As part of the previously mentioned blogger mock draft hosted by Ridiculous Upside my selection for the Nuggets 20th pick is up. You will have to head over there to see the who the lucky player is, but I will say if you told me a week ago that this was the player I was going to draft, I probably would have just shook my head and chuckled thinking you to be a knucklehead.

In other draft related news I just saw a rumor reported by Chad Ford on ESPN.com that he referred to as the “hottest rumor of the day” involving a trade between the Nuggets and Grizzlies.

The deal would be Linas Kleiza and the 20th pick to the Grizzlies in exchange for Kyle Lowry and the Grizzlies 28th pick. If you ask me Kleiza is a more established NBA player and has more value than Lowry, so why would Denver take both the lesser player and the lesser pick? To me that sounds like a pretty poor deal though not a disastrous one.

Draft Express is reporting the same rumor although they do not mention Kleiza. Memphis would have to get something other than the 20th pick for Lowry and pick 28. While Lowry is no superstar, he is definitely worth more than moving up eight spots in the tertiary portion of the first round.

Lowry is a decent point guard, but he is not a good shooter (under 26% from downtown). His strength is that he is powerfully built and does a good job of getting in the lane and finishing. I know the Nuggets have been rumored to be interested in him in the past, but I just do not think that would be a good deal.

Even though I already made my draft pick if I can continue pretending I was the Nuggets GM, I would ask for Javaris Crittenton instead of Lowry. Obviously Crittenton is less established than Lowry, but he is much more talented. He can play at a fast pace, and has great size for a point guard. A backcourt of the future with Crittenton and J.R. Smith would be mouth watering.