Ty Lawson vs. James Harden in 2014
Dec 13, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson (3) shoots the ball during the fourth quarter as Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) defends at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Nuggets 108-96. REUTERS/Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Rockets, a Western Conference contender, just got a boost by acquiring Ty Lawson from the Denver Nuggets. The Rockets made a trade for the controversial point guard in exchange for four players and a future first-round pick.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports was the first to break the news and stated the trade will be finalized after a league call set on Monday morning.

Barring any changes in the trade, the Nuggets will acquire Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey and Nick Johnson as well as Houston’s 2016 first rounder. Among the players mentioned, only Papanikolaou (18.5 minutes in 43 games) and Prigioni (16.8 minutes in 24 games) had noteworthy playing time in the regular season for the Rockets.

Lawson was involved in two charges of driving under the influence the past six months, and the Nuggets decided to quickly unload their starting point guard in the offseason.

Denver also drafted top point guard prospect Emmanuel Mudiay in the recent 2015 NBA Draft. The move to deal away Lawson will pave way for the seventh overall pick to get major playing time for the team and is expected to take over the starting point guard spot.

Despite the off-court issues, Lawson, who will enter his seventh NBA season, remains one of the better point guards in the league. He averaged 15.2 points, 9.6 assists and 1.2 steals in 75 games in the 2014-2015 season.

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