Troy Taormina – USA Today Sports Images
The Houston Rockets were able to land the biggest prize in NBA Free Agency this summer when they landed Dwight Howard. This marks the second straight off-season where they have made major waves, landing James Harden in a trade and signing both Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin last summer.
If Howard is healthy, you know that you’re going to get an elite defender, rebounder and a physical force on the offensive end of the floor. Harden and Asik are also among the players that the Rockets know what they’re getting from. However, Lin is an entirely different story, especially after his 2012-2013 season.
Lin started all 82 games for Houston in the regular season, averaging 13.4 points, 6.1 assists, three rebounds and 1.6 steals in 32.2 minutes per game. He also shot 44.1 percent from the floor, but hit on just 33.9 percent of his three-point attempts and turned the ball over 2.9 times per game.
Though Lin showed that he’s a talented offensive player, he also showed a lot of his weaknesses. He struggled with fast and athletic defenses and had troubles with his turnovers as well, something that many people failed to mention during his “Linsanity” run in the previous season. Lin’s struggles at times, especially in the postseason, even bring about questions about whether or not Patrick Beverley should grab the starting point guard job from Lin.
Given all of this, Lin has a ton to prove in the upcoming season. Playing with a dominant big man like Howard will help him a great deal, especially with his playmaking as a passer. However, he has to improve on his ball-security and on his shot-selection as well. There’s no doubt that he has the physical tools to make things happen, but if he doesn’t improve upon his weaknesses, he may no longer be considered an integral part of this Rockets team.
Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20, add him on Google+ and like his Facebook page.
