LAS VEGAS — The phone at the home of Jeremy Lin’s parents in Palo Alto, Calif., rang a lot Tuesday night. One person who called to speak with Lin was Kevin McHale, his new coach in Houston.
McHale, who won three N.B.A. titles as a player, told Lin to get ready for a journey, one that would be different from his whirlwind in New York. Lin is expected to become the Rockets’ starting point guard next season. McHale also said Lin would be the Rockets’ leader — even though he is a 23-year-old point guard who has 25 starts in his career with the Knicks.
“He’s going to have to make a lot of decisions in our offense,” McHale said. “We have a young team, so he’s going to have to be a leader for us.”
The Rockets could be the youngest team in the N.B.A. next season. Kevin Martin and the former Knick Toney Douglas are the only players on the Rockets’ roster who have been in the league more than two years.
The addition of Lin also gave the Rockets the point guard they desperately needed. Goran Dragic, who started 28 games for Houston last year, signed with the Phoenix Suns. The Rockets then traded Kyle Lowry to the Toronto Raptors for a potential lottery pick.
“I’m sure in Jeremy’s mind as things played out he understood it was great opportunity for playing time in Houston,” McHale said.
Lin explained why he signed the $25.1 million offer sheet in a statement Wednesday.
“They made a very compelling pitch in terms of what I could bring to the team and for the city,” Lin said of the Rockets. “I’m excited about contributing to the Rockets’ winning tradition and competing with my new teammates.”
When the Knicks did not match the offer, McHale said the entire Rockets organization was overjoyed. The Rockets were bringing back the player — albeit with a drastically different profile and following — they waived in December because they already had three point guards with guaranteed contracts.
“We’re really glad that New York didn’t match because we really needed a good young player,” McHale said. “There wasn’t a practice that went by in December that we all didn’t go, ‘Man, that kid plays hard.’ He’s such a hardworking and diligent guy that we all wondered if there was any way we could keep him around and get rid of one of the other guaranteed contacts.”
Under McHale, Lin is expected to handle the ball the majority of the time in a pick-and-roll-heavy offense. The Rockets’ offense last year was similar to the offense under the former Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni. Linsanity reached its highest point when Lin was running D’Antoni’s offense in February.
“I told him he has a lot to learn and a lot of room to grow,” McHale said of Lin. “In our league, he’s just a young puppy, especially with the ball in his hands.”
McHale was thrilled to watch Lin become a global star last season. McHale also realizes the similarities between Lin and Yao Ming, both from a marketing and popularity standpoint. On Wednesday, the Rockets were allowing fans to pre-order red No. 7 Jeremy Lin jerseys on their Web site.
Will Linsanity continue in Houston? McHale hopes so.
“In being around this league for 30 years, you rarely see something like that,” McHale said. “I don’t know if that’ll be the experience he has in Houston, but I know Houston fan will like him.”