Either the rich will get richer or the poor will enter basketball poverty. Through two weeks of free agency, it appeared as if the Houston Rockets were entering the latter.
Over the past 24 hours, however, it appears as if the Rockets' luck has taken a turn for the best.
In what can only be described as a shocking turn of events, the New York Knicks have reportedly pulled out of the Jeremy Lin sweepstakes. This makes the Houston Rockets the lucky winners of a desperately needed point guard.
With the potential acquisition of Lin, the Houston Rockets would go a long way toward making up for the loss of both Goran Dragic and Kyle Lowry. What this acquisition fails to accomplish, however, is cover up the Rockets' failure to acquire Dwight Howardâ€"a deal they went to great lengths to attempt.
Regardless of the Rockets' shortcomings, general manager Daryl Morey has not yet given up on the possibility of a trade for D-12. As each day passes, a new deal seems to emerge and the Rockets grow more and more relentless in their pursuit of Hakeem Olajuwon's successor. This time around, it appears if Houston will take the house and all of the broken parts that come with it.
Is Jeremy Lin enough to keep Dwight Howard in Houston?
Is Jeremy Lin enough to keep Dwight Howard in Houston?
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Yes.
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No.
This deal would call for the Rockets to land any combination of Glen Davis, Hedo Turkoglu, Jason Richardson and Chris Duhon; all of whom possess big-money contracts that Orlando does not want to hold onto. The question is, why would Howard want to stay with the same unit he's trying to escape?
He wouldn't, but that doesn't mean he won't stay with Lin.
Lin burst onto the scene in 2012 with an elite combination of scoring and facilitating abilities. This is exactly what Howard has always wanted in his point guard, which is a major reason he has dreams of playing alongside Deron Williams.
While Williams is clearly more established than Lin, the parallel of talent could be drawn if one were willing to reach such lengths. Unfortunately, that just wouldn't be enough for Howard to stay.
Howard wants to win an NBA championship, not build toward one. He's interested in winning right now and building a dynasty for years to come. While Houston has the cap room available to accomplish such a feat in 2013, when Chris Paul hits free agency, they are far from prepared to win in 2012.
At best, they're a low seed in the West that is destined for a first-round exit.
Could Howard follow Lin to Houston? Without a doubt. The best trade available for the Orlando Magic rests with Houston, as no team will offer the draft picks or salary cap relief that they can.
Holding onto D-12, however, is a different animalâ€"an animal that Houston is not prepared to contain.
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