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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; The Nuggets are hoping to sign Ty Lawson to a long-term deal before the Oct. 31 deadline. (Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Ty Lawson and the Denver Nuggets are inching closer to a deal that would keep the point guard with the team for years to come, according to a report Tuesday morning from David Aldridge of NBA.com. The Nuggets have until the Oct. 31 deadline to sign draft picks from the 2009 class.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lawson, who turns 25 later this week, had turned down a four-year deal with the Nuggets worth $45 million earlier in October. The deal would've made him one of the highest paid point guards in the league, on par with Rajon Rondo, who is set to begin the third of his five-year, $55 million contract with the Boston Celtics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Though Aldridge reports that the Nuggets hope a deal can be reached before tomorrow, the possibility of talks extending beyond the deadline would mean Lawson would become a restricted free agent July 2013. At that point, he could sign an offer sheet with another team and the Nuggets would have three days to match any competing offers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Last year, in his third season with the Nuggets, Lawson averaged 16.4 points and 6.6 assists and played well throughout the playoffs, leading the team all the way to a Game 7 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.\nThe Nuggets open up their season on the road against the Philadelphia 76ers on Halloween. The game will mark the return to Philadelphia for Andre Iguodala, who was traded to Denver during the offseason as part of the four-team trade that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/si-wire/2012/10/30/ty-lawson-contract-extension-nuggets>