Ty Lawson and James Harden Will Be Driving the Houston Rockets
By Ian Levy
A second DUI arrest this year forced the Denver Nuggets’ hand and Ty Lawson is now the newest member of the Houston Rockets. The Nuggets were already looking to move Lawson but his legal troubles dried up the trade market and they were forced to take the Rockets’ “buy low” offer of Kostas Papanikolaou, Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson, Pablo Prigioni and a 2016 lottery-protected first round pick.
Lawson is currently working through a 30-day rehab treatment program. He will almost certainly serve some sort of suspension to begin next season. Still, if he is able to get himself healthy, when he returns the Rocket’s offense will suddenly feature two of the league’s most dynamic dribble-drive threats. Lawson and James Harden ranked fourth and eighth, respectively, in drives per game last season, per the NBA’s SportVU player tracking statistics. None of the three marks above Lawson represent full seasons.
In fact, Lawson and Harden’s combined 22.6 drives per game last season were more than nine teams averaged:
There will almost certainly be some diminishing returns next season–both players can’t be driving at the same time. But as Zach Lowe pointed out at Grantland, some overlap may actually may make each a little more effective:
"Sure, Lawson “needs” the ball, but that doesn’t mean he’s ineffective in a secondary role. He’ll touch it plenty; Harden sucks entire defenses toward him as he dribbles up high on the pick-and-roll, and if he spots Lawson’s defender tiptoeing into the paint, Harden can whip the ball to his new teammate. Give Lawson a head start like that, and you’re toast. Diversity is healthy, anyway."
Lawson still has plenty of work to do before he even gets on the court. But if he can pull himself together, the Rockets’ offense is going to be a nightmare to defend.