Lawson's on-the-job training makes impact for Nuggets

Travel light, travel quick is the surest way to slog through an NBA season, so the Denver Nuggets tote their own deck of laminated nameplates to stick above each stall in the visitors' dressing rooms for a few hours on game nights. Thin, slick and shiny, they're all set up the same: Player's name, player's number. Player's name, player's number. Until you get to the one that says "Rookie, #3."

That would be Ty Lawson, who might not play much like a rookie these days but will remain one at least for 67 more games within the Nuggets' pecking order and George Karl's coaching culture.

"Aw yeah, it's all year. I know. I'm used to it now," Lawson said Wednesday night, after Denver's 124-111 victory at Minnesota. "It hasn't been bad. I probably have the least rookie jobs of anybody [in the league] who's a rookie. They treat me well. They don't like donuts. I don't carry bags. I don't have to do too much, man."

Other than, you know, cope with Karl, who is about as old-school as they come in terms of embracing rookies. The Nuggets coach likes first-year players about as much as W.C. Fields liked kid co-stars, not because they might upstage him but because they can undermine what he and the rest of the players are trying to accomplish. To Karl, "rookies" is just another seven-letter word for "mistake."

"I'm still a coach who basically believes that young players, it's difficult for them to learn the NBA game and produce winning," Karl said. "It takes a process, and the process is not one month. The process is usually more than one year and sometimes two or three."

When a team hasn't won or isn't expected to win, a rookie can be thrown out on the court with fewer repercussions. It often isn't pretty -- mistakes can lead to more losing, and bad habits are learned same as good -- but for the young players themselves, it all goes down more easily. More time equals more leeway, more leeway equals more fun, even when the scoreboard frowns.

So peers from the Class of 2009 such as Minnesota's Jonny Flynn, Sacramento's Tyreke Evans, New Jersey's Terrence Williams and Golden State's Stephen Curry log longer minutes than Lawson. Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings is getting both playing time and team success. But none of them can touch the 11 victories Lawson has been involved in, helping in his part-time -- and growing -- role to make a very good team even better.

"I know my turn's going to come eventually," said Lawson, the No. 18 pick in June out of North Carolina. "I'd rather play on a good team, get less minutes and win than play on a losing team that has a bad record and going through horrible stretches during the year, playing a lot. Plus, I'm playing a lot of minutes for a rookie who's behind an All-Star on a good team."

Said Karl: "Rookies who have to take a losing team and try to make it a winning team usually get more opportunity than Ty. Our team, we've got to win 55 games. You're not going to experiment very much if you're trying to win 55 games. That's why I think Ty has really been impressive. I think we all felt from very early in training camp, we had the confidence that we could still win with this kid playing and learning and progressing."

You're tempted to say that Lawson's progress has been slow and steady, except that nothing he does is slow. The quicksilver 5-foot-11 point guard scored 17 points with six assists in his debut with Denver. He scored 23 points in 27 minutes against the Nets, had four more double-digit games in the next two weeks and chipped in eight points, six assists and five rebounds against the Timberwolves on Wednesday. Lawson ranks in the top eight among rookies in six different categories -- points, assists, steals and all three shooting percentages -- even though he's ninth in minutes (21.7).

"He knows he's playing behind an All-Star," said starter Chauncey Billups, who just happens to be that All-Star. "He wants to do his best to make sure one day he's going to be an All-Star. He has a great understanding of the game at a young age that I didn't have, that a lot of players don't have, as far as knowing how to play the point guard position. There are some nuances about the NBA game that he still has to learn, but he's ahead of the curve."

Jennings' startling success with the Bucks has some folks thinking his unusual path to the NBA -- turn pro right out of high school and play for one season in Europe -- could gain wider acceptance. Lawson did it the old-fashioned way, attending one of America's most prestigious college programs and cramming his shelves with all sorts of individual and team achievements (such as an NCAA championship last April with the Tar Heels, a Final Four all-tournament spot and the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's best point guard). His coach, Roy Williams, whispered some sweet somethings into Karl's ear -- more Tar Heel connection -- that convinced the Nuggets to acquire Lawson.

So the all-everything guy from Clinton, Md., wouldn't change a thing. Or would he?

"Brandon Jennings probably would have made more money," Lawson said, "if he'd played in the NCAA -- he'd have been a higher pick [than No. 10] after showing more of what he could do. When he was overseas, nobody could really see what he could do because he didn't play that much. So to each his own. But Brandon's just a crazy dude -- he likes to go against the grain. Different people take different routes."

So no Europe, no problem for you then? "If I thought it was available, I probably would have gone overseas too. To make money, too."

Lawson won't have any problems there if he keeps boosting the Nuggets off the bench. He has 51 assists to 21 turnovers so far and the pace at which he plays had Denver ranked third in fast-break scoring with 17.92 points before they got another 24 on the break at Minnesota Wednesday.

"He hasn't been great every night but he hasn't been bad very often," Karl said. "In general, what he gives us, no one else gives us on our team: The speed, the ability to push us up and down the court just with his ability to play fast. One, we like to play that way and two, he's the best guy on the team at that."

It wasn't lost Wednesday on folks in Minnesota that Lawson might be another one-who-got-away. It was their pick at No. 18 that Denver procured on Draft night, made available once the Timberwolves took Spain's Ricky Rubio at No. 5 and Flynn one spot later. It's the sort of second-guessable decision that fits the ignoble pattern of Randy Foye over Brandon Roy, Rashad McCants over Danny Granger and Ndudi Ebi over Josh Howard, especially with Rubio staying overseas. Flynn should be fine -- he had 20 points but just two assists on 6-of-15 shooting in more than 38 minutes of on-the-job training -- but Lawson is ... well, finer.

"I'm OK right where I'm at," he said. "We're playing well, I'm on a winning team, we have a chance to win a championship. Not a lot of players get to do that. I'm playing around 20 minutes a game, right? I have no problem playing on this team."

He really doesn't. Which for a George Karl rookie, says a lot.

Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA for 25 years. You can e-mail him here.

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