With the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, you are working on the assumption you are drafting a future Hall of Famer.

That’s the rumor, at least. Since the Nuggets have never held the No. 1 pick, it’s more of an urban myth around these hills.

Is tonight the night the Nuggets are granted the right to draft a Hall of Famer?

“Do you have any?” general manager Tim Connelly said when I asked if he packed any lucky charms to tonight’s draft lottery in New York (6 p.m., ESPN).

I do, but they’re mostly fly-fishing superstitions.

“We’ll take anything we can get,” he said.

Voodoo aside, the Nuggets are in a good place: Two players in the top seven in Rookie of the Year voting, no bad contracts and a legit shot at moving up in the draft lottery. 

The No. 1 overall pick would make theirs a great place. Denver holds a 6.2-percent chance of securing the top pick, a 21.8-percent of jumping into the top three (thanks, Knicks).

Connelly wouldn’t tell me, but I’d bet the Nuggets would take LSU freshman Ben Simmons with the No. 1 pick. This draft reminds me of the Andrew Wiggins-Jabari Parker draft from 2014, except Simmons-Brandon Ingram is a better tandem.

But that’s for another debate.  

The Nuggets have three picks in the first round: No. 9 (for now),  No. 15 and No. 19. I doubt the Nuggets would use all three picks and make their young roster even younger.

But…

“We’re not scared to use all three,” Connelly said.

The Nuggets have scouted the top prospects extensively, including Croatian prodigy Dragan Bender as recently as the past two weeks. Connelly’s merry band of talent evaluators have crushed it in the draft, scoring Nikola Jokic with the 41st pick in 2014. Jokic was third in Rookie of the Year voting, while point guard Emmanuel Mudiay finished seventh.  

“You certainly have to be encouraged by his rapid development, work ethic and commitment,” Connelly said of Jokic while en route to New York. “He came along much faster than anyone would have predicted. But it’s that work ethic that makes you feel really good about him.”

Denver’s lottery luck is ugly. In 13 previous forays into the draft lottery, here are the Nuggets’ results: Drop, drop, drop, no move, drop, drop, drop, no move, no move, drop, drop, no move, no move. The Nuggets never have moved up.

More on their lottery misfortune in this column (from Black Hawk!) last year. 

Now go, you Nuggets, and earn the right to draft a future Hall of Famer. You’re due.

Twitter: @bypaulklee