Report: Mavericks looking into sign-and-trade for Jeremy Lin
With the Los Angeles Lakers having created a logjam at the guard spots with D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson and Lou Williams, Jeremy Lin became an expendable piece.
The Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks are jointly having two of the worst offseasons of anyone in the NBA. In the hopes that only one of them can lose, they are looking into teaming up as trade partners.
From Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo Sports:
"The Dallas Mavericks are exploring sign-and-trade possibilities with the Los Angeles Lakers to acquire free-agent point guard Jeremy Lin …More from Dallas MavericksGrant Williams’ attempt to embarrass camper backfires hilariouslyNBA Rumors: Warriors, Lakers among contenders for key free agentMavericks: Mark Cuban calls Kyrie Irving ‘misunderstood’ after new contractWhy isn’t Matisse Thybulle on the Mavericks?The new NBA flopping rules explainedBecause the Mavericks are low on the necessary salary-cap space and exceptions to sign Lin to a market-level contract, the sign-and-trade could be needed to secure Lin to a deal."
The Lakers appeared to come into the 2015 offseason with the same attitude with which they approached their 2014-15 regular season: marginalize Jeremy Lin.
Through mid-January, Lin was third on the team in scoring, yet was a distant ninth in minutes played. At that point Lakers coach/anti-analytics truther Byron Scott took Lin out of key situations in games despite averaging 15.4 points and 6.4 assists per 36 minutes. Those stats don’t scream “PLAY ME YOU MEDIEVAL FOOL” to Scott, but when your team ends the season 21-61, maybe Scott should have thrown him into the lineup like the alchemist he truly is.
In the offseason, the Lakers already crowded backcourt became even more claustrophobic when they drafted D’Angelo Russell and signed Lou Williams. With Russell, Williams and promising second-year player Jordan Clarkson, Lin became a redundancy and therefore the perfect target for the Mavericks.
As of right now, the Mavericks roster is in shambles. They had already lost Rajon Rondo – to be fair his departure is addition by subtraction, but still demonstrates that the Mavs now have no point guard – and lost their primary offensive threat (Monta Ellis) and defensive lynchpin (Tyson Chandler). A team that was able to make the playoffs in the West by scoring at an absurd rate, despite their papier mache defense being held together by Elmer’s gluesticks, is now looking into a season without their best weapon and the one player who made their defense semi-passable.
They were able to sign two bigger free agents in former Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan and injured 3-and-D wing Wes Matthews from the Portland Trail Blazers, but Jordan’s still going to represent a downgrade on defense compared to Tyson Chandler even if he does give the Mavericks a key rebounding threat, and Matthews has only one Achilles tendon.
Throw in the losses Al-Farouq Aminu and possibly Amar’e Stoudemire, and the Mavericks won’t be able to stop anyone.
What they do still have are a lot of the pieces that made them a great offense last year. What killed the Mavericks offense down the stretch was Rondo killing ball movement.
Lin is an imperfect point guard, but he is exactly what the Mavericks need. Lin is all about tempo. Even if he is inefficient shooting the ball, and even if he commits more turnovers than he creates, the movement he generates will open up areas for Dallas’ shooters all over the court – shooters like Matthews, Chandler Parsons and Charlie Villanueva, which will in turn allow for him to get to the rim easier.
It remains to be seen exactly what the Mavericks are going to give in exchange for Lin (maybe J.J. Barea?), but this trade gives the Mavericks roster some semblance of shape heading into next season.
[H/T: Yahoo Sports]