Ty Lawson Is A ‘Pure Point Guard’

The Indiana Pacers added Ty Lawson to their roster today, but how this experiment will play out is anyone’s guess.

The move was praised by a certain sector of fans that seem to think the Pacers absolutely need a ‘pure point guard’, which I believe means a dedicated passer. George Hill is often a scapegoat for Indiana’s fans and critics alike, thanks to the fact his career averages are 12.3 points and 3.3 assists a game. It doesn’t matter that he does plenty of work on defense for the Pacers — he doesn’t fit the traditional mold many fans expect point guards to fit into — so they seem to think he’s dead weight to the team.

Annoyances with people’s ideas of what a point guard is aside, Ty Lawson does represent a range of possibilities that goes from terrible to amazing.

What Indiana is hoping for is a point guard who scored 15.2 points and gave out 9.6 assists a game a season ago. However the 5.8 points and 3.4 assists a game so far this season don’t inspire confidence. I don’t need to rehash the concerns about his past alcohol issues, and I hope for his sake that problem is in the past.

However, I do feel a little differently about the lack of production this season considering all that is going on with the Houston Rockets — the team that waived him — this season as they are a bit of a charlie-foxtrot. Their two superstars, James Harden and Dwight Howard by all accounts hate each other and they fired their coach Kevin McHale early in the season. That doesn’t sound like a recipe for success, especially for a player that was dealing with so much in his personal life over the past year. If he had been on a less volatile team, I’d be more concerned with the lack of production.The Pacers are in a much more stable place and I’m pretty sure no one in the locker room is ready to go all “Et Tu, Brute?” on anyone.

As The Indy Star’s Nate Taylor point out in his column, this does, at least, give the Indiana Pacers a different type of point guard than the ones they currently have.

"Lawson is a true point guard, something the Pacers have not truly had in Vogel’s tenure. Lawson could complement Paul George by getting him the ball in the exact right time and in the exact right place to beat opposing defenses. In his final year with the Nuggets, Lawson led the league with 11.9 drives per game, according to NBA.com statistics. If Lawson attacks with a fury to prove other teams wrong, the rest of the Pacers should benefit with open shots and better ball movement."

More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds

There is also the question of whether Lawson can fit into Frank Vogel’s defense. Monta Ellis has turned into a stout defender in his system, but that doesn’t mean everyone, including Lawson, should be expected to make that transformation. A career 110 defensive rating and other defensive metrics are troublesome but aren’t proof that he can’t get better either.

Of course, both the good, bad and in between possibilities of this are a big “what if?” until we see him on the court, which could possibly be as soon as tonight.

Ty Lawson Career Points, Rebounds, and Assists per Game | PointAfter

This isn’t Larry Bird and the Indiana Pacers first adventure with a player with some character and off the court issues. We’ve seen Indiana handle Lance Stephenson, Metta World Peace/Ron Artest, and Stephen Jackson as those players had some of their best years in blue and gold. However, the Andrew Bynum Experiment was far from successful. No one knows on what end of the spectrum Lawson will be on when all is said and done.

Ty Lawson will wear the No. 10 jersey. He said knowing Paul George was a comfort to him before signing with the #Pacers.
— Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) March 7, 2016

And that is what makes all this so damn interesting. This could be a spectacular flame out or Lawson could take the bench even higher than they are now as they are 6th most efficient one in the NBA.

Next: Miller Time Podcast Episode #138: Ty Lawson and the Squad Goals

With all eyes on him, Lawson has 19 games to prove himself, and make Bird’s gamble worth it.