North Carolina Tar Heels: Ty Lawson’s Day in the Sun

Apr 11, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Ty Lawson (10) shoots the ball over Phoenix Suns guard Tyler Ulis (8) during the first quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 11, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Ty Lawson (10) shoots the ball over Phoenix Suns guard Tyler Ulis (8) during the first quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Former North Carolina Tar Heels guard Ty Lawson will not be in the NBA Playoffs this season, but he had a big day nonetheless.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are off preparing for either the NFL or NBA Drafts, but some still have games to play. Some of these games are sadly of little importance to the overall outcome of the league in which they play. For instance, the Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns had a showdown of tiny proportions where whomever tanked best won.

That kind of environment would not seem like the kind of place to find real achievement. However, Ty Lawson was not going to just sit back and let his team lose.

Lawson is playing out a one year deal for the veteran minimum with Sacramento. He has been hoping to find a real foothold in an organization since his DUI troubles began known. Since then, he was traded by Denver to Houston. Then his inability to coexist with James Harden got him bought out and sent to Indiana. Then nobody made a serious offer in free agency so Lawson took a prove-it deal with the Kings.

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With regular minutes, Lawson put together a season reminiscent of his best days in Denver. However you would not be blamed for forgetting he was in the league at all this year. That is until he put a cherry on top of his comeback-ish season.

Lawson used the Phoenix game to earn the first triple-double of his career. He scored twenty-two points, collected eleven rebounds, and handed out twelve assists. Several of his assists ended up as jump shots for teammate Buddy Hield. Hield scored thirty points of his own.

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The question for Lawson is where he goes from here. He will be a free agent for the second straight summer and could join his fifth team in three years. He did enough this year to show there is still some mileage on those tires, so hopefully he has some more options this summer.