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Just because the Houston Rockets paid the Los Angeles Lakers a first-round pick to take Jeremy Lin off of their hands, it doesn't mean they don't still like him.

While the Rockets didn't land the superstar they were hoping for after jettisoning Lin's salary, things have gone just as poorly for him in Hollywood. Lin has been such a poor fit the Lakers would move him if the market wasn't so weak, but it is, so in forum blue and gold he remains.

That won't be Lin's fate for long, with the 26-year-old point guard set for unrestricted free agency this summer. Weird though it may sound, the Rockets could represent a potential landing spot for Lin, even if his two seasons there weren't exactly memorable.

It's worth remembering that the Rockets needed to unload Lin's salary, not his talent, and the team wouldn't mind giving him another spin, according to Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. Beck writes:

But the Rockets needed salary-cap room last July to make a frenzied, all-out bid for Chris Bosh. So they offloaded Lin's hefty contract, along with a first-round pick, to the Lakers. It was purely a bookkeeping move. The Rockets remain high on Lin and are expected to be among his chief suitors this summer.

The free agent market for Lin should be interesting. He brings with him certain marketing advantages and an ability to penetrate defenses, score and distribute, but he's probably best suited to a back-up role if he lands on a quality team. He may wind up being one of the league's higher-paid backups rather than one of its lower-paid starters, for whatever that distinction is worth.

In 51 games as a Laker, Lin is averaging 10.4 points and 4.6 assists. Over five seasons with four teams, he's averaged 11.6 points and 4.8 assists with a league-average PER of 15.2.