Nuggets Draft: Who Will Be Lucky #20?

With the 2008 NBA Draft steadily approaching (June 26), The Denver Nuggets will be drafting only one player from college that will hopefully affect their future in a positive way.

The question is, who will that be?

From most significant to least significant, Denver's needs seem to be like this:

Point Guard

Shooting Guard

Center

So in that order, I have compromised these three candidates based on maturity, possible team chemistry, skill, athlectism, NBA potential, player positions, versatility, and overall talent.

Here are the Top 3 draftees for the Denver Nuggets:

1. Tywon Lawson, PG (UNC, 5-11, 195lbs)

12.7 PPG, 5.2 APG, and 1.6 SPG

Ty has outstanding speed, agility, and open court vision to bring to the Nuggets. You also have to admire how fearless Lawson is in the open court; willing to drive to the basket no matter what the consequence.  However his height may overshadow his talent.

2. Chris Douglas-Roberts, SG (Memphis, 6-7, 215lbs)

18.1 PPG, 1.8 APG, and 1.2 SPG 

Chris Douglas-Roberts attributes are his athlectism, amazing length, good speed and great potential. CDR has the perfect tools to become a good scorer in the league. Luckily, for Douglas-Roberts, John Calipari's uptempo game prepped him for the NBA where stamina will be needed at the next level.

Even though CDR is great offensively, his defense needs work. Douglas-Roberts lacks the usual physique of a player going to the pro's and will need to put on about 15-20 lbs before his body will be able to take the long NBA season.

3. Roy Hibbert, C (Georgetown, 7-2, 280 lbs)

13.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG, and 2.2 BPG

Roy seperates himself from the group in this one category: size. At 7'2 and 270 lbs, Hibbert has the frame of an NBA center but not yet the mindset. Roy has a mixture of moves, ranging from his right handed hook shots, 10-14 foot jumpshots and he attacks the basket on occasion.

He can clog up the hole extremely well but seemed intimidated by stronger and faster players during his time at Georgetown.

The fact that Roy never averaged more than 27 minutes per game and how he tends to look sluggish at times makes you wonder about Hibbert's conditioning and whether or not he will ever become mentally or physically ready at the next level.

My choice would obviously be Chris Douglas-Roberts, while Ty Lawson seems to be the educated bet.

Although I featured Roy Hibbert and am a fan of his game, the Nuggets will go out and hunt for a center through free agency or trade simply because there are a couple of good big men out on their market with more experience.

If Denver were serious about drafting Hibbert, they would have to hope Roy falls into the 2nd round and most likely send J.R. Smith or Nene to a ballclub for the rights to him. But then again, who would trade a player with the caliber of Roy for Nene?

The end result, the Nuggets are basing their future on the 20th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.