NBA Rumors: Jeremy Lin Wouldn't Be Enough to Sway Dwight Howard to Houston

Jeremy Lin is an incredibly attractive asset for NBA teams to place on the roster. But he's not an asset that would make the Houston Rockets—assuming the New York Knicks don't match the offer sheet, as expected—more attractive to Dwight Howard. 

While Lin's presence allows teams to tap into a new market overseas in terms of the fanbase, and his point guard play is quite solid (although we're still dealing with a small sample size), he doesn't give the team the potential to immediately compete for an NBA title. 

Would a Jeremy Lin and Dwight Howard duo be able to compete down the road? Yes, absolutely, if the right secondary pieces are placed alongside the two. 

However, that's not what Howard cares about. He doesn't want to be part of a rebuilding process, even one that could definitely compete in a few years. He wants to win right now. 

If I had to guess D12's ringtone, I'd guess that he listens to a little bit of Queen every time someone dials his number: "I want it all, and I want it now." 

So, does Lin give him the opportunity to win right now? 

Here's the easy answer: Nope. 

According to ESPN's Marc Stein and Chad Ford, the latest proposal from the Rockets to the Orlando Magic has a lot of flexible parts. 

Houston would get some combination of Howard (guaranteed), Glen Davis, Jason Richardson, Chris Duhon and Hedo Turkoglu while giving up Kevin Martin, Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris and Chandler Parsons. 

The Rockets would also have to part ways with one of their first-round picks this year—either Jeremy Lamb, Royce White or Terrence Jones—while waiving a few players with non-guaranteed deals to clear cap room. 

Let's say that everything works out well for the Rockets. They pull the wool over the Magic's metaphorical eyes and trade Martin, Patterson, Morris, Parsons and White for Howard, Davis, Richardson and Turkoglu. And they also waive non-essential players like Diamon Simpson, Courtney Fortson and Greg Smith. 

Boom. Instant contenders, right? 

Eh...not so fast. 

We're now looking at a lineup of Lin, Richardson, Turkoglu, Davis and Howard, with Lamb and Jones coming off the bench. 

Isn't that essentially a slightly worse version of last year's Orlando Magic? The biggest difference is the swap of Jameer Nelson for Lin and a downgraded bench. The rookies have high potential, but they're raw and inexperienced. 

With the expiring contracts, there's a chance that the team could truly contend in the future, but they can't contend fast enough for Dwight to sign an extension. 

Here, the above long answer is the same as the short answer. 

Lin's presence in Houston just wouldn't be enough to sway Howard.