The Los Angeles Lakers waived point guard Kendall Marshall on Friday in preparation of giving Jeremy Lin a larger role next season.
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The Lakers now have Lin and 41-year-old injury-prone Steve Nash at the point guard position and the team reportedly met with Lin to discuss increasing his role on the team going forward.
Lin, who started 33 games for the Houston Rockets last season and averaged 29 minutes per game for them, met with Lakers brass last week and the team told him he would receive more playing time than last year, the San Jose Mercury News reports.
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Lin has publicly stated he wants a bigger role in the upcoming campaign than he had last year with Houston.
"I wish my role could become bigger and more important, and I also wish I could get more playing time next year," Lin told Agence France-Presse while in Taiwan.
The Lakers will introduce Lin on Friday after acquiring him via trade last week from the Rockets and Lin will now look to bring a title back to Los Angeles playing alongside Kobe Bryant, who wants a sixth NBA title after signing a two-year extension with the team this past year.
Lin, who will turn 26 next month, is looking forward to playing alongside Bryant next season.
"Kobe wants to win and I want to win. I think Kobe wants his teammates to train hard and I will train hard. I hope he can respect me and we can collaborate well together," Lin told reporters in Mandarin.
Lin dropped 38 points on Bryant and the Lakers as a member of the New York Knicks in 2012 during his meteoric rise, and Bryant said at the time that Lin becoming a star from a D-League player was a "great story."
Lin was mostly held in a reserve role in 2013-14 and averaged 12.5 points, 4.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game. He'll likely get a much larger role next season.
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