Ty Lawson came into this season believing he might be the missing piece for the Houston Rockets to win the NBA Championship. Through 19 games, Lawson has been anything but that, and the team has not played very well despite winning three of its last four to up its record to 8-11. Lawson's name has popped up in trade rumors recently, but it is being reported now that the Rockets are not looking to deal the speedy point guard, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.
There was a reported sense around the league that Lawson was available and could be had for relatively cheap, but Kyler said he heard that the Rockets are not looking at trading him right now. Lawson was acquired via trade from the Denver Nuggets this offseason, and the hope was that he would alleviate some of the pressure on James Harden by handling the ball more, but that hasn't worked out as Harden and Lawson have not mixed well together and Lawson is now coming off the bench.
Lawson's numbers this season are not pretty, and he did have a DNP- coaches decision just three games ago, but since then he has played his best basketball of the season. On Wednesday night, Lawson scored 12 points and dished out six assists and he seems to finally be integrating himself into the offense. After the game, Lawson told reporters that he was told that he is not being shopped, according to Calvin Watkins of ESPN.
"It happens every day even if you're playing well, teams are shopping you," Lawson said about the trade rumors.
Clearly the Rockets are going to tell Lawson that he is not being shopped because they want him to be engaged and playing well for them, but that doesn't mean they aren't out there looking. The report from Kyler is more believable than Lawson hearing it from the Rockets, but holding on to him seems to be the right thing for Houston right now. Lawson has a strong track record of being a very good NBA point guard, and although he hasn't played well yet this season he has the ability to bring more to the table for a Rockets team in "win now" mode than anything they might get for him in a trade.
