The Denver Nuggets have been in the news this week for all of the wrong reasons. It can be attributed to one man, Ty Lawson. He was arrested this week for his second DUI in the past six months and now the Nuggets are reportedly trying to figure out what to do with him. There are reports that Denver is considering releasing the point guard, but that may not be a prudent move. Trading Lawson would likely be the best plan of action, but the problem is that no teams are interested in him, and there was barely any interest even before the most recent DUI according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
After the second DUI, it is easy to understand why nobody is interested in trading for Lawson. However, it is interesting that there was hardly any interest before the second issue. This could have to do with the fact that Lawson has a reputation for not being much of a leader and someone who regularly feuds with coaches.
Lawson is owed a lot of money over the next few years, so the plan of action the Nuggets might have to hold onto him and hope he figures out his problems. If/when that happens, Lawson is a very good player who could increase his trade value with his play on the court. His reputation will always precede him, but it's not easy to find great players. If he can somehow demonstrate he is capable of focusing on basketball while staying out of trouble, he could at least have some value.
While Lawson is the big name in the news for the Nuggets, they are also looking to possibly trade other players as well. They recently agreed to deals with Jameer Nelson, Nikola Jokic and Will Barton. The Denver Post reports that the Nuggets is in the dealing mood and guys like Kenneth Faried, Randy Foye and J.J. Hickson might be on the move at some point.
Trading guys like Hickson and Foye is more likely because they are on cost-controlled expiring deals. Lawson, on the other hand, has really run his value into the ground. No matter what way you look at it, the Nuggets figure to be one of the more active teams in the coming weeks as they look to move on from certain players and bring in younger guys with potential.
