[#1NuggzFan]

All of you guys making these mock drafts seem to be forgetting that Denver has Milwaukee's 2003 first round pick unprotected. Just thought you should know, since that could be a lottery pick.

 

[Quasi-Quasar]

no they don't

Denver gets a FUTURE 1st pick from Milwaukee from the Kevin Willis trade, however that pick doesn't have a time period it could be in 10 years if the Bucks want to give up that pick.

 

[#1NuggzFan]

Actually they do

They do have 2003 first round pick guaranteed. If I can find the lnik I'll show you and prove it to you. It's guaranteed to be 2003 unprotected.

 

[#1NuggzFan]

Link

Here's a section of the article, with the link to the whole thing.

http://rockymountainnews.com/drmn/sports_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_83_1279636,00.html

• According to Nuggets partisans - and it was good to hear from both of them - I should have mentioned that a first-round draft pick remains from the Kevin Willis-for-Scott Williams trade. So Keon Clark, whom the Nuggets traded for Willis the year before, has not yet devolved into nothing, as I alleged.

• In fact, I worked on a riff about the difference between Nuggets first-round draft picks - those lottery picks they like to trade away - and the late-round picks they tend to acquire when they get fond of the draft again, like the Utah first-rounder Dan Issel acquired to draft Mamadou N'diaye, principally so he could close his draft night news conference with the line, "No one blocks your shot like your Mamadou."

• It was a lot to pay for a laugh line.

• Anyway, as you can see, it wasn't much of a riff, so I left it out.

• The pick the Nuggets obtained with Williams was a Milwaukee first. Milwaukee was the defending Central Division champion at the time and had played in the Eastern Conference final. That's the pick Vandeweghe acquired.

• A year later, it's true, the Bucks fell apart. If it had been a 2002 pick, it would have been a nice one, which would have made the Nuggets lucky, which would have been uncharacteristic. But it's a 2003 pick, so we'll see whether it turns into anything.

• But, I admit, it's not nothing yet.