The Houston Rockets have traded Jeremy Lin to the Los Angeles Lakers in a cap-clearing move, according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman.
Rockets have dealt Jeremy Lin and a future first-rounder to Lakers, sources told ESPN. Houston clearing space to land Bosh, keep Parsons.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) July 11, 2014
Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski has additional details.
The Lakers will send cash and rights to overseas player to the Rockets, but no salary back, league source tells Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 11, 2014
As Goodman notes, the motivation for this move is fairly obvious.
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With LeBron James deciding to head home to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Chris Bosh is likely to bolt Miami. Houston has long represented the front-runners to land his services if he decided to do so.
The next move is obviously getting a firm commitment from Bosh, who will speak to Rockets head coach Kevin McHale shortly, according to Wojnarowski.
Chris Bosh will soon speak to coach Kevin McHale, moving closer to a commitment to the Rockets, source tells Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 11, 2014
If Bosh ultimately does decide to sign with the Rockets, Houston immediately becomes a title contender. James Harden, Dwight Howard, Bosh and Chandler Parsons (the Rockets will almost certainly match his offer sheet from the Dallas Mavericks) is as good of a top-four any team has in the NBA.
Bosh is a perfect fit playing alongside Dwight Howard, as the two-time NBA champion will be allowed to play his natural position of power forward and will space the floor around the Rockets center.
As for Jeremy Lin, he leaves a great team to play for a squad that likely won’t even compete for a playoff berth next season. He also heads to a pretty crowded position in L.A., with the Lakers having Kendall Marshall, Steve Nash and Jordan Clarkson already on board at point guard.
Lin averaged 12.5 points and 4.1 assists per game last season.
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