Nuggets won’t get Charlotte’s 2009 first-round pick

When will the Nuggets again have a first-round pick?

Barring a trade, the Nuggets are now assured of not having a first-round selection for the fourth time in four years.

Charlotte’s 84-81 loss at Oklahoma City on Friday eliminated the Bobcats from the playoff contention and assured they will keep their 2009 first-round pick. The lottery-protected pick would have gone to Denver had Charlotte earned its first playoff berth in its five-year history.

The Nuggets acquired the future pick the day before last June’s draft by sending Charlotte their No. 20 selection. The Bobcats used it to take center Alexis Ajinca.

The pick the Nuggets received remains protected for the top 12 in 2010, the top 10 in 2011, the top eight in 2012 and the top three in 2013. It’s unprotected in 2014, which means conceivably Denver could get the top selection in the draft.

The Nuggets will send their own 2009 first-round pick to Oklahoma City as part of the Jan. 7 trade in which the Nuggets also dealt to the Thunder guard Chucky Atkins and received center Johan Petro and got Oklahoma City’s 2009 second-round pick. It had been protected for the top 20 in the draft, but Denver’s 53-27 record has assured it will go this year, rather in a future year, to the Thunder.

Barring a trade, the second-round pick acquired from Oklahoma City will be the only one the Nuggets have in the draft. They sent their own second-round selection to Portland on draft night last June in a three-way deal in which Denver got swingman Sonny Weems.