The Houston Rockets are doing everything in their power to trade Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik. They sought out deals last offseason. The re-addressed the issue during the mid-season training period and now they will once again contact teams about making deals for the center and point guard. Asik will get interest as a strong big man, but determining Lin's market is a bit harder than the Rockets were hoping.
Houston must be buyers this offseason. Two years they got James Harden. Last year they got Dwight Howard. That turned out to not be enough for a championship which once again leaves the Rockets searching for the final piece of the puzzle. In order to sign one more marquee free agent, they have to dump salaries and that starts with Lin and Asik.
According to NBA source Chuck Myron, the Rockets want to trade Lin or Asik or both, but they do not want to take on any salary in return. That is an issue considering Lin is an $8.4 million cap hit. That does not exactly work for a teak looking for flexibility. Lin's deal might be expiring at the end of this upcoming season, but that is not enough for another team to take on his hugely inflated contract. After averaging 12.5 points and 4.1 assists as a sometimes starter, who would honestly consider taking on Lin in a deal?
The best Lin can hope for a reunion with the New York Knicks. The Rockets want Carmelo Anthony, maybe more than they want Kevin Love. If that is going to happen, they need to try and strike some kind of deal for the guard in order to dump salary to afford him. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Rockets will inquire about a sign-and-trade. The Rockets could pair Lin and Chandler Parsons, who is a restricted free agent, in a sign-and-trade to acquire Anthony. They would sign Parsons to a new deal and then swap players out. Parsons would be more than a one-year rental and Lin will be gone in a season, plus he is a slight upgrade in the point guard position.
Outside of the Knicks, the Los Angeles Lakers would be interested. Asik would be the replacement of Pau Gasol. Lin would take the place of Steve Nash. The only way the Lakers could acquire either player is if the Rockets are downright desperate. They must lower their asking price for the Lakers to be players in this game since the team lacks any kind of return assets to give back.
