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NBA: Rockets trade Lowry to Toronto, make offer to Lin


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The Houston Rockets have traded point guard Kyle Lowry to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for forward Gary Forbes and a protected first round draft pick, ESPN's Marc Stein reports. In addition, the Rockets have a verbal agreement in play with Jeremy Lin, to sign the free agent to an offer sheet. According to Stein, the Raptors have long coveted Lowry, and considered dealing their first round pick in this year's draft for him in June. When one of the free agents they were considering, Steve Nash, agreed to a sign-and-trade deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto was forced to pull the trigger on Lowry, bringing him into their fold. Lowry's contract pays him $5.8 million this year, with a partially guaranteed $6.2 million the year after.He played just 47 games this past season due to injuries, but still put up 14.3 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.6 steals. Forbes on the other hand was a reserve swingman for the Raptors last season, putting up 6.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.9 assists over 14.54 minutes in 48 games. He may have more value to the Rockets as an expiring contract though, with just $1.5 million for this season on his deal and nothing beyond that. It was not immediately known what the protections on the draft pick are but Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle said that Toronto has ensured that they will keep the pick should it fall in the "upper echelon of the draft." He however, also noted an "unusual clause in the deal," that also has the pick stay with the Raptors should it fall "too late in the draft." The deal, along with yesterday's signing by the Phoenix Suns of Goran Dragic, sees the exit Houston's two point guards from last season, leaving them with undrafted prospect Scott Machado. In their quest for a starting point guard, the Rockets did reach an agreement with restricted free agent Jeremy Lin, with reports having the Taiwanese-American agreeing to a three-year deal, with a team option for a fourth season, worth $30 million.

They may find their move rebuffed though, as sources told ESPN's Marc Stein that the Knicks plan on matching anything Lin signs when the moratorium on new deals is lifted on July 11, leaving them with a gaping vacancy in their floor general position. Ironically, the Rockets had Lin on their roster, prior to the start of the season, but he waived to make payroll space to sign center Samuel Dalembert, whom Houston traded prior to the 2012 NBA Draft. That allowed the Knicks to pick him up off waivers and field him in once injuries hit them, creating the "Linsanity" phenomenon. - AMD, GMA News
Tags: nbaseason, houstonrockets, newyorkknicks, jeremylin, kylelowry
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