Jeremy Lin is headed to the Los Angeles to join Kobe Bryant in the Lakers backcourt.
The Houston Rockets on Friday agreed to deal the veteran guard to the Lakers along with a future first-round draft pick.
According to ESPN, the Lakers were eager to make the deal because Lin is only under contract for next season, playing into the Lakers plan to have the kind of cap flexibility that will allow them to be major players in 2015 summer free agency.
The Philadelphia 76ers also expressed an interest in acquiring the 25-year-old Lin, who broke onto the scene with the Knicks during the 2011-12 season by averaging 15 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals over a 35-game run.
Known as “Linsanity,” the run propelled Lin into the three-year, $25 million deal he inked with the Rockets to become the team’s starting point guard. Lin averaged 12 points, four assists and three rebounds over his two seasons in Houston.
Still, Lin’s time in Houston always seemed to be a bit uneasy. During the team’s recent recruitment of Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony, the Rockets photoshopped images of Anthony in a Houston jersey sporting Lin’s No. 7 uniform, prompting the veteran guard to admit he felt “disrespected” by it all.
In L.A., Lin’s opportunities appear plentiful. Besides Bryant, the Lakers began the off season with only Steve Nash and Robert Sacre under contract. Earlier this week, the team re-signed swingman Nick Young, who was a restricted free agent, and the team used its first-round, lottery slotted pick in this year’s draft to nab Kentucky’s Julius Randle.
The Lakers have yet to name a coach since parting ways with Coach Mike D’Antoni soon after the season. L.A. is known to have interviewed Byron Scott, Mike Dunleavy and Lionel Hollins (since named coach of the Brooklyn Nets) and last week Bryant voiced his support for Scott getting the job.
