According to reports, Houston Rockets Ty Lawson is making significant progress on his road to recovery.

The Rockets’ trade for point guard Ty Lawson has been downplayed because of the possibility that Lawson’s antics off the court may get in the way of the teams’ success on the court.

In truth, the addition of Lawson fills the Rockets’ deepest hole, and makes a team that ended their season in the Western Conference Finals a more wholesome unit than last season’s roster.

The Rockets understand, however, that trading for Lawson involved a risk. “I think when you’re trying to get the best team out of 30, you got to take risk all over the place,” General Manager Daryl Morey told reporters at ESPN after the trade. The Rockets’ front office is hoping that high risk will translate into high reward.

Lawson received two D.U.I’s in the span of six months earlier this year– one being in Denver, the other in L.A. According to TMZ, just a few days ago Lawson attended a hearing for his case in Denver, in which the judge wrote that Lawson is making “excellent progress.” The hearing for the case in L.A. is scheduled for next week. After that the NBA will then determine Lawson’s punishment, which is likely to include a multi-game suspension.

“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” – Harden

Lawson seems to be making the right decisions. Rockets superstar James Harden, for one, believes Lawson’s off-the-court issues won’t be a problem for him in Houston. “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,” Harden told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Rockets fans can take comfort in Harden’s confidence in Lawson, and in the fact that Harden is assisting the guard along his path to recovery.

If Lawson’s recovery continues to run smoothly, and he turns out to be what the Rockets are hoping for, Houston becomes one of the deepest teams in the league. If Lawson drops the ball, and gets into more trouble, the Rockets are back to where they started before acquiring Lawson as a talented team with a hole at the point guard position. Heres to hoping the former takes place instead of the latter.