Ty Lawson sounds like a guy ready for a return to stardom.
It’s difficult to believe that barely a year has passed since he played like one of the NBA’s top point guards, as a member of the Denver Nuggets, in 2014-15. Two DUI arrests between January and June 2015 have altered his image drastically, and his game appears to have suffered as a result. He didn’t look like the same player with either the Indiana Pacers or Houston Rockets last season.
But Lawson believes he can get back to the 2014-15 version of himself. In fact, he believes he’s already there. As he said during a question and answer session with The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears:
Do you feel like you’ve regained your old game back this summer while playing pickup ball with other professional players in Los Angeles?
I think so. The whole thing is with confidence. Last [season] was the first time I felt that I wasn’t the confident player. If I did any wrong thing, I would be scared to shoot it or scared to make a pass. But it’s all confidence. I sat down, looked in the mirror and watched my old YouTube videos and realized I am the same player I am. I just have to be confident shooting the ball and play my regular game.
Do you feel like you’re a sleeper free agent?
I think so. At this point, I am not going to say they are going to get me for cheap. But they’re going to get me for cheaper than I feel I’m worth … I feel like I’m overlooked in free agency.
It is pretty weird that no one has taken a flier on Lawson just yet. Perhaps his reputation has suffered that much—though, as he told Spears, he believes Houston and Indiana would vouch for his character.
Even at his worst last season, Lawson was still a drive-determined point guard who collapsed defenses on his rim assaults. The only other qualified player to finish with an assist percentage of at least 15 and turnover percentage below 7.5 on drives in 2015-16 was Chris Paul, according to NBA.com. That’s pretty damn impressive.
Questions nevertheless remain, and it’s unclear if Ty Lawson will get a chance to answer all of them by the end of next season. There isn’t a starting point guard vacancy left around the league–unless the Philadelphia 76ers are enamored with the idea of starting Lawson over Jerryd Bayless. So Lawson will have to work his way back as a second-string reserve, ceding touches and status and minutes to teammates he probably doesn’t know.
Those are tough circumstances to operate under, even when you haven’t (ostensibly) dropped off as much as Ty Lawson has over the last year-plus. Still, talent like his doesn’t just fade. Knowing how cheap he’ll need to sign for, he could end up being one of the biggest steals of the summer.
