Nuggets trade up instead of out, land Lawson
The Denver Nuggets spent the last three NBA drafts twiddling their thumbs and dreaming of the day when Draft Day would mean something more than trading their way out of contention for fresh talent. That day has come, and the glittering prize is point guard Tyler Lawson from the University of North Carolina, fresh off a run to the NCAA title.
The Minnesota Timberwolves drafted Lawson with the 18th pick of the first round Thursday night, making him their third pick in the first round. Fortunately for the Nuggets, Tyler was also the third point guard drafted by the Timberwolves, making him immediate trade bait. After taking super-hyped guards Ricky Rubio (Spain) and Jonny Flynn (Syracuse) with their first two picks, the Wolves did the Nuggets an enormous favor by taking the best remaining point guard off the board. The Nuggets did themselves a favor by immediately grabbing Lawson, who is now the heir-apparent to Chauncey Billups in Denver.
In trading a future first round pick (likely a conditional first rounder garnered by the Nuggets in a previous trade with Charlotte) the Nuggets landed their only first-round talent since 2005. Denver was expected to see a fourth consecutive year of first-round irrelevance before trading for Lawson. In fact, the Nuggets have only made one draft pick in the last three drafts, taking Leon Powe in the second round in 2006. Although, Denver also acquired the freshly drafted Sonny Weems from the Bulls in 2008 for a future second round pick.
With the 4th pick in the second round of Thursday night’s draft, the Nuggets drafted another point guard in Spain’s Sergio Llull. The athletic Llull will likely continue to play for Spain’s Real Madrid for two or three seasons until the 21-year-old is mature enough for NBA-level competition.
