Sacramento Kings: Can Darren Collison And Ty Lawson Thrive Together?

Exploring whether Darren Collison and Ty Lawson can thrive together at the point guard position for the Sacramento Kings in 2016-17

Can Darren Collison and Ty Lawson co-exist to end the Sacramento Kings decade long playoff drought? That’s a fair question to ask, the Kings didn’t upgrade their talent much, so that puts even more pressure on the pairing of Lawson and Collison to succeed.

The Sacramento Kings, for the most part, know what they’re getting out of Darren Collison. A skilled scorer whose numbers don’t entail the type of offensive player he really his.

Over the last couple of years, Collison has quietly become one of the most skilled shooters at his position, because of his ability to hit shots from virtually everywhere on the court.

Last season, he made 49.3 percent of his jumpers from 10-15 feet, 44.4 percent of his shots from 16 feet and beyond (long two-pointer), and a stellar 40.1 percent of his three-point attempts. The shooting percentages are impressive, especially considering the volume of attempts he put up.

But now with Ty Lawson on the team, Collison and Lawson are going to have to figure out a way for them to succeed alongside each other. Darren Collison has shown he can adapt to any situation; he played with Rajon Rondo last year, and with Chris Paul a couple of seasons ago in Los Angeles.

So that gives a little insight into how Collison’s upcoming season can go. But it still doesn’t let us know how Ty Lawson will play, and if he can get back to playing like his old self (a fringe All-Star in the stacked Western Conference).

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An excellent passer, Lawson averaged 9.6 assists a night in his last season with the Denver Nuggets; because of his elite speed Ty is virtually unstoppable when attacking the rim. He averaged a league high 11.9 drives a game, and dished 2.0 assists (also league high) off his ability to attack the basket.

However, his shooting percentages from last year are what have some Sacramento Kings fans worried, but they shouldn’t be.

Playing with James Harden was tough for Lawson, as he was asked to play to his weaknesses, which is being a spot-up jump shooter and playing off the ball. Since James Harden was the primary ball-handler on the team, he handled most of the playmaking duties.

That hurt Lawson because he isn’t used to play off the ball a ton. With the Nuggets, he was the primary ball-handler, then suddenly gets traded to playing alongside a ball dominant guard in James Harden. It’s a tough process to get accustomed to, especially since he’s been playing with the ball in his hands for most of his career.

In an interview with Slam Magazine, he talked about how the struggles affected him and his play.

"SLAM: Given what you went through over the last year and a half, what kept you so focused and were there any periods where you doubted yourself?TL: I just know how good I am. I talked to my family, friends and old high school coaches. The only thing that I can say that went down was probably my confidence a little. I didn’t get depressed, but my confidence took a hit last season with not playing like I was accustomed to. I had to go back and look at my old YouTube videos and had to remind myself that I was really that guy who averaged 21 points and 8 assists against Golden State in the Playoffs [laughs]. So I just had to go back and revamp my thinking."

In Sacramento, Lawson is going to get a chance run the show again, that’s why the hope is that he can get back to playing like the Ty Lawson of old. With Darren Collison most likely out for the first couple of games, Lawson is going to get another chance at running his own team. So, he needs to take advantage of the situation.

Overall, the two are going to be tasked with righting this sinking ship that is the Sacramento Kings. With all the dysfunction surrounding the organization, they both need to hold down the fort at point. The team looks like it’s going to have another bad season, but they can try to get it off to a hot start.

Yet, the only way that’s going to happen is if the team can gel together, and that’s going to start with DeMarcus Cousins.

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But players like Ty Lawson and Darren Collison are going to have to show up as well, because Boogie Cousins can’t do it all on his own – as has been well evident through the first six years of his career. That’s why the only way they’ll succeed, is if they play as a team.