Don't the Raptors have a pretty decent PG in Jose Calderon already? Why would they go after Lin? This smells like a pure marketing move because of the Asian population in Toronto. If they're going to offer that much money to anyone, why not spend it on a big man who would be a better fit for their club?
yeah and the Nash angle is also a pure marketing move as well imo. Another reason why the Raptors are what they are.
Calderon is an expensive contract for them to hold on to and the team really hasn't gotten better with him. He's one of the worst defenders in the league (literally), and he doesn't score enough points, either. On the reverse, he's a damn good shooter with a great shot selection; his best quality of though is his passing skills. Calderon is still on the best pure passing point guards in the league. There is talk of the Lakers and Jazz trying to get him. He'd fit into a team that has established talent more so than a team that's a work in progress. He doesn't have the talent to carry a bad team. He's not as good as Steve Nash or as versatile and athletic as Jeremy Lin. Still a slightly above average point guard. New York is going to have alot of challengers for Lin, but I would watch Portland, Toronto, Dallas, and a darkhorse or too. He's not quite a star, but he will for now put butts in the seats. If he pans out, a backloaded deal maybe worth it.
Yeah, he's got one of those favorable expiring contracts. Also, next summer is one of those super FA classes.
why would lin sign with one of the worst teams in the NBA for a few millions more? 1 million to 5 millions is a lot of money. But 11 milliions to 15 millions have less marginal utility for Lin so he's gonna rather stay with a playoff team.
I thought it was new with the new CBA combined with the Arenas rule (kind of the update to the Arenas rule) ?
Uhh, no. New feature of the current CBA, designed to prevent situations like what happened with Gilbert Arenas. Arenas was a restricted free agent, but the Warriors didn't have Bird Rights, and thus couldn't match an offer. This makes it possible to match, but just really expensive.
One of the few games the raptors sold out was when Lin went there, so picking him up makes a lot of sense. Dude is an overrated cash cow.
His cap hold would be 10mil per year. Asik is getting around 14 mil his third year of the offer sheet he sign with us, but his cap hold is only about 8mil.
