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Regardless of whether he stays in the NBA draft or returns for his junior season with the North Carolina basketball team, Ty Lawson will have two court dates in July, the results of his fourth and fifth traffic incidents in three states during the past 13 months.

Lawson, 20, is due in a Chapel Hill courtroom July 8 to face three misdemeanor charges stemming from a traffic stop and arrest at 2:33 a.m. Friday. A Chapel Hill police officer cited him for a noise-ordinance violation, for having consumed alcohol when underage` and for driving with a license that was suspended or revoked.

A UNC athletics spokesman said neither Lawson nor coach Roy Williams would issue a statement until "after Lawson's case goes through the legal process."

Lawson, of Clinton, Md., has no felony record. The latest allegations, while perhaps embarrassing, are not likely to impact his standing in the draft, experts said.

"I seriously doubt it," said Marty Blake, the NBA's director of scouting. "I don't think it will make a difference. I think it's a minor thing."

Lawson and other underclassmen who have not hired an agent have until June 16 to rescind their names from the June 26 draft and return to school.

Lawson, who helped the Tar Heels reach the Final Four this year, is considered a borderline first-round pick. Those selected in the first round of the two-round draft receive a guaranteed three-year contract under the terms of the league's collective bargaining agreement. There are no such guarantees for second-round picks.

In addition to the Chapel Hill matter, Lawson is scheduled for a July 22 appearance in Montgomery County, Md., where he was cited May 12 for failing to produce a license on demand, court records indicate.

His legal difficulties behind the wheel began when he was ticketed for reckless driving -- he was clocked at 90 mph in a 55-mph zone -- July 5, 2006, in Fairfax County, Va. Less than nine months after that case was resolved and Lawson was ordered to pay a fine and court costs, he was pulled over for driving 68 in a 45-mph zone in Wake County on May 23, 2007.

Six days after the Wake stop, authorities in Dinwiddie County, Va., charged Lawson with reckless driving when they said he was going 89 in a 65-mph zone.

Thirty-six days after the Dinwiddie matter ended, the 5-foot-11, 197-pound player was cited for driving 80 in a 65-mph zone in Brunswick County, Va. The Dinwiddie and Brunswick cases also ended with court-ordered payment of a fine and court costs.

According to Wake County case records, Lawson had accumulated 23 points on his license before Sept. 13, 2007. Driving points schedules differ from state to state, and the jurisdiction in which Lawson was licensed wasn't immediately clear Friday. States usually have reciprocal agreements that recognize and track violations and points across state lines.

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels @news-record.com

Contact Jim Young at 373-7016 or jim.young @news-record.com