When it comes to Denver Nuggets point guard and probably best player Ty Lawson, the mainstream media don’t give him much attention. You see him produce a decent play here and there. He’s good statistically, always up there in the Assists per game. So why aren’t teams high on him?
Because his attitude stinks. When Brian Shaw was on the hot seat, Lawson’s name came up constantly as one of the antagonists. If you live outside of Denver, Colorado you might not of heard these stories about Lawson, but Nuggets fans know all too well. Even though he’s retired, Chauncey Billups knows. And he personally thinks that he should be traded.
Do the Nuggets have to move on from Ty Lawson?
Yes. I think so. I mean, well, one, Ty, he has not demonstrated what you want from the leader of your team and a guy who they’ve handed the keys to. He’s not demonstrated the kind of leadership that you want. And you have a young kid named [Emmanuel] Mudiay coming in who I think has a chance to be a star in this league. Right now the best player on the team is Ty Lawson. As a young player in the league, you come in 19-20 years old, you oftentimes try to emulate some of the actions on the floor and off the floor of the best player because that’s one day what you want to be. So I think just from the standpoint of the welfare of Mudiay and the well-being and the growth of Mudiay, you have to get Ty Lawson and you have to move him along.
Personally I like Emmanuel Mudiay, I think he’ll do well for the Nuggets, but it all rests on whether Lawson is there. Don’t get it twisted, Lawson is a good player, he’s just really not good chemistry wise.
What would you take for Ty? How desperate are you to make that move?
It’s tough. You know, I think he just needs a change of scenery. Obviously you gotta get proper value for him because he is still a very good player and I think in the right situation Ty can be good for somebody. But Ty can’t be the leader of your basketball team. I thought they knew that, but you find out how you find out. But I think you try your best to move him but you don’t want to get beat over the head for him. At the moment right now, he’s not giving everybody a good snapshot of what he is, with the immature things that he’s doing, whether it’s social media, the things that he’s saying. So you’re looking from the flips side and you’re saying, ‘Yeah, the guy’s a good player, but do I really want him on my team with all of that?’ You know what I mean? So it’s not just him as a player and what he can do. This is a guy that’s gonna come there, he’s not coming to be nobody’s backup. He’s a starter. He’s a good player. So it’s tough what he’s doing right now.
I am seeing the word ‘leader’ sprinkled in Billups’ comments a lot and how he isn’t one, it’s tough. You watch a game and go “What do you mean? The boy is a floor general” but I think Billups means a leader in terms of being there. Talking to teammates on the bench, having the voice of a leader. I think Lawson has a laid back attitude and that’s not what the Nuggets want.
