After Dwight Howard confirmed his decision to sign with Houston Rockets on Twitter, the next question that follows is whether Jeremy Lin, along with Omer Asik, would be traded to Los Angeles or Atlanta or remains in Houston as the starting point guard.
On Friday at 4:09 PM, ESPN’s Chris Broussard presented a possible sign-and-trade scenario, where Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin would probably be two principles in any deal: “I’m told Hawks and Rockets working on sign & trade to bring Josh Smith to Hou, probably for Asik and JLin.”
At 5:14 PM, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that a sign-and-trade sending Smith to Houston isn’t there yet: “Houston and Atlanta haven’t discussed a Josh Smith sign-and-trade, but that’s a conversation that could happen soon, league sources tell Y!”
However, Daryl Morey, general manager of Houston Rockets, denied earlier this week of trading Asik and Lin after trade rumors were widely reported by the media.
“Both with Omer and Jeremy, we feel like they’re good fits for Dwight. Omer with Dwight would give us the best (centers) in the league in combination,” Morey told Houston Chronicles. “Jeremy is an attacking guard, great in pick-and-roll, a great fit for Dwight. Dwight works great with shooting and attacking guards. Harden is great at both. That’s why he’s an All Star.”
At 7:57 PM Friday, Howard posted on Twitter his confirmation of his decision to join Houston Rockets: “I’ve decided to become a member of the Houston Rockets. I feel it’s the best place for me and I’m excited about joining the Rockets and I’m looking forward to a great season. I want to thank the fans in Los Angeles and wish them the best.”
Around the same time, Howard explained to ESPNLosAngeles.com in a phone interview Friday evening that he chose Rockets because they “got a lot of young players” and a good coach Kevin McHale. Moreover, he sees the ability for him to grow together with the young team and the best chance to make it to his first NBA title.
Thus, despite the speculations presented by Broussard, it doesn’t look like Lin will be traded, since he has performed well as a rookie, averaging 13.4 points and 6.1 assists per game on 44.1 percent shooting during his first season in Houston as a rookie. Moreover, Lin was injured, so he was not able to perform at the top condition.
Just exactly what does Howard meant by Rockets “got a lot of young players?” Is Lin, the subject of Linsanity, whom Howard considers as the part of the young team that he would like to grow together towards his first NBA title and future championships? That’s a question still to be answered.
