Rockets' Morey: Lawson acquired to lessen load on Harden and Howard
The Houston Rockets took the league by storm last season, winning 56 games mostly on the back of James Harden's MVP-worthy campaign.
However, despite Harden and the Rockets' success, general manager Daryl Morey still felt the need to acquire help in the form of point guard Ty Lawson.
Morey explained in an episode of the Red Nation Roundtable they asked too much of Harden and center Dwight Howard to create offense:
Last year we frankly asked too much of Harden, for one, and Dwight as well. We had put together a very strong defensive roster, a top-five defense in the league ... but one of the side (effects) was that our key offensive options, we just asked too much of them. They were asked to create and beat the defense on their own.
That's why Morey added Lawson, whom he likes for his ability to pressure defenses into conceding open looks for others. Lawson will be looked upon as a secondary playmaker to spell the workload of the team's superstars.
"Ty is a guy who can break down a defense and create for others, and that's something I know James and Dwight are very excited about," Morey said. "They didn't get a lot of easy offense last year and with Ty here, we feel like that will happen."
Playmaking is something of a specialty for Lawson and something the Rockets sorely lacked outside of Harden.
Lost amiss the Denver Nuggets' malaise was Lawson's quietly stellar playmaking, he averaged 8.8 assists in 2013-14 and bumped that figure to 9.6 last season.
Advanced stats paint an even brighter picture of Lawson's playmaking abilities. Lawson ranked third in the NBA in terms of points created by assists per 48 minutes last season at 30.6.
Most of Lawson's success arose through darting drives to the basket because he's extremely quick and easily negotiates separation in the lane by using picks to shed his defender. Lawson averaged a league-best 11.9 drives per game last season.
Lawson's passing and driving will significantly lessen the workload on Harden. The Rockets' second and third-best playmakers were two defensive specialists in Patrick Beverley and Trevor Ariza, who were passable, at best.
| Player | Drives per Game | Points Created by AST per 48 Min |
|---|---|---|
| Ty Lawson | 11.9 | 30.6 |
| James Harden | 10.7 | 22.3 |
| Patrick Beverley | 5.0 | 13.2 |
| Trevor Ariza | 3.1 | 8.7 |
Having addressed his team's lack of playmaking, Morey is quietly confident of his team's ability to win it all. Lawson projects to give the 12th-ranked offense a boost from a season ago, and if their defense holds up, the Rockets could rank in the top-10 on both ends of the floor.
"We feel like our potential ends in a championship trophy if we can execute and do the right things," Morey added.