Article out of Denver on Battie, Billups, Draft.

[Chris Littlefield <chrisl@mjr.com>]

For all you folks out there debating whether we should have taken Battie
instead of Billups, this came out of the Denver Post:


By Woody Paige
                           Denver Post Sports Columnist

                           June 26 - The Denver Nuggets will sell thousands
of 				tickets this morning.

                           For the Boston Celtics game.

                           Boston got Chauncey Billups; Denver got the shaft.

                           As Allan Bristow approached the podium at Big
Mac Wednesday evening to reveal the name of the Nuggets' No. 1
                           draft pick, he wore the grimace of a man
climbing the stairs deliberately to his own public hanging.

                           "I wanted to say "Chauncey Billups', but the NBA
wouldn't let his name be said twice," Bristow said.

                           Gallows humor?

                           Instead, Bristow said: "Antonio Battie."

                           Get the rope.

                           The Nuggets' faithful-even-in-despair reacted -
with boos and hisses - as if Bristow had said: "Alferd Packer."
                           Bristow escaped without injury, but not without
insult. The Nuggets V.P.-G.M. was M.U.D. to the
                           underwhelmed gathering of about 4,000.

                           And the club's basketball brass spent the rest
of the night in the Big Mac bowels apologizing for and justifying the
                           fifth overall selection in the NBA draft.

                           "Point blank," coach Bill Hanzlik said,
"everybody wanted to see Chauncey Billups, but we did what was best for
                           the Nuggets."

                           Twins Antonios - Battie and McDyess.

                           Be still our hearts.

                           There hasn't been so little excitement in Denver
for a No. 5 choice since James Ray in 1980. He played sparingly
                           in 103 games over three seasons with the Nuggets
and averaged 3.2 points a game.

                           If the Nuggets hoped to prevent flourishing
apathy, they failed.

                           Truthfully, the Nuggets never were seriously
interested in Billups, the hometown hero, and were resigned to taking
                           Battie. Three nights ago, in casual
conversation, the only player Bristow and Hanzlik talked about was Battie, a
                           6-foot-10-or-11 center from Texas. "He can
play," Bristow said. Let's hope so. At least, the Nuggets have seen
                           Battie, and he's not under contract in another
country.

                           Bristow did spend the past two days trying to
make a deal with Chicago (if the Bulls had been able to finalize a
                           Scottie Pippen trade with Boston for the third
pick) and Philadelphia (No. 2), but, in the end, the 76ers and goofy
                           Larry Brown preferred the garbage New Jersey
offered over the trash the Nuggets wanted to dump. "We made it as
                           sweet as we could,"

                           Bristow sighed. "But they didn't come back to
us." The Nuggets were seeking Keith Van Horn, not Billups. And
                           they are satisfied (stuck?) with Battie. The
only thing he and Billups have in common is that they were in
                           alphabetical alignment in the draft guide.

                           Battie is no Mutombo.

                           Like Interstate 25, Battie is another work in
progress, a project or a suspect.

                           Battie, the NBA scouting director said, "could
start for most of the teams in the lottery." So could the late, great
                           Ervin Johnson.

                           Battie may be a good NBA player someday; Billups
will be a great pro basketball player for many years. So,
                           despite the Nuggets' happy face-spin, they
should have closed a deal to keep Billups in Colorado.

                           The Nuggets may not have wound up with quality
in the first round, but they did go for quantity.

                           They acquired the rights to Minnesota point
guard Bobby Jackson and the renowned forward from Cincinnati,
                           Danny Fortson, with a couple of trades later in
the first round, giving up their two secondround spots and the
                           aforementioned Johnson, relieving themselves of
a seven-year contract and an indifferent center.

                           Too bad they didn't also obtain Providence guard
God Shammgod. "God help the Nuggets." The announcements
                           about Jackson and Fortson (Twin Sons?) drew a
smattering of cheers from those really-truly-faithful who were left
                           in the arena.

                           The rest already had gone home disappointed or
were out at the box office purchasing tickets for the Nuggets'
                           game with the Celtics.