NBA Trade Rumors: Available Guards Knicks Must Pursue

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Dec 12, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard

Ty Lawson

(3) shoots the ball during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Ty Lawson, Houston Rockets

Position: Point Guard

Age: 28

Salary: $12,404,495

Slash Line: .348/.310/.709

Season Averages: 25.2 MPG, 6.2 PPG, 4.2 APG, 1.9 RPG, 0.9 SPG, 0.6 3PM

Strictly talking ability, Ty Lawson is one of the best available players in the NBA. He’s explosively quick in the open court, is dynamic in running the pick-and-roll, and can put up numbers that rival the league’s elite.

Off-the-court issues and overwhelming 2015-16 inconsistency have hurt his reputation, but there’s no question that Lawson can play.

Between 2013-14 and 2014-15, the former Denver Nuggets star averaged 16.3 points and 9.2 assists in 35.7 minutes of action per game. That includes averages of 17.6 points per game in 2013-14 and 9.6 assists in 2014-15.

In the midst of a terribly slow start for the Houston Rockets, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that Daryl Morey is kicking the tires on potential trades revolving around the 28-year-old.

"In what increasingly has become a fruitless experiment, the Houston Rockets are engaging in trade scenarios to move guard Ty Lawson, league sources told Yahoo Sports."

If New York can pull something off at a reasonable asking price, it’d be wise to do so.

Lawson’s contract is big, but it’s incredibly friendly. He renounced his player option for 2016-17, which means the Knicks could conceivably let him walk if the experiment fails to pan out.

That’s an attractive possibility that New York should look into with no draft pick in 2015-16.

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