Jeremy Lin will soon reach the part of his professional NBA career known as free agency. Given his relationship with the Los Angeles Lakers as a point guard, other teams have tried to woo him on their roster, most notably the Denver Nuggets.
According to Shiva Mehrani of Master Herald, the Nuggets want to trade point guard Ty Lawson, which would allow the team to possibly acquire someone like 26-year-old Lin in the off-season. Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post reported that Nuggets president Josh Kroenke had an interest in changing the team's roster to increase their winning chances.
"We're going to be aggressive this summer as an organization, and continue to be aggressive until we feel we have the roster that can truly compete for something special,"Kroenke said.
Kroenke added that free agency was one of the methods to improve the team's chances in the NBA.
"There's a lot of ways to skin the cat. But one of them is through free agency, one of them is through the draft and the other one is through trades," Kroenke said. "We're going to try to improve our roster until we truly have that core of guys who can compete for something for a lengthy period of time."
According to Mehrani, the Nuggets also expressed interest in recruiting Mike D'Antoni as the team's new head coach for the next NBA season. Given his history with Lin, it would make sense for Denver to make an attempt to attract him as well.
"D'Antoni was the coach of Jeremy Lin during his short-lived Linsanity days with the New York Knicks during the 2011-12 NBA season," Mehrani wrote. "In an interview a couple of weeks ago, D'Antoni said that he would like to have Jeremy Lin in his team if he is given the opportunity to do so."
Mehrani speculated that if Mehrani secured the coaching position, his first order of business may involve looking for a new point guard for the Nuggets. From that perspective, the Harvard graduate could fit that possibility.
"With the Nuggets' run-and-gun type of play, Jeremy Lin's game would be perfect for the team," Mehrani wrote. "With consistent aggressiveness which he showed during the second half of the season with the Lakers, Lin could really thrive with the Mile High basketball team, especially under the helm of Mike D'Antoni."
Mehrani reported that if the Nuggets were successful in acquiring Lin as a free agent, it would be his fifth team in six years.
"Although undrafted, he was taken in by the Golden State Warriors during the 2010-11 season but was waived the following year," Mehrani wrote. "He certainly can't find a spot in the team with Stephen Curry at the point guard position effectively and productively doing well."
However, Mehrani contended that Lin would be a great fit with the Nuggets.
"It looks like the Denver Nuggets would be his next stop in his colorful NBA journey," Mehrani wrote. "Whether it would be the last stop or simply the next stop, [it] would be up to his gameplay and how he shows his true potential as a basketball player."
