Lakers attempted to trade for Ty Lawson; beat out by Rockets' offer

The Los Angeles Lakers were "determined bidders" for Nuggets' guard Ty Lawson, according to Marc Stein of ESPN. A report surfaced a few days ago that the Lakers were interested in dealing for the troubled point guard, which led to speculation that second overall pick D'Angelo Russell might spend his rookie season coming off the bench.

It has been clear for some time that Denver would eventually move on from their talented point guard, whose trade value was down due to a recent DUI arrest. Denver also selected point guard Emmanuel Mudiay with the 7th overall pick and resigned veteran Jameer Nelson, making Lawson superfluous.

The Nuggets were able to extract Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson, and a protected future first round pick from Houston. The Lakers offer likely would have revolved around some combination of Nick Young, Ryan Kelly, Robert Sacre, Tarik Black, and Jabari Brown. With the Lakers unwilling to part with Jordan Clarkson, D'Angelo Russell, or Julius Randle and lacking in first round picks due to the Dwight Howard and Steve Nash trades the likelihood of pulling off a deal was always remote, but Lawson's talent was worth investigating.

With the Lakers starved for starting-quality players expect the team to pop up in more trade discussions as players hit the trade block, but as always no trade is the most likely outcome. Lawson certainly would have been an odd fit for a rebuilding team but Mitch Kupchak can't afford to leave any stones unturned as he looks to rebuild the once-mighty franchise.