Even without the current off court issues, I would trade Lawson for Lowry. Personally. Lawson for Teague would be debateable. If you include the off court issues, then yeah I would probably do that trade as well. I wouldn't trade Lawson for Rose. Rose's injury history is terrifying. Last season (the first one that he was reasonably healthy) was ok for him but not fantastic. IMO- ranking PG's is extremely difficult. It is a deep position in the NBA. I think you have the clear top players in Paul, Curry and Westbrook. They would be 1-3 in some order. But then after that it gets pretty murky. Right now, Lawson is at a crossroads and some of it will depend on him resolving his off-court issues. But assuming he does, IMO he would be right in the mix with Wall, Teague, Lowry, Irving, Lillard, Dragic, Conley. Maybe towards the bottom of that mix? But at least right up there with them.
Lawson will prove where is ranked this upcoming season if Conley and Lowry were so good we would be seeing their teams make deeper runs in the playoffs. Let's see where we go with Lawson next year.
I was looking up Rod Strickland, to see if Lawson's game is similar to his, and forgot he was briefly a Rocket. Weird.
With the rockets being a turnover prone team this all I care about from our PG position at the moment. http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/player/_/stat/assists/sort/assistTurnoverRatio
Obviously everyone ranks point guards differently because they want different things out of their point guards. I personally put Wall in the same tier as Paul, Westbrook, and Curry. Conley is right on the border. After that I have Lillard and Irving. Lawson fits in the next tier. So he could be anywhere between 8 and 12. Still exciting to have 3 players who are in the top 15 at their position.
For what it's worth here's how ESPN ranks them http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/1...point-guards-no-1-chris-paul-no-30-dante-exum Spoiler <p><!-- begin inline 1 --><div class="mod-container mod-no-footer mod-inline content-box floatright mod-no-header-footer full"><div class="mod-content"><table><thead><tr><th>Rank</th><th>Player </th><th>Overall</th><th>Leadership</th><th>Defense</th><th>Playmaking</th><th>Scoring</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>1</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/2779.png&w=70&h=51"><br><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>Chris Paul</b></font><br>Clippers</td><td>9.09</td><td>9.29<br>(1)</td><td>8.42<br>(1)</td><td>9.61<br>(1)</td><td>8.77<br>(5)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>2</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/3975.png&w=70&h=51"><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>Stephen Curry</b></font><br>Warriors</td><td>8.66</td><td>8.61<br>(2)</td><td>6.48<br>(T12)</td><td>9.03<br>(2)</td><td>9.97<br>(1)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>3</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/3468.png&w=70&h=51"><font style="font-size:14px;"><b>Russell Westbrook</b></font><br>Thunder</td><td>8.48</td><td>7.84<br>(8)</td><td>7.45<br>(5)</td><td>8.52<br>(5)</td><td>9.87<br>(2)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>4</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/4237.png&w=70&h=51"><br><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>John Wall</b></font><br>Wizards</td><td>8.18</td><td>7.9<br>(7)</td><td>7.58<br>(4)</td><td>8.87<br>(3)</td><td>8.1<br>(6)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>5</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/3195.png&w=70&h=51"><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>Mike Conley</b></font><br>Grizzlies</td><td>7.76</td><td>8.35<br>(4)</td><td>7.71<br>(3)</td><td>7.65<br>(8)</td><td>7.35<br>(T11)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>6</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/6606.png&w=70&h=51"><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>Damian Lillard</b></font><br>Trail Blazers</td><td>7.74</td><td>8.1<br>(5)</td><td>5.61<br>(18)</td><td>7.55<br>(11)</td><td>9.29<br>(3)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>7</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/3012.png&w=70&h=51"><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>Kyle Lowry</b></font><br>Raptors</td><td>7.63</td><td>7.94<br>(6)</td><td>7.39<br>(6)</td><td>7.39<br>(12)</td><td>7.81<br>(T7)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>8</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/1015.png&w=70&h=51"><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>Tony Parker</b></font><br>Spurs</td><td>7.31</td><td>8.52<br>(3)</td><td>5.06<br>(21)</td><td>7.61<br>(9)</td><td>7.52<br>(10)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>9</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/6442.png&w=70&h=51"><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>Kyrie Irving</b></font><br>Cavaliers</td><td>7.17</td><td>6.16<br>(14)</td><td>4.71<br>(25)</td><td>7.84<br>(7)</td><td>9.26<br>(4)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>10</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/4015.png&w=70&h=51"><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>Jeff Teague</b></font><br>Hawks</td><td>7.16</td><td>7.06<br>(T9)</td><td>6.68<br>(9)</td><td>7.19<br>(13)</td><td>7.58<br>(9)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>11</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/3456.png&w=70&h=51"><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>Derrick Rose</b></font><br>Bulls</td><td>6.72</td><td>7.06<br>(T9)</td><td>5.65<br>(17)</td><td>6.81<br>(15)</td><td>7.1<br>(T13)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>12</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/4011.png&w=70&h=51"><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>Ricky Rubio</b></font><br>Timberwolves</td><td>6.60</td><td>6.29<br>(13)</td><td>6.58<br>(10)</td><td>8.84<br>(4)</td><td>4.19<br>(27)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>13</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/3423.png&w=70&h=51"><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>Goran Dragic</b></font><br>Heat</td><td>6.57</td><td>5.71<br>(16)</td><td>5.35<br>(T19)</td><td>7.03<br>(14)</td><td>7.81<br>(T7)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>14</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/4238.png&w=70&h=51"><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>Eric Bledsoe</b></font><br>Suns</td><td>6.55</td><td>5.65<br>(17)</td><td>7.19<br>(7)</td><td>6.45<br>(18)</td><td>7.06<br>(15)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>15</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/4000.png&w=70&h=51"><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>Ty Lawson</b></font><br>Nuggets</td><td>6.53</td><td>5.61<br>(T18)</td><td>5.00<br>(22)</td><td>7.58<br>(10)</td><td>7.35<br>(T11)</td></tr><tr class="last"><td><font style="font-size:12px;"><b>16</b></font></td><td><img src="http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/headshots/nba/players/full/3995.png&w=70&h=51"><font style="font-size:15px;"><b>Jrue Holiday</b></font><br>Pelicans</td><td>6.27</td><td>5.87<br>(15)</td><td>6.03<br>(T14)</td><td>6.48<br>(17)</td><td>6.58<br>(16)</td></tr></tbody></table>
I'd say the top 6 are some order of Paul, Curry, Westbrook, Lilliard, Wall, and Irving. Then Lawson is in a group with Lowry, Conley, Dragic, and Parker, after those guys. Teague, Rose, Knight and Bledsoe are probably in a 3rd Tier.
The 7-15 guys are all close, so it's a matter of team fit. The Rockets desperately needed a guy capable of breaking down a defense and hitting a spot-up 3. That makes Lawson perfect for us.
Sadly Rose is now in the category of guys who can still create a shot, but not a very good one. His FG% and A/TO have both plummeted the last two years.
Lawson's leadership and defense push him out of top 10 in their list but I'm shocked Rubio is ranked that high in those two categories.
Right now, no, or he'd have commanded more from someone in a/the trade. Can he be? I would say close, though agree with those that say he might fall short for defense reasons.
If he beats his addiction he will certainly be one of the top point guards for the Rockets. Almost perfection for the Rockets. At the rim: Lawson to Dwight, Lawson to Capella, Lawson to KJ, Lawson to Harrell. There will be so many highlight plays.
Man I love the Lawson pickup but listening to people on here talk sports is pretty pathetic. Lawson I believe is just what we needed to be put in contention but saying he's top 5 like some of these people are saying is ludicrous. He does fit this team like a glove though.
