Jeremy Lin might not turn out to be an All-Star caliber player most fans expected him to be this season, but the Los Angeles Lakers will more likely stick with the current starting point guard than trading him in a season they are predicted to struggle mightily.
After two up-and-down seasons with the Houston Rockets, the 26-year old Lin is facing the same consistency problem with his new team. Averaging 11.8 points and 5.1 assists per game this season, Lin has shown flashes of brilliance through his first month with the purple-and-gold, but at the same time, he also hit the wall on several occasions.
On Wednesday, Lin recorded zero point on shot 0-for-10 from the field in the Lakers' 111-95 loss to the Washington Wizards. It marked the second time this season that Lin went scores (the first was against the Golden State Warriors), prompting Lakers fans to doubt whether he's the right man to steer the ship for their team this season.
In an interview on the Home Team Morning Show, Yahoo Sports NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski explained Lin's situation with the Lakers, believing the Asian-American standout will be for just a one-year rental as the organization looks for an upgrade at point guard position next summer.
"I think this Lin is a one-year player with the Lakers. He's a backup point guard in the NBA. He's obviously be thrust into a bigger role because of who they have [on the Lakers roster], with the injuries and with Steve Nash being out for the year.
"You can see that Lin's confidence is not there. There's not a great chemistry between Kobe and Lin, that's obvious," according to Wojnarowski.
While Lin has the skills-set to be a productive player off the bench and remained an enticing talent for any team, his $8million expiring contract is just too huge for any trade negotiation to take place.
Moreover, the Lakers might not be ready to deal away the player that attracts as much as 2.5 million Asian-American audiences in Los Angeles, which is a huge number for a team that is expected to struggle this season.
"Los Angeles is the largest Asian-American market, 5 times larger than Houston's," he wrote for AAPIVoices.com, a data journalism project focusing on Asian-American issues." University of California-Riverside professor Karthick Ramakrishnan said in an interview with NBC.
Perhaps, Lin is not the point guard that could lead Lakers back to the promise land, but he sure is the one that is saving the Lakers from losing more money after two years of misfortune.
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