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Liberty Ballers' own Jake Pavorsky reported a few days ago that the 76ers had a deal in place to acquire Jeremy Lin and future assets in exchange for freeing up cap space for the Houston Rockets. With the free agency dominoes starting to fall, it appears that the Sixers will have competition on the cap space market.
According to a series of tweets from ESPN Insider Marc Stein, the Los Angeles Lakers have emerged as a candidate to take on Lin's deal.
Sources say Houston Rockets trying to trade Jeremy Lin to the Los Angeles Lakers. Report now on @SportsCenter
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 11, 2014
Lakers would make sense as destination with cap space to take on Jeremy Lin's expiring contract & without cutting into any of 2015 cap space
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 11, 2014
Nothing appears to be set in stone just yet. There's a lot of dust that still has to clear following LeBron James' decision, with major pieces like Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony still available for hire. The Lakers certainly make a ton of sense as a Lin destination, with gobs of salary cap space they can use to absorb money.
The silver lining for Sam Hinkie is that Houston is pressed for time to unload salary and make a decision on Chandler Parsons. Hinkie's prior relationship with Daryl Morey and previous framework for a trade being in place put him in a good position to facilitate a deal without holding up the Rockets, for whom every moment is precious.
The fallout from LeBron's big move is going to spiderweb across the league, so stay tuned for more updates on how the Sixers might capitalize on such a far-reaching event.
UPDATE: Looking like a done deal, per Woj.
Houston is finalizing a deal to send Jeremy Lin to the Lakers, league source tells Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 11, 2014