Emmanuel Mudiay to Nuggets: Twitter Reacts as PG Is Selected in 2015 NBA Draft
Ty Lawson's future in Denver may be up in the air after the Nuggets drafted Emmanuel Mudiay seventh overall in the 2015 NBA draft.
The franchise welcomed Mudiay into the fold on Twitter:
Both basketball insider Nate Duncan and CBS Sports Network's Jon Rothstein believe the Nuggets got great value:
With Denver in a complete rebuild, veterans like Lawson and Kenneth Faried could easily be on the move this summer. Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix reported Tuesday that George Karl views Lawson as a potential trade target for the Sacramento Kings.
Benjamin Hochman of the Denver Post reported the Nuggets aren't going to trade Mudiay, which casts further doubt on Lawson's time in Denver.
All of this doesn't necessarily mean Lawson has one foot out the door, but the team has more options than it did before the draft.
One of the best things about Mudiay is he can contribute right away. He's physically strong enough to handle the rigors of the pro game, and his ability to get inside and score will help ease his transition as well.
NBC Sports' Raphielle Johnson doesn't think Denver should waste any time handing him the reins:
While Mudiay was heavily hyped coming out of high school, his year in China clouded his draft stock somewhat. Injuries limited him to just 12 games, in which he averaged 18 points on 47.8 percent shooting and 5.9 assists. Somewhat worryingly, he also averaged 3.3 turnovers and made just 34.2 percent of his three-point attempts.
Former Texas A&M-Corpus Christi center Chris Daniels spent time with Mudiay on the Guangdong Southern Tigers and couldn't say enough about his game, per ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman:
"I'd never heard of him before. I looked at a couple clips and the adjustment he has made has been unbelievable coming from high school. He has the size and ability to go by his man at any time, but he's let the offense come to him. He's setting up everyone else. He's on a veteran team, and he's making sure everyone else is happy.
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Rob Dauster of NBC Sports wonders if Mudiay will become a bit of a cautionary tale regarding draft prospects going abroad:
NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo congratulated Mudiay on his selection:
Mudiay obviously comes with risk, but he's either the best or second-best point guard in the 2015 draft class, depending on who you ask.
When you look at the new breed of point guards like Russell Westbrook, Damian Lillard and Kyrie Irving, Mudiay could be cut from that mold given his freakish athleticism. Mannix threw out a different All-Star point guard as a potential comparison:
Analyzing a draft pick mere minutes after selection can be a fool's errand. It's impossible to say with 100 percent accuracy how a player's NBA career will unfold.
With that said, Denver did as much as it could in the first round to improve in the present and set itself up well in the future. The Nuggets should be able to build around Mudiay for years to come.
