In the wake of a second arrest under the suspicion of DUI, the Denver Nuggets have traded point guard Ty Lawson to the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.
The Rockets had a busy day, which started off with re-signing restricted free agent K.J. McDaniels. Any NBA news for the day had seemed to have died down by dinnertime, but Yahoo Sports NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski woke everyone up with one tweet:
Denver has agreed to a deal to send guard Ty Lawson to Houston, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 20, 2015
Wojnarowski would continue to give details on the deal that will seemingly give the Rockets even more offensive firepower in the loaded Western Conference.
Sources: As part of deal for Ty Lawson, Houston will send Kostas, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson and a protected first to Denver.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 20, 2015
From Houston to Denver, that includes forward Kostas Papanikolaou.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 20, 2015
As only Daryl Morey could, the Rockets even received a future second round pick from Denver.
Along with Ty Lawson, Denver will send a future second-round pick to Houston, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 20, 2015
Rumors of a Lawson trade have been swirling since the trade deadline, and really heated up after the story of Lawson’s arrest came to light on Tuesday. The Nuggets picked a true point guard in this year’s draft as well in Emmanuel Mudiay, so a trade was imminent.
As Basketball Insider’s Alex Kennedy pointed out, Lawson had been a problem for the Nuggets all season long.
Ty Lawson was difficult last year, showing up late or missing events altogether at times. Houston is hoping to get a focused Playoff Ty.
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 20, 2015
Kennedy would also point out how savvy of a move this was from Morey, who loves to acquire assets to trade for a big name, as he did with James Harden and Dwight Howard.
A focused Lawson on a contender with weapons like Harden/Howard may be great. Low-risk, high-reward move for HOU (who didn't give up much).
— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 20, 2015
The trade makes some kind of sense for both organizations and where their teams stand to begin the season. The Nuggets aren’t very good at all, so getting some kind of value for Lawson was clearly a needed move. That said, Denver only got role players and a first round pick in a deal for a very, very talented offensive point guard. International big Kostas Papanikolaou, 38 year-old Pablo Prigioni, backup Joey Dorsey, and sparkplug Nick Johnson are all nice pieces, but none have a ton of future promise. The first round pick is protected in some way as well.
Maybe the deal shows how bad of an influence Lawson was on the young Nugget squad, and how far his value has fallen. It was a move that the Rockets really could not resist, though, as the West has become stronger and stronger, year after year. Lawson adds to their offensive firepower, whether he replaces Patrick Beverley in the starting lineup or not. Getting him for such a low price can speak volumes to Lawson’s damaged goods reputation, but if Houston can help him get his head screwed on straight, they may have just made the move of the off-season.
