NBA Trade Rumors 2015: Houston Rockets Acquire Ty Lawson in Deal With Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets will part ways with Ty Lawson as reports on Sunday night confirmed the veteran playmaker will be moving to the Houston Rockets.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the deal could be completed on Monday once the two teams make a trade call to the league.
In exchange for Lawson, the Rockets will send Pablo Prigioni, Nick Johnson, Joey Dorsey and Kostas Papanikolaou along with the lottery-protected 2016 first-round pick. The Nuggets also gave up a 2017 second-round pick.
It remains to be seen whether or not the Nuggets will keep the players they acquired or use them as pieces in more trades before the start of the 2015-16 NBA season. A report on ESPN indicated that Papanikolaou has a non-guaranteed contract, while the contracts of Prigioni, Dorsey and Nick Johnson are partially guaranteed.
But as it stands, both teams will benefit from the deal, according to Wojnarowski. The Nuggets was able to acquire a first-round pick after failing to get tempting offers over the past several weeks.
"For Denver, the ability to secure a first-round pick in an otherwise barren market for Lawson was something of a coup for general manager Tim Connelly," Wojnarowski wrote.
Lawson has been on trading block over the past several weeks, but previous reports indicated that the market for the former North Carolina standout has been on a downward trajectory, especially when he was arrested for DUI on Tuesday -- his second for this year. Recent reports confirmed Lawson will enter alcohol treatment facility.
Lawson has become dispensable despite starting for the Nuggets over the past five seasons. Denver drafted Emmanuel Mudiay with their seventh pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. Mudiay is expected to start for the Nuggets next season with veteran playmaker Jameer Nelson as his backup.
On the other hand, the Rockets addressed one of their needs as they have been looking for a high-quality playmaker aside from Patrick Beverley, who has been limited by injuries over the past two seasons.
Despite the recent DUI incident, the Rockets were reportedly convinced Lawson could get back on track soon and could help them get over the hump in the highly-competitive Western Conference race.
Lawson averaged 15.2 points on top of 9.6 assists and 3.1 rebounds per game last season. During the 2013-14 season, the six-year veteran posted 17.6 points to go along with 8.8 assists and 3.5 rebounds.
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