if harden/howard become next kobe/shaq then Lin doesnt even have to be any more than average. Biggest reason is there isn't a clear upgrade out there. People would rather not have a slightly above average pg in LIn for 8 mill and get an inferior PG who outplays a 4 mill a year salary.
We can sign Howard to the complete max, then sign and trade Asik alone for Smith if he signs for around 12 mill. If he wants to sign for more like around 14 mill, we can package either Jones or Motiejunas with him to get it done. No Lin involvement.
We can take back 150% in cap that we sent away in the S&T. So trading Asik alone (8.3 million) means Smith would have to agree to a salary of only ~12.5 million for the numbers to work. People are speculating hell be offered 14-16 million from other teams, so that means he'd have to accept a significant pay cut. This is assuming we sign Howard to the max and that brings up right up to the cap limit. It is unlikely he will take a pay cut to give us significant extra cap room.
Until Lin officially welcomes D12 on his Twitter, I'm guessing he's on the block. I've already said this months before too, regarding this scenario. Lin is a better PG than anyone the Rockets can get at this point and his ceiling is only getting higher. However, as a "fit" for the team. He no longer fits and here's why: 1. With D12, forget "democratic", "pass the rock to the open guy", "exciting", "fast paced", "high scoring", basketball. With Howard in the picture, this team will slow down to play half court. This team will be heavily, my guess, a two-man game between Harden and Howard. Combined, they'll see the ball 40-60 percent of the time, or in other words, they'll be the guys who are supposed to score (and rightfully so). This makes Parsons your #3 option, and whoever at 4, number 4. Lin's attacking or scoring isn't needed. He'll be going from your 2-3 option to 4-5. His passing skills won't be needed as half court sets will dominate. Effectively, you're not paying a guy $8 mil to be Mario Chalmers. Patrick Beverley can do that. So while, he's the best PG by talent the Rockets can get, looking down the road, they'll need that cap space to figure out missing pieces in 2014 because they'll have holes to fill in 2013, and use that money in 14. 2. Lin could be traded after next season, but not mid-season. I say he could be traded next season, not because the Rockets want to see how he progresses. Rather, he'll be an expiring contract at that point, whereby the Rockets could pick up a "need" with roughly the same contract 2014 mid season, if it gets to that point. 3. The ironic thing here, which people would disagree with because they probably don't think about it in this way, Chandler Parsons, for all the recruiting he's done, is at this point, the Rockets BIGGEST TRADE PIECE. Yes, his skills per contract size ratio is ridiculous. Yes, he's one of the best contracts in the NBA. This makes him an asset from the point of both keeping him or trading him. You have D12 and Harden, Parsons' ceiling is allstar player but not "elite". If you're in it to win it, knowing you might not be able to afford Parsons after his contract is up, package him now for LMA or Love. It just makes too much sense.
<<<Rockets Prepared To Keep Omer Asik, Jeremy Lin -- http://bit.ly/1aab3hz>>> Why need to prepare....just keep. wtf?
its obviously ironie. people are just way too much reading into that whole lin twitter thing. he never welcomes people on his twitter account and as conquistador stated he didnt say goodbye to trob either..
