Denver Nuggets: Ty Lawson Needs To Be Traded ASAP

The Denver Nuggets have had a decent offseason. They took care of a few housekeeping items by re-signing Wilson Chandler and Will Barton yesterday. They signed Jameer Nelson and second round pick Nikola Jokic this morning. They may have even gotten the steal of the 2015 NBA Draft when Emmanuel Mudiay fell to them at No. 7.

But unless the Nuggets find somewhere to unload Ty Lawson before the summer’s over, this offseason will have been a failure all the same.

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It’s not that Ty Lawson is a bad player; in fact, Lawson is still a very useful player. He was always miscast as the player Denver needed to step up and be a leader for those well-rounded George Karl teams, but it’s not his fault that that kind of charismatic character was never in his blood in the first place.

On the court, Lawson is a useful floor general if you surround him with the right talent. Though his three-point shooting has tailed off over the last few years, including a career-low 34.1 percent last season, Lawson has increased his assist totals every single season he’s been in the league. He finished third in the league in assists per game at 9.6. Put some scoring or a bonafide pick-and-roll threat around him and he’ll facilitate.

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However, that’s not the current situation in Denver right now, and even if it was, Lawson might still need to go.

It was a turbulent 2014-15 season for Lawson and the Nuggets. After he infamously predicted Denver would be a top-four seed in the playoffs before the season started, the Nuggets finished with a dismal 30-52 record, one game ahead of the woeful Sacramento Kings.

The season was worse than their record indicate, however, due to the insane amount of drama both in the locker room and off the court. Even though head coach Brian Shaw was admittedly incompetent, reports circulated that Lawson and Kenneth Faried inspired the team-wide movement to give up on the season and their coach.

There was the infamous “1, 2, 3, six weeks!” chant that the Nuggets used to break their huddle with the season winding down, which they denied, but come on. Does anyone really believe they were referring to the last time they had won a home game? Actually, it doesn’t even matter. Either way, that chant was incredibly depressing and perfectly indicative of the kind of year it was in Denver.

The immaturity didn’t stop there though. Lawson skipped the team’s first practice after a week off for the All-Star break. A few weeks before that, he was arrested for a DUI, doing 61 miles per hour in a 35.

As if this — combined with his team’s lack of success and off-court drama — weren’t enough, Lawson continued to repeatedly slam the “flush” button on his trade value when, on draft night, a video of him smoking a hookah pipe emerged. But that wasn’t the problem; the problem was it included him saying “I told you — I’m going to Sacramento, bro” right after the Nuggets selected Mudiay.

Ex-Nugget Chauncey Billups was absolutely right when he said Lawson isn’t a leader and that the Nuggets need to trade him.

Billups also mentioned that Lawson is a good player and a viable starter in this league, and that the Nuggets need to try and get proper value for him in a trade. But at this point, it might just be best for both parties if Denver simply dumps him as soon as possible given his dramatically declining trade value and the undeniable need for him to be off the roster before training camp.

It’s not just a matter of providing starter’s minutes for 19-year-old Emmanuel Mudiay, who is undoubtedly the franchise cornerstone now; it’s about making sure he’s able to play in an environment free from any poisonous “veteran” influences in his developmental years.

George Karl and the Sacramento Kings are no longer an option to take Lawson off Denver’s hands after the signing of Rajon Rondo, but perhaps a team in need of a point guard like the Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks New York Knicks or even the Indiana Pacers would be interested.

Most teams are set at that position and Lawson has done the Nuggets no favors in terms of boosting his trade value. But the path has been cleared for this move to be made with Mudiay, Nelson and Erick Green all on board. For the future of this team, it’s best to sever ties sooner rather than later.

General manager Tim Connelly will have a hard time getting equal value in return, but he still has to make trading Lawson his top priority now. The relationship has sunk that low.

The Nuggets have a viable long-term replacement in Mudiay and as they continue their rebuilding, they’ll want to move forward with that process as soon as possible. Ideally, they’d be able to move Kenneth Faried as well. But in the interest of clearing the path for Mudiay and freeing the team of any distractions for the 2015-16 season, trading Ty Lawson before the summer is over is a necessity.

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