With point guard Raymond Felton on his way to New York via a sign-and-trade deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, evidence is mounting that the Knicks will not match the Houston Rockets' offer sheet to Jeremy Lin. NBA Free Agency NBA NBA free agency is under way, and ESPN.com has you covered with all the latest deals, trades and potential moves. Free agents | Trade Targets | RC Insider • Insider: Free-agent PER rankings Insider • More: TrueHoop | Trade Machine Team sources say the Knicks are still deliberating whether they can pay Lin more than $25 million over three years, but one source within the Knicks organization tells ESPN's Stephen A. Smith that the Knicks will not match the offer. A team source tells ESPNNewYork.com's Ian Begley that the third year of the Rockets' offer -- worth $14.8 million -- makes it unlikely the Knicks would match. If the Knicks were to match the offer, they would also be subject to a luxury tax in the third year, bringing their total out-of-pocket cost for Lin to approximately $30 million in 2014-2015. The Rockets' offer to Lin would pay him $5 million in the first year, $5.225 million in the second and $14.8 million in the third, according to sources. A source close to the process told ESPN.com's Marc Stein the Knicks received the offer sheet Saturday night, meaning they have until 11:59 p.m. ET Tuesday to match it or let Lin go to the Rockets. When asked by Newsday on Sunday if he thought Lin would be back with the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony was unsure but took a swipe at the Rockets' contract offer to the point guard. "It's not up to me. It's up to the organization to say that they want to match that ridiculous contract," he told the paper. Anthony also told Newsday, "I'd love to see him back, but I think he has to do what's best for him right now." Jared Jeffries, headed to Portland in the sign-and-trade deal that will bring Felton to the Knicks, is one who shares the sentiment that Lin won't be back with the Knicks. "I never thought they would let him go," he told ESPN New York via text message on Sunday. A source close to Lin told ESPNNewYork.com that the Knicks trade for Felton caught Lin off guard. "He was very surprised," the source said. "He felt the whole time that the Knicks would just match the offer." Initial reports had the Rockets offering Lin a four-year deal for around $28 million. That deal included salaries of more than $9 million in each of the last two years, which would be a big hit on the Knicks' salary cap. Still, the organization seemed intent on matching. "They will match any offer on Lin up to $1 billion," a source told ESPN.com's Stein last week. Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that Lin would not only be back but would enter next season as the Knicks' starting point guard. It's not clear, however, if the new deal has changed that thinking since the third year of the current deal carries an even bigger cap hit. If the Knicks re-sign Lin, they'll have $75 million tied up in four players -- Lin, Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler -- in 2014-15. Lin, a restricted free agent, made $788,000 last season. He averaged 14.6 points, 6.2 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 35 games with 25 starts before his season was cut short because of surgery to repair torn cartilage in his knee. But in the 35 games he was healthy, Lin went from an end-of-the-bench afterthought to an international phenomenon. The undrafted guard out of Harvard, who was cut twice in the preseason (once by the Rockets) and played in the D-League, set the league on fire in February, leading the Knicks to seven consecutive wins. He scored at least 20 points in nine of 10 games during that stretch. Felton, meanwhile, will return to New York, where he played 54 games during the 2010-11 season before being traded to the Denver Nuggets as part of the Anthony blockbuster. Felton played well in half a season in New York, averaging 17.1 points before the Knicks sent him to Denver. He struggled this season with the Trail Blazers, scoring 11.4 points per game on 40.7 percent shooting and briefly losing his starting job. Felton's agent, Tony Dutt, told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard that returning to New York has been Felton's first choice all along. http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/sto...y-lin-houston-rockets-offer-sheet-source-says
First off, Lin cost the Rockets a much better draft selection from New York - via the 1st round pick.... He kept the Knicks in contention of a playoff spot the whole season, because before Lin the Knicks were a disaster going staright to the top of the pecking order in the draft. But, Lin would have hardly seen the court with Houston last season with Dragic and Lowry... So, it seems that Lin is going to be a good option for starting point guard. I think Lin will regress some. But he did post those types of numbers for an extended period of time in the NBA. But good move by Morey.
He's 23 years old and has shown he can put up big numbers. What makes you think he's not gonna get better? He's a lock for the all star game with the Asian vote.
yea i just realized this. he's 23 years old. i mean if you can put up the numbers that he did during Linsanity, you can damn well be sure he will learn how to do it on a more consistent basis. i look for him to average 14-6 this season, but i think he will improve every season for atleast 5 years. im not saying he is going to be a superstar, but maybe the kind of guy you need for a superstar to flourish.
Remember Marquis Daniels? He did the same thing, was in the same situation for the Mavs. Rewarded with a long term contract. Was meant to be their starting PG for a long time. Ended up being a bust signing.
Sources: Knicks will match 'up to one billion dollars' Sources: Knicks won't match. Sources: Knicks may match Sources: Sources have no idea.
WTF at melo calling the contract offer ridiculous ..that b**** is one of the most over paid players in the NBA .. Also isn't it supposed to be part of the players honor code not to get involved or discuss another players contract ...what a punk
You can't base all your moves off of some other move that was a bust.If you did you would never make any moves.Every player should be judged on his own merits. Lin is probably the least of our worries.It's a win-win situation.If he pans out and continues to improve we look great for stealing him away.If he is a bust it doesn't cripple us and he would be easy to move.Not to even mention the marketing angle. Listening to these idiot's on 610 and you would think we offered the guy 100 million 10 year contract.At the minimum Lin puts some butts in the seats while we tank.