Did Rockets Already Replace Jeremy Lin With Jason Terry?

The Houston Rockets added some backcourt depth after completing a deal with the Sacramento Kings for veteran guard Jason Terry on Monday.

Terry, who has been bounced around the league as of late, is expected to fill the void left by Jeremy Lin. The pressing question now is can the 36-year old vet produce greater numbers than Lin did a season ago as the Rockets' primarily offensive player off the bench?

To determine the better player in this head-to-head matchup, let's crunch some stats of these two players over the past two seasons.

Jeremy Lin

After coming out of nowhere in New York, the 26-year old Lin capitalized on the frenzy surrounding 'Linsanity' to get a decent three-year, $25 million deal from the Rockets in the summer of 2012.

In two seasons with the Rockets, Lin showed he indeed belongs in the league by posting at least 12 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds a game. Although he wasn't able to live up to a lofty expectation of becoming a star in Houston, the Asian American nevertheless managed to improve his game on both ends of the court.

Lin's points and assists production took a significant plunge (12 points and 4 dimes) last year but he came through with better shooting percentages, as he posted 45 percent from the field, 35 percent from the three-point line and 82 percent from the charity stripe.

Jason Terry

After winning his first title with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011, Terry's career began to subside in the succeeding year. His tenure with the Celtics was subpar, as he averaged 10.1 points, 2.5 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game during the 2012-13 season.

The Jet was then traded along with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets, where he averaged 4.5 points and 1.6 assists over 35 games before the Kings then snagged him and Reggie Evans in trade deadline deal for Marcus Thornton. Terry eventually sat out the rest of the 2013-14 season due to a knee injury.

Terry has been one of the finest marksmen in the league, shooting 37 percent from the three-point line. However, last season saw him make only 39 of 103 three-point attempts - the first time he finished the season with less than 100 three-point shots made since his rookie year.

Who's The Better Player?

The Rockets might not be expecting Terry to produce the same numbers he had during his time with the Mavs. However, his ability to handle the ball and knock down long bombs would be welcome additions to the rising Western Conference power.

On the other hand, Lin has shown over the past two years that he can be an efficient scorer. His on-ball and off-ball defense continues to gain improvement, while his knowledge in the game keeps rising up. With the Lakers, Lin will have a chance to pad up his numbers even further under the tutelage of Byron Scott, who has extensive experience mentoring great point guards.

Terry's presence would make the Rockets a more potent three-point shooting team and his leadership and championship experience will come to play in the postseason. However, head coach Kevin McHale will surely miss Lin's 14.1 PER (4^th best in the team) and interior penetration that led to so many scoring opportunities. At this point of their career, Lin has still lots to offer for his team than Terry.