Jeremy Lin's season with the Los Angeles Lakers has been nothing short of disappointment, casting a cloud of doubt on his future in the NBA. But at only 26-year old, Lin may still have time to turn thing around, according to former New York Times NBA insider and Bleacher Report analyst Howard Beck.
In his recent article on Bleacher Report, Beck systematically broke down Lin's up-and-down play with the Lakers this season and provided a glimpse of his future, as he prepares for his upcoming free-agency at the end of this year's campaign.
While there's no doubt the market is going to be weaker than he had after putting up a phenomenal performance in New York three years ago, Beck is confident there will be a team gambling on Lin next summer.
He already mentioned the Houston Rockets as a possible destination despite the fact it was the same team that traded him to the Lakers in the offseason. However, Beck stressed the Rockets' interest in Lin remains high up to now.
"But the Rockets needed salary-cap room last July to make a frenzied, all-out bid for Chris Bosh. So they offloaded Lin's hefty contract, along with a first-round pick, to the Lakers. It was purely a bookkeeping move. The Rockets remain high on Lin and are expected to be among his chief suitors this summer."
The Golden State Warriors, another Lin's former ball club, and the Philadelphia 76ers, the team that tried to snatch Lin off the trading block before the Rockets decided to trade him to Los Angeles, have also been linked as potential suitors.
His production with the Lakers (averaging 10.4 points and 4.7 assists) is his lowest output since landing a three-year, $25M contract with the Rockets in 2012, but Lin's numbers aren't bad at all for a bench player who logs 25 minutes per game. Moreover, Beck added the 26-year old Lin still has enough time to save his career, though the analysts stressed he needs to pick a team that would maximize his strengths - playing pick-and-roll and in up-tempo offense.
"At 26, Lin is still young enough to have an upside, and he's driven to keep improving. This isn't the first time he's hit a roadblock. As a freshman at Harvard, things got so bad that Lin's mother pulled transfer papers at one point. But Lin stuck it out and became an Ivy League star. The same pattern has played out in the NBA."
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