After being in the crop of players who were waived earlier this week, AJ Lawson will be sticking around in Toronto after all. The 25-year-old third-year player has signed a two-way contract with Toronto per Micheal Scotto, which means that he will be playing for the Raptors 905 this season, with the opportunity to be called up and play for the main roster as well.
Lawson averaged 9.1 points per game in 18.7 minutes per game last season for the Raptors. The most eye-popping facet of his game is his speed and athleticism. His shooting is undoubtedly a work in progress, but when he is given the ball with an advantage he can keep it alive and attack the paint. 59 percent of his field goals were assisted, and this often came either in transition, or when he would get the ball after his man sagged off of him and he’d find his way to the rim. Some shots he would legitimately get to the rim off of his pure athleticism.
This athleticism also translated to his on-ball defense at times, his lateral quickness at the point-of-attack is something that also stood out during his minutes. Where has he to take a jump to become more of a mainstay in the NBA is as a creator. Lawson isn’t much of a passer, when he gets the ball it’s either to shoot an open shot, or barrel his way to the rim, if he were to figure out how to leverage his drives into playmaking opportunities, it would be huge for his game.
He’s still only 25 years old so there is time for potential improvement, and it is also nice for the Canada-native to remain in his homeland for the time being.
