Now that Jeremy Lin will for sure be on the Houston Rockets next season, the point guard can start to get excited about the team's recent signing, Dwight Howard. While speaking overseas in China, the 25-year-old could not hide his excitement that the summer's biggest free agent was now in Houston. While Howard once said he was excited about playing pick-and-roll with James Harden, it is Lin who is looking to get in on the action.
"He really likes to play pick-and-roll and I really like to play pick-and-roll, so I hope we can work really well together and really happily learn how to play with each other," Lin said via ESPN.com.
Howard signed with Houston to work with Harden and possibly Chandler Parsons. He did not express too much excitement over Lin, but maybe he should. The point guard could also greatly benefit from the big man's presence on the court. Lin recorded 6.1 assists per game last season, but with Howard he could see those numbers increase.
Howard has never been a big pick-and-roll kind of guy. But if he can embrace it with head coach Kevin McHale, he and Lin could be rather dangerous. Howard has never demonstrated the self-awareness needed to run the system, something that killed his situation with the Los Angeles Lakers. But with a new start in Houston, things could be different.
Lin spent most of the offseason as trade bait. While the Rockets continued to say that the point guard was not leaving, they were not hiding the fact that teams called and were interested. Lin signed a three year deal last summer to join the Rockets. While he started all 82 games for the team, he was not a super star like he was with the New York Knicks for a period of time.
"Right now I know there's always speculation about what might happen, but I haven't made any decisions I haven't thought about it and I'm going to approach that question when the time comes,'' Lin said.
Lin will be entering into the 2013 season fully healthy. Last year, he was still in the midst of rehabbing a knee injury when the season began that could have contributed to his lower numbers. It will be crucial for him to have strong start if he wants to remain on the Rockets roster.
