I would disagree if Kobe was injured, and they still had Mike D'Antoni. Then it would be NYK again with Lin having the ball in his hands and running the offense for 44 minutes a game. Unfortunately, its Byron Scott, and Kobe will be back. I don't quite see how Lin is going to do better than before because Kobe isn't the facilitator that Harden is. Not to mention once again there will be little PG pick and roll, I assume. Unless Lin miraculously learns how to become a better spot up and back screen player then he's ****ed. That being said now that he's not a Rocket and ruining my team and causing us to lose crucial games I'll be rooting for him again. **** his irrational fanboy LOFs though.
Sorry but the hate of LOFs seems to cloud peoples judgment. Lin had 6.1 assists and 13.4 pts next to Harden in 2012-2013. In 2013-2014 he took 1.6 fewer shots per game so his per game scoring was off, but his per 36 scoring went up from 14.9 to 15.6 because of improved 3P%. If he took a few more shots per game and maintained his FG%/3P%/FT% he could easily average 15 or 16pts. The Lakers don't have many offensive weapons except Kobe, Boozer and Young off the bench. Randle is so raw that he probably wont get much playing time if they're trying to compete. So it's possible Lin will be their 3rd option. The reality is that Lin can be a top 20 PG if he cuts down his dumb TOVs. It may surprise a lot of people, but Bledsoe's career per 36 stats are pretty close to Lin's #'s except in rebounding. It would be funny if we end up paying him near max to replace Lin.