Offseason fun is over for Jeremy Lin.
After spending part of the summer posterizing his mom and dressing up as an Adidas sales rep in Taiwan convincing consumers to buy Derrick Rose's kicks, hitting on girls and making fun of his own game, the Lakers guard now finds himself in an eerily similar situation.
He's playing on an injury-riddled team, being gifted the starting point guard position and figuring out how to appease a superstar scorer.
This season, which begins Tuesday when he faces off against his former Houston Rockets team, Lin may face his last chance to prove to the NBA that he's not only a starting point guard but also worthy of a multiyear contract.
Long ago was Linsanity (32 months and three seasons). There's no underplaying the improbable storyline and how he single-handedly made the Knicks relevant again after averaging 18.5 points and 7.6 assists during his 26 games as an everyday player.
But what has he done lately? Nothing to ballyhoo over; he has been average.
In 71 games (33 as a starter) last season with the Rockets, Lin was tied for 41st among all guards in plus/minus efficiency with plus-2.4, according to NBA.com/Stats. Among starting point guards, Lin was tied for 12th. Notable point guards who had a lower plus/minus than Lin include:
Mike Conley (+2.1) Kemba Walker (+1.8) Jeff Teague (+1.5) Jrue Holiday (+0.7) Raymond Felton (+0.4) No. 1: Chris Paul (+8.5), No. 2: Stephen Curry (+7.3), No. 10 Patrick Beverley (+5.3)
Normally, there wouldn't be much fuss over Lin's performance with the Rockets, but he was gifted an inflated three-year contract worth $25.1 million. In his two seasons with the Rockets, the 26-year-old Lin averaged a pedestrian 12.9 points per game on 44 percent shooting and 5.1 assists.
He lost his starting position to relatively unknown guar...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
