Chauncey Billups says Ty Lawson isn't a leader, needs a change of scenery

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Five-time NBA All-Star Chauncey Billups was the embodiment of a leader during his 17-year career, which included an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award in 2004 with the Detroit Pistons.

He was vocal, but not abrasive. Confident, but not full of himself.

In retirement, he's proven to be opinionated. During a recent interview on 104.3 The Fan in Denver, Billups shared his views on Ty Lawson. Billups recommended the Denver Nuggets move on from their disgruntled point guard, believing new surroundings will do Lawson some good:

It's tough. You know, I think he just needs a change of scenery. Obviously you gotta get proper value for him because he is still a very good player and I think in the right situation Ty could be good for somebody. But Ty can't be the leader of your basketball team. I thought they knew that, but you find out how you find out. But I think you try your best to move him but you don't want to get beat over the head for him. At the moment right now, he's not giving everybody a good snapshot of what he is, with the immature things that he's doing, whether it's social media, the things that he's saying. So you're looking from the flip side and you're saying, ‘Yeah, the guy's a good player, but do I really want him on my team with all of that?' You know what I mean? So it's not just him as a player and what he can do. This is a guy that's gonna come there, he's not coming to be nobody's backup. He's a starter. He's a good player. So it's tough what he's doing right now.

The Nuggets selected point guard Emmanuel Mudiay with the No. 7 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft to seemingly replace Lawson should a trade opportunity present itself. Smoking a hookah as he watched the pick unfold, Lawson then released a video, saying "I told you. I'm going to Sacramento, bro."

Reports emerged a little over a week prior to the draft of the Nuggets looking into acquiring the No. 6 pick from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Lawson, although that ultimately didn't come to fruition.

Lawson averaged 15.2 points and 9.6 assists in 75 games this past season. He's set to make over $12 million next year and $13 million in 2016-17, and with his reputation getting worse and worse, moving him out of town won't be easy.

- With h/t to CBS Sports