One look at the media blitz of the acquisition of Jeremy Lin by the Houston Rockets from the New York Knicks shows exactly what sort of attention this one maneuver can bring to the team. So it's perhaps not surprising to hear that Rockets owner Leslie Alexander is finding a bit of solace in his new point guard given the team's inability to make any other impact moves this offseason (read: Dwight Howard).
"I love it," Alexander said of the move. "I think it's great for the city of Houston. It's great for the fans. I think a team needs to have that attention to attract free agents and do what we have to do to win. It helps. It always helps (the business), but the real reason is it helps to attract free agents. They'll want to play with Jeremy, but also they want to be someplace they will be on TV, they can market themselves, all that stuff."
Alexander wasn't just commenting on the sake of the city and interest in the team, however. He was also focused on what Lin brings to the court.
"I think he's going to be a great addition for the team," Alexander said. "I think he's going to be a great player in the league - very good to great. It was very risky and very hard to do. It worked out in our favor, thank God. We changed the team completely from last year. It's almost a whole new team. You can see in summer league how good the young guys are. I think the future is really, really good."
Lin averaged 14.6 points and 6.2 assists last year for the Knicks.
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