Jeremy Lin: Predictions for Houston Rockets Superstar in 2012-13

Jeremy Lin is preparing for his first full season as an NBA starter, and there are a lot of expectations for him as the newest point guard of the Houston Rockets.

His body of work is small (14.6 PPG, 6.2 APG, 3.0 RPG, 3.6 TOPG in 26.9 MPG), but he showed a lot of promise before going down for the season with a knee injury. Enough promise that GM Daryl Morey offered him a “poison pill” contract worth $25.1 million over the next three years.

That’s a lot of money and cap space to invest in a relatively unproven player that was actually on Houston’s roster for almost two weeks before being cut a day before the start of the 2011-12 campaign.

Here’s what you can likely expect from Lin during his second tour of duty in Houston—it’s likely going to be lot more productive than his first.

Solid Statistics

Lin put up a solid 18.2 points, 7.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals (although his 4.7 turnovers per contest were concerning) as a starter in 25 games last year, and Rockets fans are expecting similar numbers.

Fortunately, Linsanity should not disappoint.

Considering he had some of his best games without Carmelo Anthony in the lineup, Lin should not be too impacted by the lack of stars on the Houston roster.

He may be counted on to shoulder more of a scoring load, which will reduce his decent field-goal percentage (44.6 percent last season), but that is about the only stat that should dip.

Lin could easily be a 20-plus PPG scorer, combined with close to eight assists, four rebounds and 1.5 steals.

All-Star Game Appearance

This should come as no surprise whatsoever, as Jeremy Lin is practically a lock to make the All-Star Game.

Considering that fan voting has seen players like Yao Ming appear in five games during a season and still make the team, it would be shocking if Linsanity did not get in.

The Taiwanese-American has massive fan support due to his heritage and the incredible story of his rise to prominence.

Even non-basketball fans know all about Jeremy Lin, which makes this prediction a shoo-in.

Surprise Postseason Run

The Rockets were on the cusp of the playoffs in 2011-12, finishing with a respectable 34-32 record. That put them just behind the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz (36-30) for the final seeds in the Western Conference.

With Lin at the helm, along with impact rookies like Donatas Motiejunas, Royce White, Jeremy Lamb and Terrence Jones, the team seems poised to make a run for one of the lower seeds in the conference.

While Lin and the rest of the squad have a lot of growing to do, they will get their feet wet in the 2013 postseason and only get better from the experience.