Nuggets Trade Up in NBA Draft, Getting No. 3 Pick From Miami

The Miami Heat today traded its No. 3 choice in Wednesday’s NBA draft to Denver in exchange for the Nuggets’ No. 9 and 15 selections.

Denver had obtained the No. 9 pick Thursday night from Dallas in exchange for guard Fat Lever. The Denver-Miami deal is contingent on Lever passing a physical by Tuesday night.

Heat Managing Partner Lewis Schaffel said the deal will help the two-year expansion team improve its depth.

“There’s a lot of good players in this draft,” Schaffel said. “We didn’t feel the difference was much at all between who we will get at No. 9 and who’ll be available at No. 3. This draft is unusual in that respect.”

“This is an exciting deal for us,” Nuggets Coach Doug Moe said of today’s swap. “Sure, we’ll miss Fat. He is a tremendous player. But we need to be aggressive in improving our team for the long run. With the No. 3 pick, we should get a player who can really help us.”