20 best NBA Draft trades ever
By John Buhler
20. Ty Lawson from Minnesota Timberwolves to Dallas Mavericks.
Though he is coming off a terrible 2015-16 NBA season where he stunk for both the Houston Rockets and the Indiana Pacers, former Denver Nuggets point guard Ty Lawson makes this list as one of the best NBA Draft trades ever made.
Lawson played for a 2009 National Championship team with the North Carolina Tar Heels. He was the ACC Player of the Year and a Second-Team All-American in his junior season in Chapel Hill in 2009.
Being that he has seen as undersized at 5’11” and often hand ankle injuries, Lawson feel to No. 18 in the 2009 NBA Draft where he was ultimately selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Keep in mind that this was the year where Minnesota drafted three point guards not named Stephen Curry (Jonny Flynn, Ricky Rubio, Lawson), so the Timberwolves promptly traded Lawson to the Nuggets for a future first-round pick.
While Lawson was never an All-Star in his six years with the Nuggets, he was the starting point guard for George Karl’s elite team in 2012-13 where Denver won 57 games and earned the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference Playoffs.
Lawson averaged 14.2 points and 6.6 assists per game in his six years as the Nuggets’ point guard. Though he did struggle with alcohol issues during his time in Denver, in his prime Lawson was a top 10 point guard in the NBA capable of leading strong Western Conference team on a deep playoff run.
Next: 19. Rudy Gobert from Denver Nuggets to Utah Jazz.