The Houston Rockets might be the biggest disappointment in the NBA so far this season as they came in with championship expectations but they are instead 7-11 and towards the bottom of the Western Conference. One of the big reasons for their struggles so far has been the poor play of their big offseason acquisition Ty Lawson. Lawson's role has continued to shrink and because of that the Rockets are reportedly looking at potential trade partners for the point guard, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.
Lawson had his off the court issues during his time with the Denver Nuggets and they were fed up with it so they decided to move on from him this offseason. Lawson though, was coming off a great season on the court so his value was still relatively high and the Rockets gave up four young players (only one of which is still on the Nuggets) and a protected first round pick to acquire him. Lawson felt he might be the missing piece to a Rockets team that lost in the Western Conference Finals last season but it has not worked out that way.
Lawson has proven to not be a good fit with Rockets star James Harden on the court and he has had his struggles. In 17 games played (11 starts) Lawson is averaging just 7.2 points and 4.4 assists per game while shooting just 34 percent from the field and all of those numbers are well below his career averages. The 28 year old point guard has been removed from the starting lineup in favor of 38 year old Jason Terry and was given a DNP- coaches decision just two games ago so he has clearly fallen out of favor in Houston.
The feeling around the NBA is that Lawson is available in a trade and could likely be had for cheap. Lawson's value has taken a nosedive due to his play this season but a team might want him out of desperation as his track record shows he can be a very effective player and his contract could be an asset. Lawson is on the books for $12.4 million this season and $13.2 million next season but his salary next season is non-guaranteed so that could be helpful to a team trading for him.
There doesn't appear to be any team that is close to a trade for Lawson at the moment but you would think he would garner some sort of interest. Lawson is clearly not a fit with Houston but he has shown he can be a game changing player when he is in the right situation so it is reasonable to expect some team to take a chance on him especially when you consider that it likely wouldn't require them to give up too much in return.
