In trading Ty Lawson to the Houston Rockets, the Denver Nuggets aren't sending a message so much as confirming what was already inevitable: This is Emmanuel Mudiay's team now.
Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the news late Sunday night. The Nuggets agreed to ship their 27-year-old floor general to the Rockets for an odds-and-ends package consisting of Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson, Pablo Prigioni, Kostas Papanikolaou and a lottery-protected first-round pick in 2016.
Basketball-wise, Denver accepted a low-end return in exchange for a fringe star. Logistically speaking, this represents the pinnacle of Lawson's trade value.