Los Angeles Lakers almost passed on Jeremy Lin trade

Coming into the season, the Los Angeles Lakers knew they needed to make some big changes which was part of the reason they acquired Jeremy Lin in a trade with the Houston Rockets.

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But such a deal may not have happened if the Lakers and general manager Mitch Kupchek didn’t stomp their feet and scare the Houston Rockets into making a deal.

According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Houston Rockets were in talks with Chris Bosh about a potential deal though to complete such the team would need to trade Jeremy Lin’s salary. Of course, it didn’t make sense for the Rockets to trade Lin without securing an agreement from Bosh but the Los Angeles Lakers were adamant about the deal going through immediately.

"The Rockets were still only negotiating with Bosh at that point but, having already struck a deal on draft night to trade Omer Asik to the New Orleans Pelicans, went ahead with the Lin trade before securing Bosh’s commitment because (A) L.A. wouldn’t wait any longer and (B) sources say that trading Lin to the Philadelphia 76ers would have cost Houston multiple future first-round picks."

While Philadelphia was interested in acquiring Lin, they only wanted the point guard because of the picks they’d be able to obtain. They, unlike the Los Angeles Lakers, had no need for Jeremy Lin the player.

Obviously it would have made the most sense for the Houston Rockets to secure some type of agreement with Chris Bosh (who ended up re-signing with the Miami Heat) before trading Jeremy Lin, but the Los Angeles Lakers pushing the envelope forced the hand of the Rockets and general manager Daryl Morey.

It was a bit of a gamble on behalf of the Los Angeles Lakers front office, but one that worked out in their favor.

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