Sometimes, talent supersedes other things in the NBA. Players get additional chances because of what they can do on the basketball court. According to ESPN , the Sacramento Kings are signing Ty Lawson . The deal is reportedly for a year because the Kings want to see if Lawson can turn things around.
Back when Ty Lawson was with the Denver Nuggets, he started showing signs of becoming a top star in the NBA. The former North Carolina Tar Heels star peaked at 17.6 points a game and 9.6 assists a game. Many felt that Lawson was on the verge of becoming an All Star point guard.
Thanks to a pair of arrests for driving while intoxicated, the Denver Nuggets had no choice but to part ways with Ty Lawson, even though they desperately needed star power in the back court. The Nuggets simply could not keep him around as long as he continued to get in trouble.
Report: Sacramento Kings reach one-year deal with Ty Lawson https://t.co/sBu3Igtc8k
— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) August 29, 2016
Then Houston Rockets head coach Kevin McHale was willing to take a chance on Ty Lawson , as reported by SB Nation . He sent a first round draft pick, cash and four players to the Denver Nuggets in exchange for the 5-foot-11, 195-pound point guard. McHale never really got a chance to see things come to fruition as he got fired shortly afterwards.
Before his first season even ended, Ty Lawson was bought out by the Houston Rockets. Management felt that it was best to let him move on because things simply were not working out. Lawson found himself a new home with the Indiana Pacers.
The Indiana Pacers were apparently not impressed enough with Ty Lawson. Management allowed him to become a free agent after the season ended. There was little interest in signing him to a contract extension. The Pacers instead decided to trade for Jeff Teague from the Atlanta Hawks.
Upon hitting free agency, Ty Lawson was still able to generate a little bit of interest from teams in the NBA. The New Orleans Pelicans expressed some interest because they desperately needed some depth behind Jrue Holiday, their starting point guard. Tim Frazier is their current backup point guard.
Ty Lawson ultimately decided that the Sacramento Kings were a better option for him than the New Orleans Pelicans. Choosing between playing with Anthony Davis or DeMarcus Cousins is far from the worse thing for an NBA player. Lawson chose Cousins as his teammate for next season.
Though his reputation has taken quite a hit over the last couple of years, Ty Lawson still has the talent to be a starter in the NBA. As of right now, Darren Collison is penciled in as the starting point guard for the Sacramento Kings. It would not be out of the realm of possibility for Lawson to beat Collison.
The point guard position for the Sacramento Kings was left open when Rajon Rondo decided to leave in free agency to sign with the Chicago Bulls, as reported by ESPN . Like Ty Lawson, Rondo signed a one-year contract with the Kings to prove to the NBA that he was still capable of being a starter.
The Sacramento Kings are a potentially great fit for Ty Lawson because they would not be opposed to him being a one-year rental. The franchise simply needs production on the court while management tries to build a core around DeMarcus Cousins.
Ty Lawson gets another chance in the NBA to prove that he still belongs in the league. Those chances are not always going to be there, so the 28-year-old needs to play with a sense of urgency this coming season.
[Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images]