The Nuggets took a gamble. Then again, they don't see it that way.

On draft night, the Nuggets traded a first-round pick that originally belonged to Charlotte for the rights to point guard Ty Lawson from North Carolina. Lawson had been selected with the No. 18 pick in the first round by Minnesota.

The reason the deal is a gamble is the pick the Nuggets dealt could end up being No. 1 in the 2014 draft if the Bobcats have little success in the next half decade. The pick has a series of protections that go down each year.

But the Nuggets had Lawson pegged as one of the top point guards in the draft. They believed he was too good to pass up.

"I'm very happy," said Nuggets coach George Karl, who took over in January 2005. ...More