Jeremy Lin
Apr 30, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets guard Jeremy Lin (7) reacts to a play during the second quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers in game five of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Reuters/ Andrew Richa

The Houston Rockets enter the new season still with high expectation for competing for a championship. However, their effort to land a 'third star' this offseason cost them some really nice complementary players. And there's no bigger loss for them than letting Jeremy Lin join the Los Angeles Lakers.

Ever since the arrival basketball head Daryl Morey, the Rockets are all about winning their first championship since the Hakeem Olajuwon era. They have made big moves this past couple of seasons, acquiring James Harden in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder and signing Dwight Howard in the summer of 2013 to form a very talented core.

After getting stunned by the rising Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, the Rockets head into this summer with only one goal - acquire a top notch talent who could complement Harden and Howard.

So in order to accomodate a max contract, Morey released some of their key players in center Omer Asik, small forward Chandler Parsons and Lin.

Asik, who has been demanding to get out of Houston since the arrival of Howard, was traded to the New Orleans Pelicans, while the near max contract offered by the Dallas Mavericks for Chandler Parsons was not matched by the Rockets.

For sure, missing out on Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh this summer is a big blow for the entire Rockets organization. They were very close to adding Bosh into equation, but the lure of Miami's bigger paycheck was just too tempting for the All-Star power forward to forego.

Now, the Rockets have to endure the consequences of their calculated risk they placed this offseason. They sure filled up the void of Parsons and Asik by acquiring small forward Trevor Ariza and drafting forward / center Clint Capela. However, it seems that they are forgeting a bigger hole to fill. And it's the role previously assumed by Lin.

Despite seeing his numbers down (12 points and 4 dimes last season), Lin was an integral part of the Rockets lineup. Patrick Beverley is sure a terrific defender, but he lacks the offensive skills set and the court vision Lin brings to the table.

ESPN NBA analyst Kevin Pelton also agreed that trading Lin to create cap space without getting a commitment from Bosh was a huge mistake.

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"I think everyone agrees that not waiting on the final word from Bosh was a mistake," Pelton stated during the chat session on ESPN Sports Nation last Friday.

To sum things up, the Rockets' move to let Lin go away was huge blunder for the organization. At 25-years old, Lin hasn't yet reached his peak. Who knows what's Lin is going to be 3 to 4 years from now. Perhaps, the Lakers are the winners of the deal, because they believed the former Harvard hot shot could be something special moving forward - something Morey and the Rockets never bothered to think of.

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