The Houston Rockets have offered point guard Ty Lawson to the Utah Jazz, according to a report from ESPN’s Marc Stein. Stein also reports that the Jazz have made their own point guard, Trey Burke, available in a potential deal.
The Jazz have been known to be in the market for a veteran point guard. Utah currently holds the 8th seed by a slim margin, only half a game above the Rockets. It seems that the team is intent on reaching the playoffs this season.
The question is whether Lawson could help them achieve that goal. The former Denver Nuggets guard has been thoroughly disappointing this season. Once billed as one of the most underrated point guards in the league, Lawson has been unable to reach any form of consistency in what has been a rough season for the Rockets.
Working to Utah’s favor, however, could be the fact that Lawson’s contract next season is non-guaranteed, meaning this could be a two month experiment for the Jazz in adding a veteran that could help an otherwise young team. The only risk would be trading away young players with potential, such as Burke, for a rental that ends up not helping the team.
Meanwhile, the Rockets would likely be getting Burke as a young replacement for Lawson. Burke makes sense for the team as he does not necessarily need the ball in his hands to be effective, meaning he could work well next to James Harden. The contracts in this hypothetical trade do not match up so the Jazz would have to offer another player to make it work.
The Jazz held on tight when second year point guard Dante Exum was declared out for the season. With the team within striking distance of even the fifth or sixth seed in the West, the team may be willing to take some risks and hope for a few lucky breaks. This has the potential of being a mutually beneficial trade, but it could also hurt the Jazz to some extent.
