By signing Ty Lawson, the Houston Rockets didn’t just add an excellent point guard in his prime for pieces they didn’t really need or want; they also have the option of turning his two-year deal into a one year rental.

The Rockets agreed to deal for Lawson by making the season season in his two-year, $25.6 million remaining, unguaranteed. Lawson is a risk considering his DUI history and his legal problems, so if this doesn’t work out, the Rockets aren’t hit with a $13.4 million deal that they’d wish they never took on.

Lawson is being called a top 10 point guard by the Rockets, which makes sense. Over the last four seasons he’s averaged (since becoming a full-time starter) 16.4 points and 8 assists per game. He might be struggling on defense against the bigger guards and isn’t too hot from beyond the arc, but he’s excellent in the open floor and is excellent in creating for himself and others.

It’s still an interesting question to ask; how will this work? Patrick Beverley might be relegated to backup point guard, or maybe Lawson will back up him initially. It’ll also be interesting to see how Lawson operated when he’s next to James Harden. Harden is a shooting guard, but the ball is in his hands most of the time, and Lawson isn’t the best player in the world when it comes to playing off the ball.

We’re going to see a lot of adjusting and getting used to something new from Lawson, which includes playing less minutes and staying on the bench more than he’s used to. It beats being released and maybe finding himself out of the league.