There have been reports last week that Jeremy Lin will be starting in the last 10 games of the Los Angeles Lakers and his performance during that stretch will determine if the team will re-sign him during the offseason or let him enjoy being an unrestricted free agent.
However, Lin was already re-inserted by Lakers coach Byron Scott into the starting lineup with 12 more games to go before the Showtime franchise finally puts a wrap into its forgettable NBA season ever.
Apparently, it would not be the true test case for Jeremy Lin as words now have it that the future of the former Harvard graduate with the Lakers depends on how the team performs in the upcoming NBA draft as well as in the free agency market.
Should the team continue to pursue its previous plan of going after Rajon Rondo, then Jeremy Lin will become dispensable and he will not be re-signed. Of course, there are still other point guards in the league worth going after given the Lakers’ large salary cap space, and the only question remains is whether the team would be successful or not.
If the team gets a prized point guard from the free agency market, then it’s goodbye for Jeremy Lin. However, if the Lakers do not get a worthy point guard from the same route, then it is most likely that they will stick with Lin.
Since the All-Star break, Lin has been playing very aggressively thus upping his game numbers compared to his performance before the NBA All-Star weekend.
The Lakers would play it safe by holding onto Lin as sort of buffer during the offseason until the smoke of the free agency wheelings and dealings for possible trades have settled down.
A special point guard
Mike D’Antoni, the former Lakers head coach before Byron Scott came in, said that he missed coaching Jeremy Lin with the LA team, cites the Lakers Nation.
Lin came in to the Lakers from a trade with the Houston Rockets during the offseason while D’Antoni resigned from the Showtime franchise due to indifferences with team superstar Kobe Bryant.
D’Antoni said that Jeremy Lin is one of those special point guards in the NBA who is so easy to coach. He added that he hates to miss the opportunity of coaching a very receptive player like Lin. D’Antoni was actually speaking from experience as he was the coach of Jeremy Lin in New York when Linsanity was born back in 2011.
Mike D’Antoni, who has resigned from the Lakers by then, even called up Jeremy Lin when he was officially taken in by the Lakers and said to the point guard that he can’t believe that they missed each other working for the same team again after the New York Knicks.