That's a great point! Even if he does improve in the next 2 years he will be up for contract. If he acquire another big star we might not be able to afford Lin in two years.
that's wishful thinking by the likes of reektown, gus fringe's chicken franchise and the rest of the skyrisms of the board. Lin will be here til that contract runs out. why? because if he belongs in the nbdl nobody, not even the worst managed roster is going to take an 8 million contract nor should they. You guys are basically calling Morey a moron for the signing of lin. at age 24, lin played like a 26 year old lowry/ dragic without having to complicate our cap flexibility with a player option. It was a smart signing with a lot of potential and little risk.
Lin will probably play way better in his contract year, so I predict Morey will trade him after next year so they can get something for him.
I think you and I see two different Morey's. That man is not afraid to pull the trigger on anyone and will find the right situation to drop that contract. I didn't always believe in Morey but he has earned a lot of respect this year. He dropped the bomb and blew up the whole team and they made the playoffs. I think it was a year too late but we finally have a direction now. I'm looking forward to the future but if Lin does not improve his shooting and his confidence issues he will be gone.
Morey could blow up the team and get rid of harden and still put together squad that can contend for the 8th seed. I've always believed in morey. It's for the same reason that harden can not be in the line up and our points barely dip. Morey knows what he is doing. As for lin, you honestly believe he won't work in his shooting and become better at it? as the season progressed he improved tremendously? I get sick of those knee jerk posters that i mentioned. It's one year. have some patience dammit. <--he mad.
Honestly I don't think a full year and a half is knee jerk. You have to understand for the past few years we've had pretty good point guards and they were cheap and young. So some feel that at this stage Lin should at least have matched there level by now. I think that Lin's game does not go along with Harden's. Not only that but he looks scared out there. He can fix his shot but can he fix the confidence? If we want to win he is going to have to hit some big shots and thats gonna take some confidence. I hope he improves but as of right now I'm not sure he should be our point guard. If Morey's plan is to keep these guys together and let them grow together upgrading where he can then Lin will have to change his game for the first time to compliment a star and improve his shot. I don't know I hope I'm wrong but I don't see him changing his game that much. He still dribbles into traps and misses easy lay-ups.
This man talk sense. Lin should be traded as his skillset overlaps too much with Harden's. He should go to a team like the Jazz or any other small market teams where he can actually play PG full time and develop his raw skills. The Roxs will be better off finding a better version of Mario Chalmers and a low post threat to complement Harden.
I don't really see how we can judge him this season. It is basically his rookie season.. I think after the off season we will know whether or not we should keep him based on improvement.
I dont know that its wishful thinking at all. Actually my wish would be that Lin will improve enough this Summer and next year to make it a no-brainer for the team to keep him out of trade talks. If there is an opportunity to improve the team at all after February 2014, I dont think Morey would hesitate to look at trading him. However before then, I do personally think that Morey and Co. WANT to keep him to see if they can make it work long term between now and February of next season. That is unless there is a deal out there that is too good to pass up. No, I am not calling Morey a moron at all. Actually at the time, it made sense to sign Lin, and the contract was reasonable given the circumstances.
During Linsanity he wasn't scared. After Melo and Amare came back, he wasn't scared. He didn't know what to do facing early trapping and doubling in the first game against Miami, but he regrouped afterwards. Coach Woodson said Lin needed to learn to become a better PG, but he'd still put the ball in the hands of his starting PG. Even with Melo and Amare on court, Lin has closed games with big shots/FTs in critical moments. In the first two games this season, Lin played well along side of Harden, while Harden flourishing with seemingly easy 40+ points. Was he scared then? No. When did he start to hesitate? After he became "allergic to 4th quarter"? I hope Lin could have performed better in the season, but he played decent and showed flashes of his strength and improvement in his weak areas. He played SCARED in game 1 of the playoffs, where almost everyone did. In game 2, he played pretty well at both ends, tangible or intangible, before he got injured. What really is this scary or melting under pressure perception about, or where did it come from? If he's a finished product, consistent and mature, he wouldn't be making 5 million a year, as a first time full season starter.
I want to see what Harden becomes. I think he might be great someday and I don't think you need LBJ to win a Championship.