Hooch: Being the top dog of the Nuggets is kind of like being the coolest guy in the dorky fraternity on campus. The Nuggets are stuck in the middle of the Western Conference, in part because they don’t have an all-star as their top dog. As it is, I’ll go with Lawson over Faried, if only by default — I just can’t see Faried being the cornerstone of a franchise. And while Lawson may be near his ceiling, he’s still a quality, productive point guard.
Kiz: The Manimal has two things Lawson does not: 1) a shiny, new gold medal won at the World Cup basketball tournament in Spain; and 2) a mouth that demands to be heard. Nature abhors a vacuum, if I recall what little I retained about Aristotle while dozing through high school. There has been a vacuum of leadership in the Nuggets’ locker room, and Faried wants to fill it. Lawson? Not so much.
Hooch: My favorite philosopher is either Thomas Aquinas or Ja Rule. Lawson’s not a natural leader — they even took him over to meet the real Peyton Manning in real life! — but on the court, Lawson is the dynamic cog who makes the Nuggets go.
Kiz: Faried was born to be an alpha dog. Upon informing Faried I thought there was no way he would make the final cut for Team USA, Manimal responded: “Oh, wow. Well, then. First of all, that’s disrespectful. And, second of all, I knew I was going to make the team the whole time. I wasn’t worried.” This guy oozes swagger.
Hooch: I respect his swag (I was told that the cool kids say “swag”), but how many times will Faried even lead Denver in scoring? In the fourth quarter, will they ever try to get him a shot? Hard to consider him top dog in those situations.
Kiz: I love Lawson’s skills. But he will never be as popular as Manimal in Denver, and try as coach Brian Shaw might to make his point guard a leader, this will never be Lawson’s team. What did Faried bring back from Spain that was more valuable than gold? “Leadership,” he said. Hey, Ty: Get in line behind the Manimal.
