The Houston Rockets are expected to engage in trade discussions involving Jeremy Lin before the deadline, and the 25-year-old point guard might have helped them in finding a trade partner.
The trade value of Lin is now on a rise after a string of impressive performances last week. The Rockets' backup point guard averaged 18.0 points to go along with 7.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds in their back-to-back wins over the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks last week.
Lin's impressive games against their Texas rivals was followed by another stellar performance when he recorded his first career triple-double off the bench - tallying 15 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 10 assists in their 106-92 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday. Full highlights of Lin's triple-double performance can be viewed below.
"That's hard to do," said Rockets superstar on recording a triple-double off the bench. "It's just hard to be able to score the basketball, grab rebounds and pass the ball and get your teammates involved off the bench as a point guard. It's tough. But he's talented enough to do it and he did it."
Most executives are still convinced though that the Rockets will eventually part ways with Lin before the deadline along with Omer Asik, and performance like that definitely helped the Rockets' chance of getting high value in return.
Previous rumors suggested that the Rockets will consider trading the former Harvard University standout to the Toronto Raptors in a deal involving veteran playmaker Kyle Lowry.
Lin's name also floated in trade rumors suggesting that he will be package with disgruntled center Asik and future picks in a trade for Boston Celtics superstar point guard Rajon Rondo.
But on the other hand, Lin's recent impressive streak could also convince the Rockets to keep him for the remainder of the season. Yahoo Sports noted that as long as Lin can stay healthy along with his co-key players, the Rockets could have a serious shot at the Western Conference title this year.
"If Lin can keep his confidence up, Beverley can stay healthy, and Harden can continue to show the same kind of defensive intensity he has shown in the past month, the Rockets have a shot at taking the Western Conference -- an outside shot, but a shot nonetheless," Yahoo Sports noted.
