This gave the Denver Nuggets an opportunity to get a quality player as they traded their future draft pick to Minnesota in exchange for Lawson. Lawson served as a backup to Chauncey Billups for one and a half seasons until Billups was traded to the New York Knicks on February 22, 2011 as part of a trade which also sent star forward Carmelo Anthony to New York.
This led to the Denver Nuggets acquiring a superior player by trading their future draft pick to Minnesota in exchange for Lawson. Lawson functioned as a backup to Chauncey Billups for roughly one and a half seasons before Billups was traded to the New York Knicks on February 22, 2011, along with star forward Carmelo Anthony.