Except Lin is Taiwanese. You didn't see the Knicks getting endorsement deals of Chinese markets when he was there. Nor did you see Lin get deals while he was in GS either. This might satisfy the Asian-American crowd here in Houston and the Taiwanese crowd in Taiwan, and possibly the Chinese youth in China. Endorsement deals aren't going to be flowing in however.
Responding/adding to some of the points made here: 1. There is no question Lin is better than Flynn and that the Rockets should have kept Lin over Flynn. However, this is not relevant to the point here. 2. The point I was making is that the complaint that people made back in February was not that "Daryl let a $6M-$7M player go when he could have paid him $1M before he hit free agency, that's like $5M-$6M of extra value!" Instead, it was that "Stupid Daryl let a budding young player with star potential who could have been a key part of our future go!" Well, Lin's contract was always going to expire, allowing him to hit free agency at the end of the 2011-12 season. If he really would have shown himself to have star potential even during a limited stretch (like he did in NY and like Dragic did in Houston), you likely will have to pay him roughly the $8M/year that the Rockets are rumored to be offering him or else he's gone. For example, this is roughly what Detroit signed Rodney Stuckey to before this season-- a youngish player hasn't dominated but has shown significant upside. So, my point is that if you really thought of him as a budding potential star back then, you really should not be surprised that the Rockets or any other team is offering him $8M/year. Conversely, if you really thought that the Rockets should not offer him more than $6-7M/year, then he wasn't going to be a part of the future anyway. Somebody would make him a significantly larger offer, and he'll be gone (and the Rockets wouldn't even be able to make get value from him via S&T given all the rules applicable in the Omer Asik case). So, the question is this: Is Lin just a $6-7M/year player (i.e. barely above MLE)? Or is he a worth "budding potential star" money? (Perhaps the fair answer is that "He does seem to have decently high upside, but given the limited sample size, maybe $7M/year would be his market value based on his upside, downside and probability of realizing upside vs. being a bust." However, that would require the kind of nuanced probabilistic thinking not exhibited by the folks freaking out back then. I mean, some here argued that the Rockets should have known that he was a potential star based on the sample size of 2 weeks worth of practice, then why can't you determine exactly how much he's worth based on a few dozen NBA live games?) 3. Clutch and others: If you think the front office cares about PR and marketing in China more than, well, "basketball reasons," then why wasn't Lin #1 on their FA chase list? Why did they chase Asik (who, really isn't giving them great PR buzz even locally) first at midnight and tried to bring back Dragic before going to Lin as a plan B?
Can Lin come to TheToyShop on an SnT? Well, look at the Knixies roster and do some math. Er, arithmetic.
Not sure who is on drug! You mean the likes of Jared Jefferies, Landry Fields, Bill Walker, a wished up Baron, etc. are better than the Rockets roster? LOL....
Lin is probably a $6-7M player, but the cash he would generate due to its Chinese descent would worth at least $1-2M premium. I bet Les would be willing to overpay him because it's a good investment monetary-wise.
Dragic is pretty much the same as Lin considering what they offer on the basketball court, so why don't we go for a product with added value while costing you at the same price? I don't get the logic here. It is not about popularity or legendary or whatever you call it. I am talking about common sense.
100% agree with this. It's all about marketability in today's league and if you have the chance to get a popular player, you have to go for it (within reasonability). These players bring fans into arenas as opposed to just watching at home (if they even do that). Popular players are what most casual nba fans want and since most nba fans are casual fans, you have to cater to them over the less frequent hard-core fans (especially in fair-weather fan cities).
lin's value could go from mle to 8 mil. it's tough to judge based on limited data. lin could surprise ppl again then 8 mil may look like a bargain. since rox show interest. they have to raise the offer so knicks can't match otherwise it wastes everyone time and tie rox hands for extra days.
I honestly think people need to see more of his game, in order to really judge. Not only did he not show up on scouting reports, until probably game 4-5 of 'linsanity,' but he also got to freeball in D'Antoni's system. It's too bad we can't see more of Lin, before deciding to pull the trigger on any kind of deal.
Lin has better PER than Dragic last season, and he played great defense. He's simply a better and younger player with more potential purely from the basketball perspective. He's the one should demand 10 mil plus deals.
If the Rockets really and truly want Jeremy Lin on a reasonable contract, it will work out much better for them if they are able to sign him away as a restricted free agent anyway. If Lin had played out the season, he would be an early-bird free agent, same as he is now (though I'm skeptical as to whether he would have been granted this status were he not playing in New York). This would mean that the Rockets would have been limited in the extension they could offer him to either their available cap room, or a full MLE deal. Pretty much the only way to create enough space to offer both he and Asik deals with cap room would involve renouncing Dragic's bird rights or amnestying Scola or Martin; that is, exactly the same spot they are in right now; I can't really see them committing $22M+ to the PG spot in 3 separate players. However, if they had had to match an offer sheet for Lin, it would have likely come with an Arenas Clause 3rd and 4th year raise that would make the contract extremely unpleasant to match. Instead, since they are able to spread around the cap hit in an offer sheet, the contract becomes manageable. Long story short, there would be a 0% chance that Jeremy Lin would remain a Rocket if he were kept last year, and there is now a greater than 0 (but still really, really low) chance he'll be a Rocket now. Either way, he'd likely be making the same salary, and Dragic would be long gone.
That is what I've been thinking and I dearly hope it's wrong. Not wrong to be picking up Lin, who I think would be a solid backup point, and temporary starter if Dragic or Lowry went down (god forbid), so much as giving him anywhere near the sums bandied about for Dragic, who I think is worth $8 million a year at the beginning of his new contract with the Rocks, if he actually ends up here. Not the $10 million I've heard, which I think is rediculous, but $8 million. And Lin? I'd think long and hard about giving him the MLE, and I'm leaning towards it being too much for the guy.
1. That's a part of my point here: If we still need to see more of him to determine whether he's a potential star or not right now, then shouldn't the Rockets be forgiven for not having made that determination back in training camp? 2. The limited sample size argument also applies to Dragic, no? He's been in the league longer and played a lot more minutes, but his asking price ($10M) or even the rumor Rockets offer price ($8M) is essentially based on 1/2 season worth of games during which he excelled as a starter. Before then, he wasn't even close to be as efficient even in a significant back-up role either in HOU or in PHX (remember, just a season ago, PHX gave up a 1st round pick to trade him for Aaron Brooks). 3. Honestly, you gotta take some bets based on incomplete data sometimes-- in fact "limited sample size" is the only reason why you even have a shot at certain "high upside" (or at least "highish upside") guys in the first place. For example, if Omer Asik had played 30 mpg rather than 15 and showed himself to be at the same level, CHI would have auto-matched even a poison pill contract. If Eric Gordon had stayed healthy and dominated for at least two full seasons, NOH wouldn't even be thinking about a S&T offer. If Kyle Lowry had played like he did last season when he was in Memphis, we couldn't have had him for just Rafer Alston. It's a just matter of how risky/smart the bet is.
Given Lin's free agency status, if he is as good as people thought he would be back in February, the cost of adding him would be pretty much the same as the cost of keeping him if the Rockets didn't waive him. If you want to keep him, it'll be at market cost. Had Lin been the backup PG in Houston, and filled in for Lowry when he went down as capably as he played in NY, the Rockets would be in roughly the same situation as the Knicks are now: facing the decision to match an Asik-style poison pill contract.
If morey heavily backloads his contract with a 3yr/25 mil offer and the knicks match, they would be deep in salary cap hell (like over 130mil due to repeat offending lux taxes) for only players on the roster in 2014.
both showed similar stat on limited services but one asks 10+ mil and the other may take 7-8 mil. if we have to settle down with one of them, i would go cheap one. i had LP. i watched both playing. they can do pretty much same things. who will be more success in a long run is tough to say. so i pick the cheap one.
