The Houston Rockets made 13 offseason additions to their roster including the noteworthy signing of third year point guard and last season's biggest story Jeremy Lin. The team brough in via free agency or trades, Omer Asik, Jeremy Lin, Toney Douglas, Shaun Livingston, Jon Brockman, JaJuan Johnson, Carlos Delfino, Scott Machado, Demetri McCarney, and Kyle Fogg to go along with draft picks Jeremy Lamb, Royce White and Terrence Jones.
Asik gives the team a solid play at the center position, which should be able to get the team a lot of rebounds. He also provides the team with someone who has playoff experience. The average age of the Rockets is about 24-years-old with the oldest player being 30-year-old senor citizen Carlos Delfino.
The only returning starter from last season is Kevin Martin. He averaged 17.1 points per game and 2.8 assist per game. Martin had a rough season last year and suffered a shoulder injury that caused him to miss 26 games. He should have a better season with Lin taking some of the attention off of him and helping to set up shots for Martin.
Many prognosticators are predicting that the Rockets will finish in last place in the Southwest Division and possibly land a lottery pick in the NBA 2013 Draft. The prevalent opinion is that it will be too hard to replace last season's three best players Goran Dragic, Kyle Lowry, and Luis Scola who are all playing elsewhere this season.
According to NBA 2K13, the Rockets won't make the playoffs in the first season of the Jeremy Lin era, but Lin will be outstanding for the club averaging nearly 22 points per game, 2 steals and 7.5 assist. However he was not voted to the All-Star game. He does win player of the month for the month of April. The video game also predicts that Lin will continue to turn the ball over and will average 3.3 turnovers per game. You can check out Jeremy Lin's player rating here.
Here is how the game simulates the Rockets' season:
Regular Season Record: 32-50 Third in the Western Conference
Top scorers: PF Patrick Patterson 13.5 PPG, SG Kevin Martin 19.1 PPG, PG Jeremy Lin 21.9 PPG
Leading rebounders: SF Chandler Parsons 6.6 RPG, PF Patrick Patterson 7.7 RPG, C Omer Asik 9.4 RPG
Assist Leader: SG Kevin Martin 3.7 APG, PG Toney Douglas 4.7 APG, PG Jeremy Lin 7.5 APG
Playoff Opponents
Round 1: Did not qualify
Round 2: Did not qualify
Conference Finals: Did not qualify
NBA Finals: Did not qualify
Check out our other NBA 2K13 team previews:
Miami Heat
Oklahoma City Thunder
San Antonio Spurs
Boston Celtics
Los Angeles Lakers
Philadelphia 76ers
New York Knicks
Brooklyn Nets
Chicago Bulls
Los Angeles Clippers
Minnesota Timberwolves
Portland Trail Blazers
Cleveland Cavaliers
Washington Wizards
Denver Nuggets
