The Rockets will host Carmelo Anthony and have pictures of Carmelo in Rockets uniforms on Toyota Center marquis pic.twitter.com/2VfycvqlkN
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) July 2, 2014
Luke 6:29 - If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) July 2, 2014
The Houston Rockets had the Toyota Center all decked out to welcomed free agent forward Carmelo Anthony to Houston for a visit Wednesday, but in delivering their sales pitch they may have stepped on another star's toes.
Displayed prominently outside of their arena was a giant banner with Anthony wearing a photoshopped Rockets jersey with the same number he wears for the Knicks, number 7. This in itself isn't anything terrible, actually the Bulls did the same thing yesterday, but it didn't go over so well in Houston as Jeremy Lin wears number 7 already.
He was clearly upset after seeing the sign, but leaned on his faith instead of lashing out when he took to twitter to express a reaction to the sight.
If Anthony agree to sign with the Rockets, many believe the team will have to trade Lin. After the Omer Asik trade last week, it was clear the Rockets were willing to deal to grow stronger and hopefully make it out of the first rounds of the Playoffs. Will that include a trade for Lin?
Yo have to believe that is probably the case, because there is no way the uniform display was an accident. Everyone, especially Carmelo Anthony, knows the Rockets signed Lin to a "ridiculous" three-year, $25 million contract, and it's widely believed they'll need to clear it off their books if they want to bring in a player of Anthony's caliber.
This news coincides with reports out of Philadelphia that the Rockets are working a deal to trade Lin to the Sixers. LIn is due $15 million of that $25 Million this year, and the Rockets will probably need to move Lin to pull in Anthony, or any other top tier player for that matter.
The Sixers don't have much to lose, as they are not expected to try and grab some big players. They would only be on the line with Lin for one year, and they could go another direction after that if they are disappointed in his production.
