Sacramento Kings: The Return Of Ty Lawson

By Jordan Treske | Feb 11, 2017

Jan 4, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Ty Lawson (10) during the fourth quarter against the Miami Heat at Golden 1 Center. The Heat defeated the Kings 107-102. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports /

After going through a lost season last year, both on and off the court, Ty Lawson has rebounded this year and has played a key role as part of the Sacramento Kings this season.

Heading into the season, the Sacramento Kings faced a puzzling dilemma.

Already shallow on point guards following the departures of Rajon Rondo and Seth Curry, the Kings were in desperate need of a backup point guard behind Darren Collison. To make matters worse, that need only grew in terms of importance after Collison’s arrest in the early portions of the offseason, an incident in which he would later be suspended for at start of the season.

That put the Kings in a bind as the search for another playmaker remained open well after the start of free agency. The situation wouldn’t be resolved until the Kings finally settled on a player who carried plenty of risks in his own right in Ty Lawson.

It was a curious decision for multiple reasons. After all, Lawson was just off the heels of the worst season of his career, putting up career lows in almost every major statistical category last year for both the Houston Rockets and the Indiana Pacers.

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However, the real concern many people had was the Kings prioritizing a player in Lawson, whose off the court troubles in recent years played a large factor in him getting dealt by the Denver Nuggets and his ensuing struggles on the court.

Having arrived to Sacramento that way, the challenge for Lawson was to focus on rebuilding himself following a spell that could have easily derailed his NBA career. Fortunately for both parties, it’s a challenge that Lawson has passed over the course of the season.

Playing 24.6 minutes per game, Lawson is averaging 9.0 points per game, 4.5 assists per game and 1.1 steals per game off the bench this year. While his three-point shooting (29 percent) has fallen off, his overall efficiency has rebounded, as he’s averaging a 53.2 percent true shooting percentage.

Like many Kings, Lawson is averaging a negative net rating on the year overall, but the team is currently three points worse per 100 possessions when he is off the floor, per NBA.com.

With the improvement Lawson’s made over the course of the season, an interesting question is being formed for the Kings — one that focuses on his future with the team beyond this year.

That was something Lawson touched upon when speaking with Blake Ellington of Sactown Royalty earlier this week, specifically in regards to the possibility of returning to Sacramento next season, despite the fact that he’ll be an unrestricted free agent this offseason:

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"Oh yeah. I was about to go to China … right before I was about over to sign, the Kings called, New Orleans called. I was talking to both of them. Came to visit them, they liked me …I ended up coming here because I felt like we could win enough games to be in the playoffs. I would like to come back here, it’s a good team, good organization … they have a good fan base, they have a new arena, they want to win so I like it here."

Not only will the Kings face that question with Lawson this summer, but they’ll also face it with Darren Collison when he hits free agency as well.

But for all of his struggles over recent years, it’s important to remember that Lawson is still only 29 years old and while he likely won’t return to the player that he was in Denver, he’s proven this season that he has value as a backup point guard in the league. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t carry some risks, considering teams will always have questions over his character for the rest of his career.

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But this much is clear, Lawson has plenty left in the tank and no matter what his future holds in Sacramento, he’s showing that last season may have been a blip in terms of his overall career.

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