always argue that he would have been a sure-fire Hall of Famer and the best Nuggets power forward of All-Time had injuries not decimated his career. In only his second NBA season he averaged 18.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks (JaVale McGee averaged 2.2 blocks last season) in 34 minutes a night.

In college he guided mediocre Alabama teams to the second-round of the NCAA tournament in 1994 and 1995. His 1993-94 team went 20-10 and improved on that to go 23-10 in 1994-95. The Crimson Tide, led by McDyess, took out Providence in the 1994 NCAA tournament and Pennsylvania in the 1995 March Madness. An incredible athlete who was robbed of a super-duper career and one who had three different stints with the Nuggets …

McDyess first joined the Nuggets in a crazy draft-day trade:

1995-96: Acquired the draft rights to Antonio McDyess along with Randy Woods from the L.A. Clippers in exchange for Rodney Rodgers and the draft rights to Brent Barry.

After just two seasons, the Nuggets would lose McDyess in a trade with the Phoenix Suns where they received five draft-picks for the talented forward, only one of those picks would become much of a player for the Nuggets … James Posey. But McDyess was only gone for a season as the Nuggets re-signed him in a very bizarre way with Dan Issel locking out (from McNichols) some of his Phoenix teammates from trying to talk McDyess into staying with the Suns. It’s said that McDyess regretted re-signing with Denver almost immediately … and injuries plagued him until he was dealt to the Knicks for oft-injured Marcus Camby and a youngster named Nene Hilario.

And McDyess would return for a third stint with the team when he came over in the famous 2009 trade that featured Allen Iverson and Chauncey Billups. While McDyess was never truly a Nugget the third time (he was bought out by the team), he was a part of that trade. Many in Nuggets Nation would argue that had McDyess let his hard feelings from a past ownership group and management team go – that the Nuggets might have advanced past the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals … ah, to dream!

The question I have for you, what Nuggets player that might be a little obscure do you remember?