Rockets acquire Ty Lawson from Denver Nuggets

In a trade announced earlier today the Houston Rockets acquired point guard Ty Lawson and a 2017 second round pick. In exchange, the Denver Nuggets acquired Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson, Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, a protected 2016 first round pick and cash considerations. Subsequently, Prigioni was waived by Denver following the trade.

Lawson appeared in 75 games (all starts) during the 2014-15 NBA season, averaging 15.2 points and a career-high 9.6 assists in 35.5 minutes per game. Lawson's career per game averages over six seasons (all with Denver) are 14.2 points, 6.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 35.5 minutes per game. The North Carolina Tar-Heel was originally selected 18th overall in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves and was traded to Denver in a draft-night deal.

The talented 5-11 point guard had been rumored to be on the trading block ever since his arrest on July 14 for driving under the influence, his second arrest in six months. The Rockets are certainly betting that Lawson handles his personal life issues and is able to be the missing ingredient to take them over the top.

In return, the Nuggets received a slew of unproven role players.

Dorsey, 6-8, 268, appeared in 69 games (17 starts) and averaged 2.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in 12.4 minutes per game for the Rockets during the 2014-15 season. The four-year NBA veteran holds career averages of 2.6 points and 3.9 rebounds in 130 career games (26 starts) with Houston, Sacramento and Toronto.

Johnson, 6-3, 200, averaged 2.6 points and 1.4 rebounds in 9.4 minutes per game in 28 games for the Houston Rockets during his rookie campaign in 2014-15. The first-year guard also appeared in 20 games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA D-League, averaging 18.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 33.9 minutes per game.

Papanikolaou, 6-8, 225, appeared in 43 games (one start) in his rookie season with Houston, averaging 4.2 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 18.5 minutes per game. From 2011 to 2013, the Greek forward played for Olympiacos and in 2013-14 he played for FC Barcelona in the Spanish ACB league.

Prigioni, 6-3, 180, averaged 3.0 points and 2.8 assists in 16.8 minutes per game in 24 games with the Houston Rockets during the 2014-15 NBA season. Prigioni went undrafted in the 1999 NBA Draft and has appeared in 211 career games (48 starts) in three seasons with New York and Houston, averaging 3.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.


By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com