Handicapping The Rumored Ty Lawson Trade And Its Subsequent Ramifications
By Aaron Mah
Ah, the power of modern social media; in an innocent attempt to liaise with his fan base, Ty Lawson would inadvertently create a full-blown trade demand with simple response to a premeditated request.
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To be more specific, when interacting with a fan on Instagram, Lawson was posed with the possibility of him joining the Dallas Mavericks. Instead of blowing the far-fetched proposition off, he would unknowingly blow up the NBA universe by replying with a swift, “I wish.”
With two benign words, Lawson became seemingly the hottest name on the trading block, almost overnight.
There was a time — and a time not too long ago — when the former North Carolina Tar Heel was deemed untouchable by the Denver Nuggets brass. However, spearheaded by a cavalcade of off-court actions and comments, in addition to his malcontent on-court demeanor, the cat-quick floor general has affectionately burned his bridges up in the Mile High.
Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post does an extraordinary job of summing up Lawson’s handful of transgressions over the past year in his recent article. In sum, here’s an excerpt regarding Lawson’s status with the organization:
"The losing the past two seasons grated on Lawson. And that grating, combined with his disdain for Shaw, didn’t cause Lawson to double down on his efforts on the court so much as it pushed him away. His time away from the court became more important to him.And when that happened, so did these things:• He missed a team breakfast meeting in the 2013-14 season and was held out of the starting lineup that night.• He missed the first post-All-Star Game practice this year when he was unable to make it back from the longest break in NBA history because he was relaxing in Las Vegas.• He was arrested on suspicion of DUI.• He missed a shootaround late this season, which was dismissed at the time as an “illness.”• He played his part on a team that stopped playing hard for Shaw, leading to Shaw’s firing, and then, months later, tried his best to twist the knife and embarrass Shaw by posting a video of the former Nuggets coach rapping a pregame speech.Lawson did not feel the need to delete that.These actions have not endeared himself to an organization that can now, more than ever, be persuaded to trade him if the right offer is made. His “I wish” Instagram put many Nuggets fans into the category of moving on from him as well. He has done all of this to himself."
Sure enough, fan bases of teams in need of an upper-echelon point guard immediately started to pitch their own — often lopsided — deals to acquire Lawson from the Nuggets.
In today’s spread pick-and-roll league, the speed, vision, and selfless playmaking of the diminutive point guard is irrefutably in of a high demand.
However, the Nuggets are in a conundrum of sorts; no one — including many within the organization — knows whether the franchise are still in a win-now mode, or finally waving their white flag, thereby, transitioning into a more apropos asset-collection stage.
If they were to go through with the former, than keeping Lawson, in conjunction with a reinvigorated Danilo Gallinari, would seem to be the ideal play.
But, if they were to tear it down and build around the likes of Jusuf Nurkic, Gary Harris, and their top-10 lottery pick in this year’s draft, than the Nuggets would most certainly be wise to part ways with their most accomplished player in exchange for a stock of future picks and prospects.
Naturally, the Mavericks are an archetypal suitor for Lawson as the organization has been desperately searching a franchise point guard ever since they captured the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2011. With their latest gamble on Rajon Rondo burning up into a colossal ball of defecting flame, Dallas are assuredly looking to retool in any which way possible.
However, driven in large by the assets the team gave up in the aforementioned Rondo trade, the Mavs really have nothing of significance they can offer to the Nuggets.
More explicitly, as a result of trading away their top-seven protected 2016 first-round draft pick to Boston, the Stepien Rule restricts Dallas from trading away their pick this year until after they make their selection.
And with only four players on contract going into next season — the four being Dirk Nowitzki, Chandler Parsons, Devin Harris, and Dwight Powell (team option) — aside from their untouchables (assuming it’s still Nowitzki and Parsons), big D lacks the upside-filled prospects and future draft picks to pull off a potential Lawson deal.
In the scenario in which the front office manages to put together a creative deal and acquire the Maryland-native, the potential pairing of head coach, Rick Carlisle, and Ty Lawson is far from a guaranteed fruitful marriage.
Specifically, Carlisle has had his fair share of run-ins with past Mavericks point guards — especially over the last several years. In addition to butting heads with Rondo, Carlisle also benched Darren Collison for the majority of the 2012-13 season in favor of Mike James (yes, Carlisle was playing Mike James material minutes in 2013).
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And while Lawson has a reputation for being coachable, and at times, too passive, his recent slew of misdemeanors can serve as the fountainhead of a Carlisle-Lawson feud.
With that being said, if the opportunity presents itself, the Mavs should not think twice in trading for Lawson — he remains a top-10 point guard and one of the most underrated players in the association.
And unlike Rondo, Lawson can confidently score on all three levels, while distributing at an elite rate.
His size, defense, and off-court issues are a concern, as well as his potential fit while playing under Carlisle’s demanding system; but his proficiency in running the pick-and-roll — ideally alongside Dirk/LaMarcus Aldridge or Tyson Chandler/DeAndre Jordan — and his inherent ability to blaze past opposing defenses in transition, makes him undoubtedly a chief target for the Mavs brass this off-season.
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