Nuggets Sign Ty Lawson to Four-Year Extension

The Denver Nuggets have signed point guard Ty Lawson to a four-year, $48 million extension. (Chris Humphreys)

The Denver Nuggets had a busy offseason. They landed former All-Star Andre Iguodala in a four-team trade. Then, they signed JaVale McGee to a four-year, $44 million deal. On the eve of their regular season debut, the Nuggets knew they had one last piece of offseason business to take care of. That was to sign their young, budding point guard to a contract extension.

On Tuesday, they managed to do just that. Point guard Ty Lawson agreed to a four-year extension worth $48 million. This means that the Nuggets have McGee, Lawson and Italian small forward Danilo Gallinari locked up under contract for the next four years. Given what happens with the Iguodala experiment, he could be back as well if it is for the right price.

This is a solid core upon which one can build around, but the knew that Lawson is the crucial piece that holds all of the other ones together. Lawson had a career year last season when he averaged 16.4 points, 6.6 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. He shot 49 percent from the field and 37 percent from downtown.

Lawson led the Nuggets and their dynamic offense to the playoffs as the Western Conference's sixth seed. He was the catalyst for their league-leading scoring offense (104.1 points per game) that shot 47.6 percent from the field as a team (second best to the San Antonio Spurs).

As if that weren't enough, Lawson stepped up his game even more in the playoffs. In the Western Conference quarterfinals against the Los Angeles Lakers, he averaged 19.0 points per game, 6.0 assists per game and shot 51 percent from the field. Even though the Nuggets lost the series in seven games, it was not for a lack of superb play by Lawson.

Last season was Lawson's first in complete control of the reins. The fact that he is still only 24 years old and in his fourth season in the NBA means that he might be a golden Nugget for many years to come. The Nuggets are now his team. The rest of the NBA just better hope they can keep up.