James Harden (who recently agreed to a $200 million deal with Adidas) and the Houston Rockets are locked and loaded for another fantastic season and a deep playoff run. They recently traded away Kostas Papanikolau, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson, and a future first-round pick for a future second-round pick and Ty Lawson.

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This move is generally hailed as a success for the Rockets, who didn't have to give up key pieces for a fantastic ball-handler who can take the pressure off of James Harden, allowing him to play off the ball more often. 

However, Ty Lawson's on-court abilities have never been a problem; it's his off-court issues that make teams apprehensive to play him. Last July 14, Ty Lawson was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. This marks the 2nd time Lawson was arrested for a DUI in the past 6 months, and the 5th time total starting in 2008 when he pleaded guilty for underage drinking (Lawson was 20-years-old at the time). 

The Denver Nuggets were well aware of his alcohol problem and realised that his playing ability was not worth the off-court drama that came with a player of Lawson's calibre. The Nuggets traded him away with the hopes of building from the ground up. They finished with a 30-52 record in a 2014-2015 season where their biggest highlight was when they reportedly broke a huddle with the phrase "1-2-3 six weeks!" There was 6 weeks left in the season.

James Harden, however, believes that the off-court issues are not going to be a problem as Lawson plays his first season with the Rockets this coming October.

Harden stated to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle that "Ty is definitely going to help us ... He gives us that quickness, that speed, playmaking ability, something that we were missing, especially deep in the playoffs. We're going to welcome him with open arms. We're happy to have him." 

He further went on to state that "We're happy to have him. He's going to be a great addition to our team. I've been with him these last couple weeks. He's more focused than ever. He has a great opportunity with a really good team to showcase his talents and help us with that push that we need. "

Harden seems to not be too concerned over Lawson, who recently finished a 30-day rehabilitation program. In fact, he is very optimistic for the upcoming season. 

"We can have Ty Lawson handle the basketball, play Pat (Beverley) off the ball. You can play them together. We have a lot of different lineups, a lot of options with this team. I've very excited to see how it all is going to pan out. Good things are going to happen. "

Lawson averaged 15.2 PPG, 9.6 APG, and 3.1 RPG in 75 games with the Nuggets. 

Tags NBA news, James Harden, Ty Lawson