Is it possible to have a quicker free fall than Jeremy Lin had? Sheesh. Seems like light-years ago that we had to endure Linsanity. The kid goes to Houston on a mega deal after playing like 8 good games in New York. While he wasn’t awful in Houston, he wasn’t the star they thought they were getting. Now, he goes to the city of angels, to play with the black mamba himself, Kobe Bryant. What does this means for the purple and gold?
Last season, Lin averaged just over 12 points a game last season, and four assists. All of his major stats were down from two seasons ago: Points, Minutes, Assists and Steals. Patrick Beverley coming into his own really put a damper on Lin’s minutes and chances last season, which would be the reason for his down year.
So, does Lin start in Los Angeles? Does he still come off the bench? It would be wise for the Lakers to have him start, and to monitor Steve Nash’s minutes, due to his age and such. But, for the bad rep that Lin gets, he is a pretty good point guard. Some people forget what the point guard’s job is. He is supposed to be the distributer, and drive to the basket when needed. But, players like Derrick Rose have transformed the position.
Jeremy Lin shot an incredible 57.9% off of dribble drives last season, second to only LeBron James. So, part one of being a good point guard: Check.
The second part is dishing out the rock, which Lin does do pretty nicely. In the playoffs last season for Houston, he was incredible. He assisted on nearly 23 percent of his team’s buckets. He also had a great assist ratio, at 24 assists per 100 possessions. Lin’s player efficiency rating in 2013 of 14.3, was pretty solid as well. He ranked ahead of players like Dion Waiters, Josh Smith and Mario Chalmers in that category.
What Jeremy Lin doesn’t get credit for, as he deserves, is his shooting ability. He’s one of the best shooters amond point guards. His true shooting percentage, a metric that takes into account two point field goals as well as three point and free throws, was over .572. He ranked in the top ten among NBA point guards!
A potential starting lineup consisting of Lin, Kobe Bryant, Nick Young, and Carlos Boozer, along with rookie stud Julius Randle off the bench, the Lakers are looking pretty solid. A nice change of pace for a team that was relatively irrelevant last season. While the Lakers will probably miss the playoffs, and us as a fanbase will never climax to “Linsanity” again, this could be a terrific fit.