It’s not a secret that Sacramento Kings head coach George Karl values top-end point guards to run his offensive scheme. It’s also not a secret that Karl fancies Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson.
So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Lawson has been linked to the Kings since Karl took over as the team’s head coach in February. It’s also important to note that Karl coached Lawson in Denver for four seasons.
Now comes this report from ESPN’s Chad Ford in a recent mailbag surrounding the NBA.
“Q: With your Mock 7.0 showing (Emmanuel) Mudiay going to Sacramento, could the Nuggets consider trading Lawson to the Kings for that pick to get Mudiay? Does the Malone hire show what the Nuggets draft plan will be?
A: Nuggets have been trying to make that deal regardless, but so far they can’t get Kings (or anyone else for that matter) to bite on Lawson.”
As Ford noted, the Kings are not biting right now. With the sixth pick in a deep draft class, one has to believe Sacramento could get more value than an enigmatic point guard that’s coming off a down season in Denver. Even if the Kings were to explore this trade, based solely on Karl’s affinity for Lawson, they would want to wait until draft night to consider it. If someone like Emmanuel Mudiay were to fall to the sixth pick, there’s no way the Kings would give up that talent and value for Lawson.
One thing is clear: Denver has put Lawson up on the trade block. The 27-year-old point guard averaged 15.2 points and 9.6 assists per game this past season.
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