The Indiana Pacers are set to retain Ty Lawson for next season as new head coach Nate McMillan compared the point guard to Washington Wizards' John Wall.
Indiana acquired the seven-year pro on March 7 of this year after he was released by the Houston Rockets six days before that through a buyout deal. His signing was mainly for the purpose of providing backup to starting floor general George Hill, ESPN reported.
It was not a remarkable stint so far for Lawson playing primary substitute for Hill as he averaged 4.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists in 18.1 minutes of playing time per night in 13 regular season games. In the playoffs, he produced even more dismal numbers of 2.3 points, 1.0 boards, and 1.4 dimes per game in seven games before they were eliminated in the first round by the Toronto Raptors.
However, he managed to gain the confidence of team president Larry Bird as the NBA legend revealed that he was "comfortable" with Lawson on the court and in their roster, which indicates that he will be signed beyond the summer after he becomes a free agent this July.
"I felt comfortable when Ty Lawson was here making plays and getting up and down the court," said Bird, as per ESPN's 1070 the Fan.
Meanwhile, the report also cited McMillan as amenable to Bird in re-signing Lawson as the new bench boss said that the point guard position is "so important" if the team wants to play at a faster pace.
And that is what they intend to do next season, McMillan said, as he explained the reason why they switched Monta Ellis to play the number one while sliding Hill at the shooting guard spot to take advantage of the latter's precise three-point shooting.
Lawson could be the solution McMillan is searching for when it comes to speeding up their pace as he compared him to the Wizards' Wall with regards to his speed and establishing the tempo of the game.
"I was in the West for a number of years coaching against that guy," said McMillan. "He has the speed and he certainly has the game to establish that tempo. When he was in Denver under (George) Karl, he was deadly. There's probably one other guy that has that type of speed - John Wall."
"So Ty certainly could be the guy to establish that tempo. That was the main reason Larry tried to bring him in. I think he only played 13, 14 games for us so it was hard to really take a good look at him," he added.