There are players available for trades on the Nuggets’ roster, but, for now, Ty Lawson isn’t one of them.
Several teams have called the Nuggets about his availability, but Denver has turned them away, intent on keeping its veteran point guard, according to an NBA source.
The Nuggets are also not actively shopping Lawson.
Lawson has been the Nuggets’ best — and steadiest — player over the past three seasons. This season he’s averaging a double-double of 16.9 points and 10.1 assists per game, the latter of which is tied for the NBA lead, with Washington’s John Wall.
Lawson’s scoring average is the second-highest of his career. His shooting percentage of 44.7 is his best since 2012-13, and is so far stopping his career-long trend of declining shooting percentages.
In short, Lawson’s playing the best basketball of his career.
In a point guard-rich league, consistent production like his is hard to find, and letting that go without a firm plan to replace him is not on the Nuggets’ agenda.
Meanwhile, shooting guard Arron Afflalo and forward Wilson Chandler continue to draw the most attention.
Portland remains at the top of the list of teams that want to add Chandler, and that has been the case for weeks now. The Trail Blazers have consistently been most interested in dealing for the Nuggets’ small forward as they look to add scoring to their bench.
Afflalo has drawn considerable interest from Oklahoma City, according to . That makes sense for the Thunder, which starts former Colorado star Andre Roberson at shooting guard and could use Afflalo either in that spot or as an additional scorer off the bench.
There are two days remaining until Thursday’s trading deadline.
Christopher Dempsey: cdempsey@denverpost.com or twitter.com/dempseypost
