The Houston Rockets are heading into the 2013 season with very high expectations after signing Dwight Howard and with point guard Jeremy Lin coming back for a second year with the team he will be one of the main focuses of the offense at Howard tries to win a championship.
Howard needs to do that to shed the perception about him and Lin will play a big part in that, as will backup Patrick Beverley. Lin is a worldwide figure now after breaking out with the Knicks and now that he is with the Rockets he has continued that, including with working on a special program with kids alongside Education Secretary Arne Duncan for the department's "Let's Read! Let's Move!" event. Lin read books to kids along with Duncan, who also went to Harvard and played basketball, reading "Where The Wild Things Are" and "The Day The Crayons Quit".
Lin is a role model now and as he moves into his second season he has high expectations as well, especially after having $17 million left on his deal and while trade rumors came up this offseason, that's all they ended up being. Last season Lin averaged over 14 points and six assists per 36 minutes and now he will be asked to improve on those numbers, as Beverley averaged 12 points and six assists and he also was better in steals, blocks and had turnovers per game and showed during the playoffs he could start while Lin was injured.
The Rockets come into the season after being the eighth seed in the playoffs and losing to the Thunder, but this year with Howard they are expecting a much higher seed. The team saw how things went in LA for Howard and while that situation was intense, this should be more relaxing media-wise and that could mean big things for the Rockets and for Howard as well. Lin is a big part of the offense and there were stretches last season when he looked brilliant, but he also had some problems with turnovers and he will need to get those numbers down.
James Harden was added to the team last season and showed that he can be an elite scorer and along with Howard the Rockets feel they have a championship team. Omer Asik, Omri Casspi, Chandler Parsons and Marcus Camby are solid options as well and things may end up hinging on how Lin performs. The Rockets went 45-37 last season and likely will improve this year with Howard and while Lin is getting paid a lot and led the team in assists per game, there is good reason to consider Beverley and he offers a fantastic backup option for Houston.
