The Denver Nuggets have traded Ty Lawson to the Rockets and now Emmanuel Mudiay and Jameer Nelson are the likely starters at point guard for the team and moving forward there is a near impossible but slim chance that George Karl could try and push a trade for Kenneth Faried that involves DeMarcus Cousins after previously pushing that earlier in the offseason.
The Nuggets have been shopping Lawson this offseason and now reports have the point guard getting traded to the Houston Rockets. The writing was on the wall with Lawson in Denver, as the team signed back Jameer Nelson and drafted Emmanuel Mudiay this off-season. Lawson dealt with a DUI and other off the court issues and now he will be part of the point guard mix in Houston with Patrick Beverley.
Yahoo Sports reports that Lawson will go to Denver for Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey and Nick Johnson along with a protected first round pick. The deal doesn't give up anything significant for the Rockets and it allows the Nuggets to push Mudiay into the main rotation, basically a win-win for both sides. Lawson reportedly had interest from the Los Angeles Lakers as well, but Houston likely had a better deal for the team. Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Denver will trade a "future second round pick" in the deal with Lawson.
Wojnarowski later reported that the Nuggets are likely going to waive Prigioni, as his contract is only partially guaranteed right now. Prigioni could be an option for teams in need of a backup point guard on the market and now the Rockets have some depth at the position. The Nuggets are ready to give Mudiay a chance after being the number seven overall pick, as the Denver Post reports head coach Mike Malone said that Mudiay starting is a "possibility." Now that Lawson is gone the possibility of Mudiay starting is even more likely, as he reportedly has been impressive playing in the NBA Summer League.
The Nuggets are teetering on a rebuilding situation and the way to know if the team is totally going to start over is what happens with Faried in the future. The team brought back Darrell Arthur and the Nuggets are reportedly working on a contract extension with Danilo Gallinari and that has Faried as the top talent left on the roster. Earlier in the offseason Faried was mentioned in trade rumors, as Chris Broussard at ESPN reported that Greg Karl was interested in trading for Faried and Lawson.
Broussard reported that Karl wanted to bring Faried to the Kings if the team traded Cousins, but right now a deal with the center is looking unlikely. Cousins has been pushed in deals by Karl but the front office is not looking to blow things up now. If the two teams struggle things could change, but right now there is no movement on a deal.
The Nuggets have some major decisions to make moving forward and they have had interest in Gallinari from the Celtics and the Grizzlies. Gallinari came back from an injury and averaged 12 points per game last year and Pro Basketball Talk confirms that the Nuggets have engaged in talks with Gallinari about an extension.
Check here for more on the previous interest in a DeMarcus Cousins trade for Kenneth Faried for George Karl and for more on Emmanuel Mudiay starting, Jameer Nelson's deal and the Ty Lawson trade to the Rockets.
