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What Does Ty Lawson Bring To The Houston Rockets?

By Colby Giacubeno

Mar 7, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson (3) drives to the basket past Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley (2) during the first half at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson (3) drives to the basket past Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverley (2) during the first half at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Houston Rockets’ offseason before last week had been a very quiet one to say the least, mostly because their payroll as a team was already in the $67.5 million range. Even with tight cap space, general manager Daryl Morey was still willing to make moves in order to be in the running for highly-coveted DeAndre Jordan, who eventually re-signed with the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Rockets have been known to always be in the running for big-name free agents, so striking out on Jordan made it easy to assume they would go after someone else.

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One priority on their list at the start of the free agency period though was to re-sign point guard Patrick Beverley, which they were able to do as the two agreed to a four-year, $25 million contract on July 3. Even though Beverley missed the last three months of last season, he is one of the league’s best defenders while also being able to gel with playing in the backcourt next to James Harden.

The Rockets also managed to re-sign small forwards Corey Brewer and K.J. McDaniels. Brewer was a key piece to their Western Conference playoff run last season.

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The Rockets did lose one of their key players in power forward Josh Smith to the Clippers in free agency. Smith had a huge impact on their playoff success, most notably during the Western Conference semifinals against the Clippers when he helped rally the Rockets, who down by 19 in Game 6, to force a Game 7.

On July 19, the Rockets made their first big move of the offseason completing a trade with the Denver Nuggets that sent point guard Ty Lawson to Houston in exchange for Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson and a lottery-protected 2016 first-round draft pick. This trade occurred after Lawson had been arrested for his second DUI in six months.

If not for the off-the-court issues, Lawson would have been a main focal point for many teams this summer. Now that we have had time to dissect the trade, what will Lawson really bring to Houston?

Lawson has been one of the quickest and explosive point guards ever since he entered the NBA back in 2009. At just 5’11”, his speed and ability to handle the basketball seem even quicker than they are since he is lower to the ground compared with the others on the court.

His height has not stopped him being able to penetrate and finish among opposing big men, as he also possesses extreme athleticism.

Along with his scoring ability, Lawson is a pass-first point guard. Last season, he averaged a career-high 9.6 assists on a Denver team that didn’t have a bunch of scorers. His ability to penetrate not only creates scoring opportunities for himself, but also for his teammates. This will be a huge plus for the likes of center Dwight Howard.

Howard hasn’t had the luxury during his career to play with a point guard with the ability that Lawson has to create for his frontcourt teammates. Of course, Howard did play with Steve Nash in Los Angeles, but Nash was at the end of his career, not to mention battling injuries that kept him out the majority of the season.

Between Lawson and Howard getting in pick-and-roll sets and Lawson simply penetrating to create, there will be many alley-oop sightings for the duo.

Lawson also provides depth at the point guard position. If you think about having Patrick Beverley as a backup point guard on your team, then I’d say your team is in very good shape. Both players love to get after it defensively, which is huge considering all of the comments that are made about Harden’s lack of defensive aggressiveness.

Jan 7, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Orlando Magic guard Elfrid Payton (4) guards Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson (3) in the first quarter at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 7, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Orlando Magic guard Elfrid Payton (4) guards Denver Nuggets guard Ty Lawson (3) in the first quarter at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Also, with the Western Conference having a plethora of elite point guards, the constant pressure of Lawson and Beverley on the defensive side on the floor will help to wear down those type of players.

This trade isn’t as glamorous as people are making it to look, though. One thing that will be a wait-and-see type deal is whether or not Lawson and Harden can co-exist successfully on the court together. Last season especially, the Rockets’ offense centered around Harden having the ball in his hands for the majority of the game.

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    • He hasn’t been known to be as effective of a player who can move without the ball and stand on the perimeter allowing someone else to create shots for him. The same goes for Lawson. His 34 percent shooting from three doesn’t indicate that allowing Harden to control the ball and kick out to him will be a recipe for success either.

    If head coach Kevin McHale can find a way for the two to coexist effectively while still averaging similar numbers that they have over their careers, the Rockets will be a force in the Western Conference and may even be favorites with the success they saw last season.

    Lawson won’t be able to average 15.2 points a game as he did last season, but his assist average could very well improve playing with scorers the Rockets have on their roster.

    Much pressure also rides on Lawson’s shoulders to straighten up off the court as well. The Rockets lack a veteran leader that could help Lawson be more of a professional. There are talks that they could re-sign Jason Terry, who would be great for Lawson to learn from.

    Although the trade isn’t a perfect one given the questions of Lawson’s existence with Harden and Lawson’s off-the-court issues, if the Rockets can get them both figured out, it is realistic that they could make their first Finals appearance since the 1994-95 season.

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