NBA News - Jeremy Lin Could Land with the Milwaukee Bucks or Philadelphia 76ers
Jeremy Lin was disrespected by his current team, the Houston Rockets but he could be wanted by two other teams, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Philadelphia 76ers.
According to Marc Stein of ESPN.COM, the Taiwanese-American has drawn the interest of the Eastern teams and they are willing to absorb Lin’s contract ($14.89M in 2014-2015 and only about $8M counts against the salary cap) and finalize a deal with the Houston Rockets.
Story going online now: ESPN sources say Sixers have expressed interest in trading for Jeremy Lin. Sources say Bucks are also exploring it
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 5, 2014
Houston is hot on the heels of star free agent Carmelo Anthony, who visited Texas last Thursday to hear the Rockets’ free agency pitch. The much-publicized courtship drew the ire of Lin and his supporters after Houston used Lin’s No. 7 jersey in a photoshopped Anthony image that was in display at the Toyota Center during Melo’s stopover in Houston. Lin took to Twitter his thoughts on the matter with a cryptic message quoted from the bible.
Luke 6:29 - If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them — Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) July 2, 2014
The Rockets’ chase for Carmelo has led them to trade Omer Asik to the New Orleans Pelicans. Asik has a similar contract with Lin and unloading his deal was vital in opening cap space. If the Rockets can ship out Lin as well, they’d have a bigger contract to offer not only Anthony but other free agents in the market as well.
Milwaukee and Philadelphia are way under the salary cap in the offseason that they can virtually give up nothing to get Lin and his contract. The probable move can be seen as a favor for the Rockets and they may need to give up future picks to make the deal happen with either team.
Both the Bucks and Sixers are on a rebuild mode the past years but both could use a talent like Lin from the point guard position either as a starter or a back-up.