After failing to sign Carmelo Anthony this summer, the Los Angeles Lakers went ahead with Plan B and one of the first moves was acquiring Jeremy Lin and draft picks from the Houston Rockets.
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After a difficult season where he lost his starting job, Lin is excited to play for the Lakers and believes it is a very good opportunity for him according to Yahoo! Sports:
“I am very excited to join the Lakers. I think this is a very good opportunity. I hope I can make a bigger contribution … I hope I can play a more important role,” Lin said.
When asked about playing with Kobe Bryant in the backcourt, Lin hopes he can earn the five-time champion’s respect through training hard and winning:
“Kobe wants to win and I want to win. I think Kobe wants his teammates to train hard and I will train hard. I hope he can respect me and we can collaborate well together,” Lin told a press conference in fluent Mandarin.
With uncertainty surrounding Steve Nash’s health and Jordan Clarkson entering his rookie season, Lin is an upgrade at the point guard position. While there have been some mixed reactions to the trade, acquiring Lin’s expiring contract will not affect the team’s financial flexibility in the next two summers where they hope to sign Kevin Love or Kevin Durant.
After pushing hard to acquire big names this summer, the Lakers have re-signed numerous players from last year’s roster including Nick Young, Jordan Hill, Xavier Henry, Wesley Johnson, and Ryan Kelly.
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