Really? The Houston Rockets want to make Patrick Beverley responsible for their offense? Okay, he is the cheaper option, but are the Rockets not trying to win a championship? Signing Omer Asik was a bad move to begin with, but now rumors out of Houston involve Jeremy Lin as a trade piece. The Rockets might want to reconsider this thought and swallow whatever penalties come with keeping Lin on their roster.
Lin is primed for a breakout season. He's familiarized himself with James Harden and Chandler Parsons, two of the league's best three-point shooters. Parsons finished 20th in the league with 152 three-pointers made while Harden was sixth with 179 made threes. These players give Lin weapons on the outside. Now, the four-year deal worth $88 million that brought Dwight Howard to Houston looks to be the reason why the Rockets want to get rid of both Asik and Lin. Howard can't dribble the ball on his own and Harden will attract the defense if he runs the offense. Ultimately, the Rockets' offense will suffer as two of their best players will not have enough distractions.
Beverley was decent in his 41 games played, but Coach Kevin McHale fell in love with him. Beverley averaged 17 minutes, 5.6 points and 2.9 assists per game in the regular season. However, these numbers increased during the playoffs. Beverley bettered his performance averaging 11.8 points, 2.8 assists and 1.2 steals. Lin saw his playing time decrease as McHale continuously started Beverley. However, the 2.8 assists is unimpressive, the Rockets have plenty of scorers, as Harden and Howard will get to the bucket. What the Rockets need is a passer and that's what Lin has brought to the table in his last two seasons.
It became harder for Lin to adjust to the offense in the playoffs since he only played in four games, where he totaled 16 points for a disappointing four points per game. Maybe this tells the Rockets that Lin wasn't worth the $25 million they gave him for three years. However, the team seems to be turning their back on their own investment. Lin is only 24 years of age and they're already giving up on him?
Trading Lin now would be a mistake. Lin has a target he can hit, the way he did in New York with the Knicks along side Tyson Chandler. From the looks of it, keeping Lin would cost the Rockets a couple of dollars as they will have exceeded the luxury tax. However, the Rockets gave the Oklahoma City Thunder a run for their money in the first round of the playoffs. If the team is able to build enough chemistry and make it to the playoffs, who knows what will happen?
It's time the Rockets pay up the money it takes to build championships. They have to take care of their investments as the team is trying to move one of the players that kept them in the race during the regular season. If the Rockets are really trying to move Lin, they did a horrible job trying to promote the point guard to the rest of the league as they sat him down during the playoffs.
Lin averaged 13.4 points, 6.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game in his first full NBA season.
What do you think the Rockets should do? Stick with Lin or let Lin walk?
