[Yahoo Spears] Denver President on Lawson Trade and his Drinking

So their fans won't feel they got gypped. Should not have waited so long to dump him, though. No excuse for that. On the bright side, if he gets his #### together, Lawson's game might get even better. Now that would be a game changer.

 

This article confirms that not many teams were interested in Lawson...probably just the Rockets and Lakers.

 

Basically telling the Denver fans "Look, the guy is a head case. We are lucky to get what we got for him." is what I read it as.

He even hints it's a good deal for us too any ways.

 

First Iguodala, then Lawson.

Denver's a kingmaker

 

If it takes him half a season to get sober than that would be fine, he's veteran

 

I've known work-functional substance abusers. On the clock normal/off the clock dysfunctional

Most were not stereotypical drunkard winos and strung out druggies (Most the time). They do have enough conscience to know what theyre doing and where. Its at times the substance DOES work as intended and gives an "edge". And it does self-medicate their issues away momentarily. So it actually is no one's visible problem. "As long as it doesnt hurt others!"

But then it gets to DEPENDENCE and gradually it does start negatively affecting everything one by one. Its not to fully explain how it works, cuz that is only a small generalized part. Its just to say that people just adapt and develop ways of putting on a good face dispite the skeletons in closet

 

My question is, what if he starts playing worse after he gets sober?

 

Classic case of cover your ass.

He apparently knows Lawson has all these problems and the Nuggets response is to give him a $50,000,000 contract extension. Clearly they were really concerned. So concerned that until the second DUI that they wouldn't deal him for less than a kings ransom and kept trotting him out there.

Of course only the Lakers and Rockets were interested... by the time they traded him. Other teams like Dallas and Sacramento got sick of waiting and made other moves when the Nuggets continued to insist on multiple first round picks and assets.

This had nothing to do about caring for Ty Lawson and everything to do with justifying giving him away in trade. The problem is it isn't sincere as all their prior actions show they were not worried about and didn't really think it was a serious issue. If they really cared it would have been addressed by the Nuggets when he was still playing. Getting into specifics when he isn't on your club anymore is bush league.

 

The thing about dissing a former employee so openly is that it makes your organization look even more incompetent. He was a multi-million dollar investment that you didn't even bother to intervene at some point from a business perspective. His physical and mental health are somewhat your responsibility. At least act like you did something to help before your throw him under the bus.

 

This is why I doubt we can bank on Harden and Ty to lead us to a trophy. Both are known to party and while one goes nuts on strippers, the other thrives on alchohol. Add to that an aging big guy who is injury prone and you can bet your ass that only Harden will be left for 16-17.

 

In that case, quit following the Rockets now to save yourself and everyone else some grief.

 

why? he's just stating a pretty realistic scenario / opinion.

it's like when the rockets barely make the playoffs as one of the last seeds. you know they'll probably lose in the first round but you root for them to win the championship anyway.

 

Kroenke is a disingenuous slug. The Nuggets are a poorly run organization and their coaching carousel and inability to keep star players (and general managers) is proof of that.

 

This information is extremely troubling to me. It sounds to me that Lawson is not just a carelesss drunk, but a full-on alcoholic. So the idea that a change of scenery or a better team will somehow cure him is ludicrous. It's even more ludicrous to bet that he can remain functonal on the court while being an alcoholic. At some point, his personal life will seep over to his professional life, and it could happen when we need him most (playoffs).

Also, we've all read rumors about Harden partying a little too hard before big games and then observed him playing rather listlessly in said games. Is this really the kind of teammate we want to pair with him? Granted, Lawson is only guaranteed one year here, but a lot of damage can occur in one year. If he and Harden party too much and piss off the rest of the team, we could see the team fall apart in terms of cohesiveness. If Dwight and Dmo all bolt next year because of a poisonous team environment, the word will get out and we'll have trouble finding willing and enthusiastic replacements.

If I were team management, I'd have a one-on-one conversation with each and every player advising them not to abet Lawson's drinking problems. Make it clear that the team is dedicated to helping him stay sober, and that anyone who acts contrary to this role (taking him out to bars or clubs to party) will be considered in violation. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the CBA won't allow the Rockets much leeway in enforcing this, and it is even possible that the conversation violates medical privacy rules.

As for Lawson himself, the team can offer all kinds of support, but it is up to him to take advantage of it. The Rockets can't force him to hang out with John Lucas or stay away from bad situations. I don't even know if they can discipline him for coming to practice drunk of hungover.

So based on all this, I'm not comfortable calling this a low-risk,high-reward trade. To me, there's a huge risk of Lawson's alcoholism affecting this team in the short and long term. Ask yourselves if you really want to count on an alcoholic in a tough series or to provide a good example to developing players?

We'll have to see what happens....

 

This was definitely a high risk move IMO.

I don't want to be quick to pencil in as contenders, but I pray we get the benefit of the doubt, and Lawson really decides to curb his habit.

And posters have said, Harden is recognized heavily in the entertainment industry outside of the NBA, and Lawson is in a more entertaining, nightlife city in Houston.

They are close, so who knows what'll happen. Praying for a motivated/determined Harden and Ty for the years to come.

Cautious, but hopeful.

 

If it is the more he drinks the better he plays basketball, I would say drink more!

Look at how bad Tiger Woods become nowadays.

 

It makes sense given that our "high way robbery" offer is obviously the best offer Denver can get. Probably teams had done their homework and know the details.

It's still a low risk, high reward trade for us, but it's a decent trade for Denver as well.

 

Trade does nothing for Denver except shed salary they'll use on more mediocre players.

 

Well said...suitors definitely dried up AFTER they moved in other directions.

 

Yeah, I was thinking that too. I guess marketing wins out over class again.....