Draft Countdown: Ty Lawson

[NORTH2SOUTH]

what wrong with felton at 9 then?

[supersub15]

Early talk is that the Pacers could be looking at taking a point guard.
That's the word coming from North Carolina's Ty Lawson and VCU's Eric Maynor, who both could be available when the blue and gold pick at No. 13.

"They talked to my agent and they said they need a point guard to come in," Lawson said this afternoon. "They've got T.J. Ford and Jarrett Jack, but I don't know if they're happy with them. They said they need one to come in."

"I've already got a workout set up with Indiana," Maynor said. "They are looking at taking a point guard. I haven't really had much contact with them, but my agent talked to them."

Another player to keep your eye on is Memphis' Tyreke Evans. Word around here is that the Pacers may be willing to trade up to get him. Evans has been projected to go in the top 10 in several mock drafts.

Pacers looking for yet another PG? WTF?

[lemondrop]

I was reading an article with Lawson in it the other day in which he said the Pacers had interest in him and they had a problem with their current pg's. IMO thats not a very wise thing to say or be spreading about a team you might wind up at, if I was Jack or Ford id be like fu kid.

[Hoopstarr]

Lawson is #3 on my PG board after Rubio and Evans. I've seen just about every game he has played at UNC. The amount of growth in his game from year to year is significant. He came in with no jump shot and has improved his range and accuracy greatly. He can get to the rim easily, protect the ball, take contact, and finish. His ball-handling has always been superb, especially for an offense like Carolina's. He showed his leadership and toughness by playing through the entire tournament with an injured toe. His poise and court vision will shine in just about any offense.

I'm not sure why scouts are questioning his "experience" or "ability to change speeds" considering he a junior who has played in 3 tournaments and won a championship, and he played in an offense that constantly changes speeds. Pretty dumb complaint to make. The only weakness that's in his control is mid-range pull-up shooting, which he will easily develop considering his improvement in shooting every year. He still hasn't reached his ceiling considering how he just gets better and better. His size is not an issue for me at all. Sure you'd like a taller guy but he's 6ft with a compact build and good athleticism.

I see a ceiling of rich man's Mo Williams--better passing, more complete scorer.

[DarkKnight]

No holes in his game - the things people bring up are pure nitpicking. Lebron could work on his midrange game too (not comparing him too lebron, just saying everyone has stronger and weaker points but they dont have to affect your game overall) I'd take him at #9 and hand him the keys and look to move Jose for a swing - you could even package Jose and a bought pick to get a real talent. Marion would thrive with Lawson as would Bosh and Bargs in the PnR.

The UNC guys in this draft are horribly underrated because they played together as a team. Put any of them on Davidson and you'd see Curry-type numbers and hype.

[DarkKnight]

Adding this from DX, might have been posated earlier but thought it was worth adding to this thread

Ty Lawson looks as good as anyone from this perspective, regardless of position.

As we put this data together, we weren’t surprised that Ty Lawson excelled from a situational perspective, as he did play for the most potent offense in all of college basketball, but we didn’t expect him to look this good. He ranks first in a number of key categories, including overall FG% (52%), Points Per Possession [PPP](1.13), pull up jump shot FG% (47%), and %shots he was fouled on (16.1%). Though his teammates did a lot of scoring as well, Lawson functioned seamlessly as a complementary scorer. Looking past his efficiency as a shooter off the dribble, he was second in catch and shoot field goal percentage at 48%. From a purely statistical sense, no player on this list scored more efficiently than Lawson.

We thought that UNC’s transition offense might have given Lawson a decided advantage over some of his counterparts in terms of efficiency, but that wasn’t entirely true. He did get 10% more offense in transition than any of the other players we looked at (an outrageous 38.6%), but his transition PPP of 1.2 is the same as his PPP in spot up situations and not as far above the average as his PPP in pick and roll situations (1.19 PPP, +.29) or on isolations (1 PPP, +.16). Lawson was an incredibly prolific transition player (which is quite an advantage in itself today’s NBA), but he was comparatively better in other areas as well. When you consider that he only turned the ball over on 13.8% of his half court possessions (5th best) and can drive left and right equally well, it seems like Lawson could be an excellent offensive fit on virtually any team, regardless of tempo.

[Hypz]

He was mighty impressive for me during the NCAA tourney. If we really DO need a backup PG, Lawson would be a prudent choice.

[Ill Mago]

lawson yes, but not at 9

[lemondrop]

lawson yes, but not at 9

Im just as guiltty as anyone when I say alot of us are going to be disappointed with whoever we pick because we all keep saying "Good but not at 9"

I think we all have to relize at #9 in a thin draft that we will not have a chance at the first tier talent and so guys like Lawson, Blair, T Will among others will likely be the second tier players available to us. Hopefully though we find a so called "2nd tier" player and he turns out to be a first tier player.

[Ill Mago]

lawson yes, but not at 9

Im just as guiltty as anyone when I say alot of us are going to be disappointed with whoever we pick because we all keep saying "Good but not at 9"

I think we all have to relize at #9 in a thin draft that we will not have a chance at the first tier talent and so guys like Lawson, Blair, T Will among others will likely be the second tier players available to us. Hopefully though we find a so called "2nd tier" player and he turns out to be a first tier player.

here are some players i would take at 9 before lawson. or role players like twill and loljuan blair
evans harden jennings clark hill holiday derozan curry. also, i don't think this draft is as weak as people think. dig this up later if you want

you can give or take a name or two off that list depending on developments leading up to the draft, but counting rubio, griffin and thabeet. that's 10 or 11 guys.

[lemondrop]

lawson yes, but not at 9

Im just as guiltty as anyone when I say alot of us are going to be disappointed with whoever we pick because we all keep saying "Good but not at 9"

I think we all have to relize at #9 in a thin draft that we will not have a chance at the first tier talent and so guys like Lawson, Blair, T Will among others will likely be the second tier players available to us. Hopefully though we find a so called "2nd tier" player and he turns out to be a first tier player.

here are some players i would take at 9 before lawson. or role players like twill and loljuan blair
evans harden jennings clark hill holiday derozan curry. also, i don't think this draft is as weak as people think. dig this up later if you want

you can give or take a name or two off that list depending on developments leading up to the draft, but counting rubio, griffin and thabeet. that's 10 or 11 guys.

Well I think alot of NBA fans just hear which names are discussed most in mock drafts and consider them solid players or weak players. The guys you name are the most talked about for sure, however out of them all the 1st tier guys are Griffin, Rubio, Harden and Thabeet. Then there is a couple fringe 1st tier players and after that its a mixed bag with none of them really blowing the other out of the water imo.

I don' think T Will is a role player either, I think he is an athletic freak and a lockdown defender as well as one hell of a rebounder for his position and a high flyin finisher on the break. After the top 4-5 your not going to find a polished player really, your going to see each player have several weaknesses and your going to see them all needing time to develop offensively in the NBA. So my best bet is you go with an athletic guy with offensive potential but a sure fire bet defensively. I would much rather have a player that has everything but a consistent jump shot than a player who has no defensive game, doesn't rebound, doesn't create for others and has only scoring on his mind because those typoe of guys are a dime a dozen and unless you got all world skills most will fail. If guys like Derozan do not develop offensively they have nothing to fall back on defensively and become useless, where as T Will will always be a super defender, rebounder, creator with abilit to create and finish on the fast break.

[Rhettmatic]

This surprises me.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009 ... our-090529

Not everyone impressed, however. Lawson continues to take a little bit of a beating. His small stature and so-so performance in the combine didn't help dispel a growing chorus of scouts who seem to feel that his game won't translate to the pros.

[JN]

Jammer Nelson is not a really solid comparison IMO. Jameer is more of a scorer type PG.

[LLJ]

I don't see the Jameer comparison as well.

Ty is more level-headed than TJ, but not quite as quick. However, he's definitely more of a "real" PG than Nelson.

Not quite sure if his game will translate to the NBA, but if he can, he will be a very, very good player, and not just a backup.

BC and co should keep an eye on this guy and consider picking him up late if he drops. I definitely doubt we'll be picking him at 9 though.

[imgrindin247]

I like Lawson as a player, but I'm not convinced that he will be a starter in the league one day. Most of his game is solid but unspectacular, he has pretty good jets, but his lack of size and length really hurts him when it comes to finishing. Measuring out at a shade over 6" with shoes and with a 6"1 wingspan is not encouraging. I think he will have an incredibly tough time finishing inside in the NBA. He finished strictly using his body in college, that won't cut it in the pros at his size when everybody is bigger and stronger.

He also has a very slow and low release on his jumper. He will only get it off when he's wide open. I think he projects to be a solid back-up, but not a starter in the NBA.

[just23]

Don't know how many of you read this, but this could work out nicely for us. Apparently everyone is so impressed by Johnny Flynn that the best player from the best college team is slipping down most gm's draft boards. I don't know if Lawson is an NBA starter, but he would be an amazing backup point guard if we could acquire him with a second first round pick. He's fast, which would be a nice change of pace from half court Jose, and he's fearless. Which again would be a welcome change from TJ for 20 minutes a game. He's actually my favorite point guard in the draft after Rubio. He may not have ideal size, but to be probably the best and most consistent performer from the NCAA champions has to say something about him. He has blinding quickness and despite being 6 foot he actually finishes around the hoop better than all other NCAA pg's. Also, he's a true point guard and can pick up some steals on defense.
Let's hope he continues to fall. Fall right into our lap. SG with first pick, Lawson with second pick....And I'll finally say something nice about Colangelo.....Probably.
Cheers.


http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archi ... ft_boards/

[Fairview4Life]

32(?) days to go until the draft. These rumours of who's moving where are meaningless right now.

[Rhettmatic]

Looks like the Raptors liked Lawson a fair bit. Both quotes from Doug Smith:

http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/649021
http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/2009/0 ... asies.html

"It's a fast-paced game, a lot of screen-rolls, getting into the lane," said Lawson. "The NBA's turned into a small point guard's (league) so I think I fit right into the NBA.

"(The Raptors) wouldn't bring me in if they weren't interested. They must like my game a little bit."

They do, but they like a handful of other players, too. Senior director of player personnel Jim Kelly wouldn't say exactly who the Raptors have ranked where, but did say there is a final list compiled from a rather small group to start with.

"I think this year ... we've only had four workout days, our numbers are very concise this year and we're trying to get people we think we're going to be interested in here," he said. "Our numbers are down and our focus is really starting to narrow in."

For Williams, Lawson's skill set puts him high on the list of draft-eligible point guards.

"I like him, he did well today," the new coach said. "He's a good finisher around the basket. ... He's a good point guard, he manages the team well and he comes from an A-plus program, they won the national championship so you know he has all the qualities."

The interesting thing yesterday, to me at least, was Ty Lawson. When I mentioned that very fact to them, that some kids – and their agents – run scared at this time of year, Lawson said that wasn’t for him. Something along the lines of “If you want to show you’re stuff, you have to show it against the best.”

I like that kid.

[The Notic]

best player from best team in the nation always goes a long way in my books. that's why i like lawson and earl clark. both are going to be studs and both are going to slip.

[Rhettmatic]

Eric Smith implying that the Raps might like Lawson better than Flynn. Fingers crossed Lawson is our target if we get another pick.

ACTION: The Raps worked-out Ty Lawson yesterday.
REACTION: Sources say T.O. was impressed with Lawson’s overall game. While Jonny Flynn (in last week to workout) was quicker and more explosive/athletic, the Raptors love the experience and savvy Lawson possesses.

http://blog.rogersbroadcasting.com/eric ... -reaction/