Just last season Ty Lawson was one of the premiere point guards in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets when he averaged 15.2 points and 9.6 assists per game. Now, that feels like a lifetime ago as Lawson has been a shell of himself since being traded from Denver to Houston.
The Nuggets wanted to get rid of Lawson because of his off-the-court issues, and the Rockets took him on because they felt he might be their missing piece. Lawson's short tenure in Houston was far from successful as he played poorly and lost his starting role fairly quickly. Lawson agreed to a buyout with the Rockets last week which made him a free agent.
Despite the fact that Lawson was a very good player as recently as last year, he didn't get all that much interest. The 28-year-old point guard decided to sign with the Indiana Pacers to be their backup point guard, and he made his debut on Monday night against the San Antonio Spurs. The Pacers won in Lawson's debut, but he only lasted five minutes because he left with a foot injury.
Lawson attempted one shot in his five minutes of action and missed it, but he did add a rebound and two assists while he was out there. During the game it was revealed that Lawson had been diagnosed with a sprained foot, and the Pacers are unsure of a timetable for when he might be able to return. The good news for Lawson is that the Pacers do not play again until Saturday, so if the injury isn't serious he may not have to miss any time.
Coming into his debut head coach Frank Vogel said that he expected to only give Lawson about 10 minutes of action anyway, so it's not like the injury had a huge impact on the game. Still, this injury is just a microcosm of how Lawson's season has gone. It's been example after example of Murphy's Law for Lawson, and it shows no signs of slowing down.
Assuming Lawson's injury isn't serious he could play a pretty big role for the Pacers moving forward. The Pacers didn't have a true backup point guard on the roster before signing the speedy Lawson so he will likely fill that role. George Hill is also pretty banged up and has played massive minutes this season, so having a healthy Lawson will take some of the weight off his shoulders.
