After spending the past two years dealing with injuries, Jeremy Lin found himself only serving as a mentor to Atlanta Hawks rookie point guard Trae Young in the 2018-19 NBA season. The 30-year-old Asian-American guard doesn’t seem to have any complaint about his role, but at this point in his NBA career, he will surely love to play for a playoff contender than staying on a rebuilding team like the Hawks.
One of the NBA teams who could express interest in acquiring Jeremy Lin is the Detroit Pistons. Dan Favale of Bleacher Report recently created multiple trade scenarios that could happen before the February NBA trade deadline. In the deal that would send Lin to Detroit, Favale suggested that the Hawks could engage in a three-team trade with the Miami Heat and the Pistons.
In a proposed trade deal, the Hawks will get Jon Leuer, Ish Smith, and a 2019 first-round pick, Pistons will acquire Wayne Ellington and Jeremy Lin, and the Heat will receive Glenn Robinson III. The deal works on ESPN ‘s NBA Trade Machine.
As Favale noted, the potential acquisition of Jeremy Lin and Wayne Ellington will help the Pistons improve their three-point shooting percentage. This season, Lin is shooting 37.8 percent from beyond the arc while Ellington is knocking down 36.5 percent of his three-point attempts.
“Detroit will wince at coughing up a first-round pick. The pain won’t last. The Pistons’ timeline is now, and they need shooting. Only the Oklahoma City Thunder are draining a lower percentage of their threes, and Detroit isn’t faring much better on wide-open triples. Both Ellington and Lin address that issue. Neither one can defend wings, but Detroit is getting a talent infusion while staying under the tax. Lin specifically revamps the point guard rotation as a foul-drawing whiz who is no stranger to working off the ball.”
A thankful Jeremy Lin opens up on hurtful #Nets trade @JLin7 #nba #hawks https://t.co/SpPABIx5IH via @nypostsports
— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) December 16, 2018
The Hawks wouldn’t mind absorbing Jon Leuer’s contract as long as they will be acquiring a future draft pick as compensation. Jeremy Lin may be having an impressive season, but the Hawks aren’t in a win-now mode and currently focused on obtaining assets that could help them speed up the rebuilding process.
Glen Robinson III is a younger and bigger version of Wayne Ellington, who recently found himself out of the Heat’s rotation. Unlike Ellington, Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra can trust Robinson to defend the wing. If he proves to be a bad fit on their roster, the Heat could easily get rid him after the 2018-19 NBA season.
