Crash here for a moment: Ty Lawson hopes to stay with the Sacramento Kings

In December it was reported that Sacramento Kings guard Arron Afflalo was asking for a trade from the team. He’s been unhappy with his role, according to Basketball Insiders, and has joined “a few other” Kings players in asking for a trade. Which, if you’ve been paying even a little attention to the Kings for the last decade, shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Since the last time the Kings made the playoffs, in 2006, the only constant in Sacramento has been change. Nine different head coaches, an absurd numbers of players in and out of the locker room and a never-ending drip of trade rumors. Players, like Afflalo, get frustrated and decide they want out.

Last season, former Kings player Caron Butler said the “future is bright” in Sacramento.

“You have your franchise guy who is young — not even in their prime — and he’s the best big man in the game,” Butler said of DeMarcus Cousins. “You got a guy like [Rajon] Rondo whose playing at an extremely high level, and you got a group that’s just about getting it built and getting that continuity and moving it forward. It’s a process.”

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Knowing what’s happened since then, Butler’s words are jarring. It wasn’t long after that conversation when Rondo left in free agency and another coach, George Karl, was fired. That “process” was about to start over yet again. Continuity is a stranger to the Kings.

And yet Sacramento has become the unlikely home to Ty Lawson. While teammates a few lockers down ask for a trade, Lawson is hoping he doesn’t get lumped in as salary filler.

“Aw yeah, definitely,” Lawson said after a recent game, smiling at the idea of settling down. “That traveling from team to team is not cool—it’s not the wave man—so I’m feeling a good level here and I’m hoping I can stay.”

Only a few years ago Lawson was considered one of the better starting point guards in the NBA. He was playing for the Denver Nuggets, where in the 2013-14 season he averaged 17.6 points and 8.8 assists per game. The 2014-15 season was a rocky disappointment all around and Lawson was arrested for driving under the influence. As the Nuggets rebuilt, they traded Lawson to the Houston Rockets for a first round pick and an assortment of salary-matching players.

Then came the suspensions. Two of them, for driving under the influence, both offenses having occurred before his season with the Rockets began. That campaign turned out to be a huge disappointment — a terrible start for Houston and career-low numbers nearly across the board for Lawson. Not a full calendar year later the Rockets bought out his contract. He caught on with the Indiana Pacers, where because of injuries he played just 13 games and did little to change the perception of himself as a player sliding out of the league.

When Lawson signed in Sacramento last summer, a one-year deal at the veteran’s minimum, the Kings may have been the only team willing to give him a chance.

Lawson is not exactly back to what he was — averaging just 12.2 points and 6.1 assists per 36 minutes, shooting 29.4 percent on three-pointers — but he’s playing his best basketball since leaving Denver. He’s not regularly starting, but he’s found a rhythm as a reserve point guard, especially with Cousins. Lawson, as a point guard, regularly feeds Cousins the ball; but also no player on the Kings assists Lawson more than Cousins, according to NBA.com. The two have developed a nice two-man chemistry.

“When he’s in the game, I just use him. When he comes set a screen [defenders] are gonna try to rush back to him, so I can get that shot. I can get to the basket or have a lane open,” Lawson said. “It’s really just me and him being on the same wave.”

Lawson scored in double digits six times in the last month, including in a win against the Portland Trail Blazers in which he finished with 16 points and 8 assists; not far from his averages in Denver.

“I’m being a little aggressive. I know I can get my shots in, mid-range, off pick-and-roll, and when they’re trying to decide whether to get me or Cuz, I can pull up,” Lawson said. “Just getting to the basket. I’m getting more comfortable with the offense.”

Lawson is picking his spots, on the court and off of it. His locker is close to Ben McLemore’s—another player whose career seems to have been swallowed by the Kings organization and has every reason to want out for a fresh start. Lawson regularly jokes with him and makes him smile. He’s loud, a rarity in the Kings locker room outside of the always buzzing corner where Cousins sits. He rocks custom slippers made to look like designer sneakers.

With just a  one-year deal and the fact that Kings could be looking to make a trade by the deadline, there is no telling how long Lawson will be in Sacramento. His time might be as short as Butler’s or Rondo’s or so many other players who have passed through that locker room. But, after a few years of turmoil, he’ll ride the wave as long as he can.