The reason for this discouraging turn of events? It's depressing.

"It's the economy," Nuggets vice president of player personnel Rex Chapman said Thursday. "This economy is no joke."

Know what is the real joke? In these tough economic times, the rich stealing from the poor has become standard operating procedure in the NBA.

Trades of zero Basketball merit are now routinely made in your league, commissioner David Stern. And that's not funny.

Or did you forget that the Los Angeles Lakers would not be the reigning champions if they were not handed Pau Gasol for less than nothing? "That was incredible thievery. It takes a thief," Nuggets coach George Karl said.

What did it cost Cleveland to acquire Hall of Fame center

Shaquille O'Neal? Two buckets of sludge from Lake Erie.

In an act of Vinsanity, New Jersey presented a deal that must have been wrapped with a bow when the Nets shipped Vince Carter to Orlando.

But maybe the worst news of all, as far as the Nuggets are concerned, was the text message that Nuggets vice president of team development Josh Kroenke recently received from friend and reliable 20-point scorer Richard Jefferson with notification he was headed in an absurdly lopsided trade to San Antonio.

Kroenke turned to fellow Nuggets executives and plaintively asked: Where do we find a gift like that?

Curses, curses, curses.

"I don't really give a (hoot) about Cleveland and Orlando. I'm kind of (ticked off) at San Antonio. San Antonio, with Jefferson, has bounced back into the top echelon," Karl said. His team won 54 games and advanced to the Western Conference finals for first time in 24 years.

So citizens who have gone hoops-over-heels, crazy in love for the Nuggets will be looking for bigger and better things from the home team in the upcoming season.

Not so fast.

Unless you are evaluating talent through the eyes of Rocky the mascot, here is how the top five teams in the league must be ranked:

1)....Lakers

2)....Spurs

3)....Cavaliers

4)....Celtics

5)....Magic

The Nuggets could play better Basketball and still not be good enough to have home-court advantage for a single round of the playoffs when next April rolls around.

Now, we interrupt this bummer message of sobering truth for a genuine reason for Nuggets faithful to smile.

If you're asking me, Denver landed one of the five best players in a weak draft by swapping a future first-round pick to obtain Lawson, who pushed North Carolina to the national title.

Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin will be a load in the NBA. As a guard, Tyreke Evans is a bulldozer with a Ferrari engine. When Ricky Rubio grows up, he won't make anybody forget Pete Maravich, but could eventually do a reasonable imitation of Steve Nash. Stephen Curry can shoot out the lights.

But Lawson wasn't lying when boasting he should have been selected in the top 10.

"He's a one-man fast break," Nuggets vice president of Basketball operations Mark Warkentien said.

Chauncey Billups was present in the team's war room during the draft. When the Nuggets beat the clock and persuaded Minnesota to swap Lawson, it presented a real opportunity for Karl to cut the 2,788 minutes Billups logged during his most recent regular season by 10 percent.

"He was fired up," said Chapman, describing Billups' reaction to having a young point guard to mentor.

With Billups running the show, the Nuggets probably have two years to make a run at a championship.

Winning it all is hard work, unless somebody hands you a gift.

Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com