Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson may not be an MVP candidate like Steph Curry, Russell Westbrook or Chris Paul. But he is a high quality player who's about to enter the prime of his career at just 27-years-old. For a down and out Nuggets team that has virtually no hope of competing next season, Lawson represents an incredibly attractive trade asset to kick start the rebuilding phase under recently hired new head coach Mike Malone. As such, Lawson has been shopped over the last several months and has repeatedly been linked to teams such as the Dallas Mavericks.
However, perhaps a homecoming of sorts is more likely for the speedy PG.
"Rumors persist that Sacramento coach George Karl will make a play for Ty Lawson, who played for Karl in Denver," Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times reports.
That reunion would make a ton of sense. Lawson spent the first four years of his career under Karl, averaging 16.5 points, 6.8 assists and 37 percent from deep in his final two seasons. Since then, Lawson has grown even more as a playmaker, dishing out a career high 9.6 assists this past year.
It's unclear how Lawson's go-go speed game would mesh with DeMarcus Cousins' down-low post game. On the surface, it seems to be a somewhat conflicting style of offense. But Karl's primary concern should be restocking this depleted roster with talent, and Lawson certainly fits that bill.
The Nuggets and Kings could discuss a Lawson and Darren Collison swap with some other players, draft picks and/or cash considerations thrown in. Collison averaged 16.1 points, 5.6 assists and 3.2 rebounds while posting a player efficiency rating of 17.53 in a career high 34.8 minutes last year. He may be best suited as a backup overall, but the Nuggets could do worse in terms of trade compensation, especially given the manageable two years and $10-plus million remaining on his contract.
Let's see what tricks Karl has up his sleeves once the offseason gets underway.
