I don't think it's because he's too nice -- it's because he doesn't trust his knee/body. I've never had an injury like that (knock on wood), but hearing people tell their stories of similar surgeries, I think fans really underestimate just how long it takes to get back to pre-injury form in terms of shooting. Hell, Melo shot like crap for 40 games last season, and until Woodson became head coach, he wasn't exactly putting in the dirty work like defense, rebounding, etc. to make himself useful to the team.
Felton is better for the team because he doesn't cost $25mil plus added luxury tax on the poison pill year, and he doesn't create endless "linsane" media drama, unless one counts jokes about his weight. He's probably better at protecting the ball, and he's got experience. Other than that, I don't care for his game. Knicks didn't think Lin was worth $25mil + lux tax. Rockets didn't think Dragic was worth a player option (has Morey ever given one? Yao right?). The end.
http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/8658809/houston-rockets-jeremy-lin-believes-an-nba-all-star Ok- the truth can be extracted from this article. Jeremy Lin is not a joke. Jeremy Lin is still working his way back from his injury and surgery. This explains a lot of things. -it explains why he isn't running the point full time. Even when Harden sat due to illness, Jeremy still didn't run the point full time- they had Parsons sharing the duty. -it explains why he camps out in the corner at the 3 point line- likely a coaching strategy to rest his knees. -it explains why we don't see him driving more like in the Linsanity days - it explains why his FG % is down - it explains why Sampson went with TD in the OT -it explains why every time Jeremy sits on the bench they ice his knees Jeremy is young and he has a will to excel. He is going to be a top tier PG in the NBA at some point in the future, and the Rockets will be very happy they got him.
What does it matter when we bumped up the deal? There is a clear price for Dragic and a clear price for Lin. The rockets thought Lin was worth the contract they offered him and thought Dragic wasn't worth the contract Phoenix gave him. They could have chosen the Dragic deal and never been in on the Lin contract talks. Some fans think they ended up getting the lesser valued deal. When they could have gone with either one there is no problem saying they messed up. You keep saying lost but we let both pgs go. It was a choice not to give Dragic the money and a choice to trade Lowry just like it was a choice to offer Lin $25MM. If Dragic had no interest of being here I'd understand your point but that's not the case here. An extra year for a better player is worth it to a lot of people. The rockets chose the Lin contract over the Dragic contract.
All I am sayin' is the media worldwide are gonna be all over this fridays Knicks game. Just y'all wait and see! The anticipation....as well as trepidation...is almost killing me! Bigger than even harden vs OKC and Asik vs Bulls tonite by a longshot. He was all over SI, GQ, etc. And one thing to be sure to read is the pre-and post-game coverage by the NYC media gossip outlets as they will be chomping at the bit. based on his performance, they will either raise him up to the heavens or roast him in the pits. I just hope Lin's teammates pick it up a bit for his sake so it isn't a total blowout. heck, even maybe linsanity will be reborn on friday......if the stars are aligned once again that is...perhaps is just what lin needed to get back on track....a dose of the NYC spotlight?
It has a lot to do with Lin. They let a guy go that would have kept them from needing Lin. Then they ended up paying Lin similar money per year for one less year. The rockets can't put themselves in a situation with no pg and then say hey we had to pay this guy all this money because we need a pg. They allowed that to happen. Dragic would have been a fool to take less money to stay just like Lin would have been one to take less to stay with NY. It's a one way street when one team isn't willing to match another's offer.
He's gonna have to hit those outside jumpers if he want to do well against the Knicks with Tyson Chandler in the paint. Plus Raymond Felton, JR Smith, and maybe even Melo are guys that will probably look to embarrass him. The current Lin I don't think will stand a chance honestly. He still sounds like he want to be friends with them while they are looking to prove they are better without him. Lin needs to get pissed and be aggressive to even have a chance.
I want to gild every one of your comments and mount them on pedestals with tasteful artistic lighting.
seems about right.. Lin makes on avg about 8 million a year. Top 20's are making an avg of 10mil according to the post you quoted.
Cap hit and actual salary paid to the player are two different things. He's getting paid 5 mil a year and he should be judged by how much he's getting paid that season, instead of an averaged figure across 3 years.
Rockets are taking cap hit of 8.3. I wish people would stop bringing up the 5 mil figure. You can't have it both ways. If you want to say Lin is making 5 million this year then you'll have to admit the Knicks are justified in not wanting to pay Lin 15 million in year 3.
Just FYI. You can have your opinion. The fact remains however whether you like it or not. 1. There is a team which gave JLin a 3 year $25 million contract. Houston. Average 8.x million. 2. There are at least two NBA teams are willing to give JLin 28 millions for 4 years. They are Rockets and Knicks. Average 7 million. 3. There are at least 3 NBA teams to 30 teams are willing to give JLin mid level minimum 2 years 10.5 million contract. There are Rockets, Knicks and Mavericks and other NBA teams. You know JLin contract will be between "2 years 10.5 million" and "3 year 25 million". Exactly where do you base your opinion from?
The reason of Knicks not matching Lin is a myth and its irrelevant to what I'm trying to point out. You know what the problem is? You used an average figure as a guideline to determine whether he played up to his contract after 11 games. So you basically weighed in year 2 and year 3 salary, then assumed that Lin would not improve in year 2 and year 3 --- therefore the conclusion he's not worth 8mil a year. Irrelevant numbers and false conclusion. You will have to wait til the 3rd year to justify whether its worth to pay him 15mil, not after 11 games. FTR, Lin is getting paid 5 mil a year and can only be justified based on that figure. Nobody knows what he would be playing like in year 2 or year 3 so the jury is out. We might get a better idea towards the end of year 2 what kind of player he will end up being, not now.
I disagree, because when a team looks at the player, they look at them in terms of their dollar for dollar Cap space choices. The Cap hit is $8.37M, so you would have to look at it in terms of WHAT can you get instead of Lin for $8.37M, and what players you can NOT add to the roster because of impact on the salary cap. It means nothing to a franchise to pay $5M in salary terms, if they STILL eat $8.37M in cap space. Similarly, $15M in year 3 has a MUCH different value to a franchise if they are only impacted by $8.37M in terms of Cap space. The difference is between JUST having Lin, or having Lin and being able to spend an additional $7M in player upgrades. The easiest way to think of Lin's contract is as a guaranteed 3 year contract, just like hiring a housing contractor... X in year 1, Y in year 2, the balance in Year 3. Whether that's paid all up front, or averaged, or ballooned in the 3rd year, it's still a fixed contract price. We paid Lin $25M guaranteed for 3 years. We should expect $8.37M/year worth of performance overall. And given the average Starting NBA PG salary, I think he's right in that ballpark give or take a smidge. It wouldn't take much improvement for Lin to go from fair/decent value to bargain or even an outright steal. How much improvement we see will unfold over time, but I don't think we've seen anywhere near the best of Lin. I would be very surprised if Lin didn't develop into a solid $9M+ value point guard contributor. He's a smart kid with a great work ethic and drive to succeed, and players like that don't remain static commodities.
Don't you mean around 36 starter games under his belt. That includes the Jazz game on Monday the 19th.
"What does it matter when we bumped up the deal"? because I was on the Knicks board when the initial terms of the first deal came out... people were laughing at Morey... saying thanks for helping us out with JLIN in fact most were wondering why Morey was being so accommodating... wondering why, he would even make such a low ball offer... was it just a gentleman's you scratch my back we scratch yours its matters a lot because not only did Morey think the Knicks were going to match the original offer... he thought for sure they were still going to match the bumped up offer that would have put the Knicks into a worse Luxury Tax position lets stop with the bulsheit... lost, let go, I dont care how you phrase it... you blew up your team, to get Howard... that is no secret.... when you didnt get him you went after who you could get... but notice you Signed Asik and Lin to 3 year deals.. and Harden to a 5 year deal... what it tells me is you were ready to tank this team and then get a superstar in 3 years time... until Harden came along... lets stop pretending this team was the same team it was last year before Jlin came along... it was a shell of it self by the time you "let go" your PGs