During their three seasons together with the Denver Nuggets, Arron Afflalo and Ty Lawson developed chemistry on the court and a strong bond in the locker room.
Now that Afflalo’s nameplate is once again above the adjacent locker, Lawson is excited about the upcoming sequel.
“That was probably the person I hung out with most on the team, on the road and at home,” Lawson said this week.
After Afflalo was traded to the Orlando Magic as part of a four-team deal in 2012, he and Lawson stayed in touch. They even joked about reuniting as teammates again someday.
“He’s here now,” Lawson said. “It came sooner than we both thought.”
Afflalo and Lawson combined to average 31.6 points, and they connected on 161 3-pointers in their final season together in 2011-12.
In his two years in Orlando, Afflalo expanded his game beyond defense and perimeter shooting. He developed some moves in the low post and added a playmaking aspect that was missing when he was in Denver.
Afflalo’s acquisition was part of a busy draft day in which the Nuggets also added draft picks Jusuf Nurkic (16th overall), Gary Harris (19th) and Nikola Jokic (41st).
“We did a good job,” Lawson said. “(General manager) Tim Connelly did his homework and got the pieces we need to make a nice run this year. Hopefully everybody comes in ready to work and we can get going.”