Ty Lawson to the Rockets

[thebigabd]

Ty Lawson to the Rockets, love it. He is VERY good, very underrated. Averaged 15 ppg, 9.6 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game. He is impossible to keep out of the lane, pretty solid shooter, etc. He and Harden will be difficult to defend. In 2013-2014, Lawson shot 406 free throws in 61 games. In 56 games in the same year, Patrick Beverly shot 102 free throws.

PG: Ty Lawson
SG: James Harden
SF: Trevor Ariza
PF: Terrence Jones
C: Dwight Howard

Huge upgrade at that position for them.

 

[Smash Williams]

I think Lawson will come off the bench.

Lawson is a better player than Beverley, but basketball isn't played in a vacuum. There is heavy role overlap between Harden and Lawson. They're both at their best with the ball in their hands, getting to the basket. Playing next to Harden basically turns Lawson into a 5'11" off guard.

Beverley is a catch-and-shoot guy, not a creator--and that makes him a good fit with a ball-dominant superstar like Harden. A PG who needs the ball in his hands would take the ball out of Harden's hands. As Houston's best PG defender, starting Beverley maximizes his defensive utility, as it allows him to match up with star PGs as much as possible.

Meanwhile, staggering Lawson's minutes such that he's always on the floor when Harden is on the bench maximizes Lawson's offensive utility. Lawson and Harden will play some minutes together, and they'll be a dynamite offensive duo, but for now Lawson makes more sense as a sixth man on this Houston team.

Lawson is a very good player, but he's not so great that you just ignore fit.

 

[thebigabd]

I think Lawson will come off the bench.

Lawson is a better player than Beverley, but basketball isn't played in a vacuum. There is heavy role overlap between Harden and Lawson. They're both at their best with the ball in their hands, getting to the basket. Playing next to Harden basically turns Lawson into a 5'11" off guard.

Beverley is a catch-and-shoot guy, not a creator--and that makes him a good fit with a ball-dominant superstar like Harden. A PG who needs the ball in his hands would take the ball out of Harden's hands. As Houston's best PG defender, starting Beverley maximizes his defensive utility, as it allows him to match up with star PGs as much as possible.

Meanwhile, staggering Lawson's minutes such that he's always on the floor when Harden is on the bench maximizes Lawson's offensive utility. Lawson and Harden will play some minutes together, and they'll be a dynamite offensive duo, but for now Lawson makes more sense as a sixth man on this Houston team.

Lawson is a very good player, but he's not so great that you just ignore fit.

I have a hard time believing they traded for a guy like Lawson to come off the bench and backup a scrub like Patrick Beverly.

 

[Smash Williams]

Beverley isn't a scrub. That's ridiculous. He's an elite defender who can hit open 3s. That type of player has a lot of value, especially for a team that has a ball-dominant superstar wing.

If you need a starting PG to run your offense and create shots for himself and his teammates, then Beverley isn't your guy. But if you have James Harden, you don't need that type of starting PG.

"A guy like Lawson"--you say that as if he's a superstar. The fact that he repeatedly gets behind the wheel of a car while plastered certainly depressed his trade value, but the Rockets got him for scraps. He's really good, especially if you need a PG to run your offense, but Houston doesn't need that. They need a secondary creator who can keep the offense going when Harden is on the bench, and Lawson can do that. But when Harden is on the floor, Lawson will primarily act as a spot-up shooter.

Maybe Lawson does end up starting, but I don't think it's anything close to a no-brainer decision.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

but basketball isn't played in a vacuum. There is heavy role overlap between Harden and Lawson.

A PG who needs the ball in his hands would take the ball out of Harden's hands.

don't post that on this board. People don't believe in this kind of thinking.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Ty Lawson to the Rockets, love it. He is VERY good, very underrated. Averaged 15 ppg, 9.6 assists, and 3.1 rebounds per game. He is impossible to keep out of the lane, pretty solid shooter, etc. He and Harden will be difficult to defend. In 2013-2014, Lawson shot 406 free throws in 61 games. In 56 games in the same year, Patrick Beverly shot 102 free throws.

PG: Ty Lawson
SG: James Harden
SF: Trevor Ariza
PF: Terrence Jones
C: Dwight Howard

Huge upgrade at that position for them.

Who is going to play defense?

 

[Eielson]

I definitely agree with Smash's overall assessment. I expect that Lawson will start, but I'd imagine he goes to the bench fairly early, and that Beverley will get more minutes alongside Harden than Lawson does. My guess is that Harden will get about 36 minutes a game, and that Lawson would be playing alongside him 18 of those minutes at most (and probably less). He'll get every second of those 12 other minutes, though, so he'll end up with more minutes than Beverley that way.

 

[Eielson]

Who is going to play defense?

Ariza, Howard, and Beverley?

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Ariza, Howard, and Beverley?

Those three are good.

As a team they were average last year. Adding lawson isn't going to help things.

Their bench is pretty bad too

I think they are behind GS, SA, OKC, LAC for sure. possibly behind memphis

 

[bocabull]

Losing Josh Smith and adding Lawson is pretty much a wash. Rockets will go as far as Harden & Howard can take them. Conference semis probably.

 

[Eielson]

I think they are behind GS, SA, OKC, LAC for sure.

Agreed, but they are a low-level contender. If the Lawson experiment works, they could steal a series from any of those teams, and they won't have to beat them all. You never really know what health will be like in the playoffs, either. The odds of CP3 not being hobbled beyond the first round are pretty low, and duos like RW and KD haven't been healthy too often as of late. Howard isn't exactly a pillar of health himself, though.

 

[Smash Williams]

Those three are good.

As a team they were average last year. Adding lawson isn't going to help things.

Their bench is pretty bad too

I think they are behind GS, SA, OKC, LAC for sure. possibly behind memphis

Houston was 6th in the league in defensive efficiency despite Howard missing half the season.

As for their bench, they didn't have a full squad in the playoffs last year. Without Beverley and Motiejunas, they had to go deep into their bench.

C: Howard/Capela
PF: Jones/Motiejunas
SF: Ariza/Brewer/Dekker
SG: Harden/Thornton/McDaniels
PG: Beverley/Lawson/Terry

That's solid depth, with a good mix of vets and quality younger players who can develop into bigger roles.

Rockets aren't in the top tier of the West, but they're the type of team that can win the conference with a few breaks.

 

[Sooner04]

Losing Josh Smith

That alone is a plus.

 

[Eielson]

That alone is a plus.

Bwahahaha!

I can't even see that name without thinking about one of the ugliest shot charts the NBA has ever seen.

 

[Eielson]

One of my all-time favorite plays...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3eekq4MYyA

 

[Smash Williams]