NBA Draft 2012: Jeremy Lamb to Houston Rockets Fuels Kevin Martin's Departure

Once the Houston Rockets selected Jeremy Lamb with the No. 12 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, Kevin Martin should have immediately begun the process of selling any real estate that he owns in the Houston area.

Martin only has one year (and $12.9 million) left on his current deal, and Lamb's arrival virtually assures that he won't be a member of the Rockets once the 2013-14 season rolls around. 

In short, Lamb is a younger, more skilled version of Martin, and he comes at a much more reasonable price tag than the current starting shooting guard for the Rockets.

The 6'7" Martin is a prolific scorer (17.1 PPG last season), but he's pretty much a one-dimensional player. Lamb, meanwhile, is a more athletic wing who has the potential to be a lock-down defender on the NBA level.

On the other end of the court, Lamb is far more skilled at creating his own shot that Martin, and the UConn product is also adept at playing off the ball. Lamb's mid-range game is nothing short of fantastic—the 6'5" guard shot a ridiculous 60.1 percent from inside the arc last season, and his mediocre three-point shooting (33.6 percent last season) is due mostly to poor shot selection.

Before the draft, there were mock drafts that had Lamb going much higher than 12th overall; in their frantic machinations to land Dwight Howard, Houston may have just lucked out with one of the best shooting guards in the entire draft.

Martin, on the other hand, isn't quite so lucky.