Jeremy Lin make his way back to Houston Rockets; this time as somebody significant – NBA News
Jeremy Lin took to the Houston Rockets practice courts on Thursday, and contemplated over the past few weeks of his life. These were the same practice courts where he worked in anonymity, without anyone noticing him, nearly 7 months
ago.
Today, he takes the court as the starting point guard of the Houston Rockets with a 3 year contract worth $25.1 million under his belt.
“It's been an unbelievable ride. Just a lot of things I didn't expect to happen, in terms of just the way last season went. I still have to kind of remind myself that this is all actually happening, sometimes,” said Lin.
Lin was signed by the Houston Rockets in free agency after the New York Knicks, his former team from last season, decided not to match the $25.1 million offer by Houston.
Lin was a member of the Rockets squad last year before the season began, but was waived by them on Christmas Eve, just before the regular season commenced. And when he scored 20 plus points in 9 out of 10 straight games for the
New York Knicks last season, Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey was dreading the day he decided to waive Lin. To add to that, Rockets owner Leslie Alexander called him and asked him why Lin was let go.
"He was killing me. I think one of the reasons Mr. Alexander is a great owner is because we're constantly evaluating our past decisions and deciding what did we know at the time? What could we have done better? How can we improve?”
said Morey.
When Lin was waived, the Rockets had solid point guards in Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic. However, both players went to other teams in free agency this year, and the Rockets brought back Lin as the starting point guard.
Lin commands a lot of popularity because of his fairy tale story and his Chinese – Taiwanese descent. He helped increase the marketing revenue for the Knicks during his short stint there, and many believe that is one of the reasons
why he was pursued by the Rockets.
"It's great for the city, it's great for the fans, it's great for everybody. The sponsors, everybody associated with the team,” said team owner Leslie Alexander.
However, once Lin steps into the court next season, he will need to justify his hefty price tag and prove to himself and everyone else that he is not just a one hit wonder who was on a hot streak, but a talented and versatile basketball
player who has the ability to learn quickly and develop his skills. He will need that to compete against other point guards in a league, currently being dominated by that position.
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