The NBA trading deadline is on February 19.
Everyone knows that the Los Angeles Lakers has put off guard Jeremy Lin on the trading block early this month although reports have it that it was way back in December that the team was already looking to send the Harvard graduate to an interested NBA team.
Lin has not missed any of the 43 games of the Lakers thus far but he was benched by Coach Byron Scott during the last game of the team against the San Antonio Spurs on January 23.
In his place, Scott opted for rookie Jordan Clarkson to complement Ronnie Price at the point. There was nothing wrong with that because Jeremy Lin has been in and out of the Lakers starting five, in an obvious coaching maneuver to find the right combination on the floor.
Jordan Clarkson did well during his stint, scoring 11 points and dishing four assist. But what came off as a surprise is the fact that Scott did not play Lin during the game at all, cites the Lakers Nation.
Worried of the flak for the decision
Aware of the huge following of Jeremy Lin especially in the internet and social media, Byron Scott immediately defended his decision by saying that he just wanted to experiment and give Ronnie Price a little bit of more look in the game. He added that he knows what Jeremy is capable of playing and doing in the court so the next game might be different.
The Lakers coach also said that the benching of Jeremy Lin is not a permanent move. He said that it’s not that I’m not going to use or play Jeremy Lin again, he just wanted to tinker with the team’s line up and rotation to see which combination would click.
Scott did experiment with his starting lineup during the game against the Spurs alright. Aside from Lin, he also replaced Wesley Johnson and Ed Davis on the starting five with Ryan Kelly and Robert Sacre. Although he did not benched the two former starters and inserted them into the game later.
Readying him up for the trade
The benching of Jeremy Lin, a first for his career with the Lakers, can be seen in two different ways. The first one is to believe Byron Scott that he is experimenting with his lineup for the right combination. Without Kobe Bryant in the game, it’s really strange to keep Jeremy Lin on the bench to at least take scoring load off Nick Young.
The second possibility is the fact that the Lakers may already have a taker for the $8.3 million plus contract of Jeremy Lin and wants to preserve his condition prior to the trade.
The next couple of games of the Lakers would determine whether Byron Scott is indeed experimenting with his lineup or simply ensuring that Jeremy Lin is very healthy when he gets traded to another team. It could be either one of the reasons or it could also be both.