Jeremy Lin Admits Expectation of Franchise Player for Rockets Before Traded To Lakers

Jeremy Lin might be happy in his current situation with the Los Angeles Lakers, but he never forgets the struggle and frustrations he had with the Houston Rockets these past two seasons.

In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, the 26-year old Lin revealed that he really expected to be the Rockets' franchise player when general manager Daryl Morey signed him to a three-year, $25 million deal in 2012.

Coming off a breakout season (also known as the Linsanity season) with the New York Knicks, Lin was suddenly one of the hottest free-agents in the market.

The Knicks really tried to lock up their biggest asset, both on the court and the marketing aspect, but several teams already offered big deal to Lin, including the Rockets that eventually fleeced James Dolans with a tricky back-loaded contract.

Lin was projected to be main cog for the Rockets moving forward, but Morey pulled off another big coup off his sleeve by acquiring James Harden from the Oklahoma City Thunder via trade.

The former Harvard standout was the team's starter in 82 games, but he also found out the ill-effect of playing alongside a ball-dominant guard in Harden. He then lost his starting job to Patrick Beverley in the playoffs and played most of last season as a Sixth Man for the Rockets.

In an attempt to attract free-agents, the Rockets then traded Lin along with a first-round pick to the Lakers in exchange for players playing abroad last summer.

"When I first got [to Houston], I was supposed to be the guy and they were supposed to kind of hand the torch to me," Lin said. "And I ended up getting traded away basically for nothing. Actually, they had to give up a draft pick to convince someone else to take me. Pretty much given away for nothing.

Now, Lin is in position to have another breakout year as the projected starting point guard for the purple-and-gold. With Steve Nash struggling to stay healthy in the final year of his contract, Lin is expected to play a major role for the Lakers this season.

"They're very thankful. I can't tell you how many people have told me they'll be there on opening night," Lin told the Los Angeles Times. "They all talk about that game when I was in New York playing against L.A. That gets brought up a bunch."