Nugs land Ty Lawson

The Denver Nuggets were surprisingly busy during yesterday’s 2009 NBA Draft — potentially landing a draft day steal.

His name is Ty Lawson, and you may recognize him as the man who single-handedly carried the North Carolina Tar Heels to their recent NCAA Championship.

The Nuggets traded up into the first round in order to draft Lawson, acquiring the No. 18 pick from the Minnesota Timberwolves for a future first-round pick Denver acquired from Charlotte last season.

The 21-year-old, 6-foot-1, 200-pound point guard was the Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year his junior season.

The Nuggets made the Lawson deal because they lacked depth in the backcourt, specifically at point guard.

Chauncey Billups, 33, was brilliant for Denver last season, but he is also no spring chicken, and his minutes are expected to be down next season.

Moreover, the Nuggets’ backup point guard is Anthony Carter, who is an unrestricted free agent. 

Lawson seems to be a perfect fit for a Denver team that needed to become younger but also needed to add depth at guard.

Lawson, also being a later pick, will not cost Denver the type of money that a veteran would cost, and the move will allow the Nuggets to stay under the luxury tax — barring any other moves.

The Nuggets were rumored to be big fans of Lawson last year, and some analysts said Denver would have used their second round pick on him last year.

Instead, Lawson went back to North Carolina, where he scored 21 points to help the Tar Heels defeat Michigan State for the NCAA title in April.

Lawson is strong, he can run the court well and with great speed, and he comes from a winning program with a Hall-of-Fame coach in Roy Williams.

He doesn’t turn the ball over much — a pleasant surprise considering he ran the most potent fast break in college basketball. 

Gave up too much?

However, the deal is still a heavy gamble for the Nuggets. The future first round pick they traded for Lawson, which they owned from the Bobcats, is a potential top five draft pick next year.

In addition, last night Denver owned the 34th overall pick, which they used to select Spain’s Sergio Llull, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound guard. 

However, the Nuggets then sold the rights to Llull to the Houston Rockets.

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