Houston Rockets: 2015-16 Season Outlook
Three Key Storylines
1. Who Should Start At Point Guard?
Kevin McHale has never been mentioned in the upper tier of NBA head coaches, but if he can find the right lineups and balance of playing time for Ty Lawson and Patrick Beverley, that may need to change.
The case for starting Lawson over Beverley is fairly obvious: Lawson is a better player and more suited for a starting role than Beverley. If he’s the playmaker Houston has been craving at the 1, it’d make the most sense to insert him into the starting lineup right off the bat, right?
A Lawson-Harden pairing could be un-guardable, with Lawson setting up teammates on the perimeter and taking the pressure off the Beard to create on offense. That would help Harden save some extra energy for the postseason, and his ability to create with the ball in his hands could also help improve Lawson’s three-point shooting (34.1 percent last season).
McHale praised Lawson ' s playmaking, but indicates Beverley and Lawson will compete for playing time in preseason.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) September 16, 2015
However, there are two ends of the court to consider here. Lawson is a superb playmaker, but he’s as much of a liability on the defensive end as Harden was in 2013-14 (you know, before he actually started trying). A Lawson-Harden backcourt would have a hard time keeping opponents out of the lane, putting even more pressure on Dwight Howard in the middle.
It’s also worth noting that Harden and Lawson may not mesh perfectly on offense either, with both players being ball-dominant guards. Beverley is not perfect by any means, but he was a better spot-up three-point shooter than Lawson was last season, and Houston was a great team running its offense through Harden.
It’s possible Lawson would be more valuable in a sixth man role, not only because his offense and playmaking off the bench would be a huge boost to the second unit, but also because Beverley’s hounding defense is a big help to Houston’s starting backcourt. There will be kinks to iron out in either situation, but for the Rockets to thrive again in 2015-16, this will be the first obstacle to tackle.
Next: Storyline: Will The Rockets Miss Josh Smith?