Jeremy Lin agrees to terms on offer sheet [Update: Lin officially signs]

I think he's going to be matched, unfortunately. We're going to be in trouble if that happens. We need a starting PG and I don't think Livingston can hack it. Hope we get Lin.

 

I disagree. IF Lin kept playing at his peak Linsanity level, he would be an elite PG and worth 15 million a year, not just 8.3 million. The only reason why people think he's overpaid is because of the small sample size, which is a legit doubt.

 

And if the Knicks don't match, all of New York will have Lindigestion from the Lincision while Houston will be Lincouraged, Lintertained, and Linjoying a huge Linfusion of Linsanity.

Twill be Linteresting.

 

Yes. He was playing like a top 3-4 point guard at his peak. He fell off toward the end and then the injury...

Regardless of where Lin lands, it will be an interesting storyline to follow and see how he performs in his sophomore season. Will there be a sophomore slump or will he rebound back to his initial high? Or somewhere in between.

 

Alan Hahn
Meanwhile, Raymond Felton's weight will be a topic of conversation when training camp opens in October. Felton has said he likes to come into camp overweight because he loses it during camp and he likes to play "heavy" because it helps him feel stronger.

 

no trouble at all.

w/o howard there are no expectations for the year...just a kick-ass opportunity to watch our young guns play and make waves. heck, I'm smiling right now because of it.

w/howard? did you watch the game last night? whoever snatched the rebound brought the ball up...it was a thing of beauty.

this team may be redefining the pg position...or going to do a killer job at "working with what you have".

 

Summer League /= real NBA games

 

Yeah, I really don't get it. I was just tweeting about it with Howard Beck of the NYT - people up there seem to be convinced it's a non-issue because the Knicks will be over the tax (and apron) regardless. I'm not so sure.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/new_york.htm

Add in roughly $11 million for Felton, Camby and Novak to their guaranteed $63.1 million in commitments. With that, the Knicks are still under the $74.3 million apron, which is likely to rise slightly. Beck points out that the Knicks would still have to fill out their roster, which would put them over the tax line. That's true, but as long as the S&T is done first (and usually marquee FAs set the market by going first), it can be done. Worst case, the Knicks are within one very minor move - like sending an expiring JR Smith ($2.8 million) to, say, Charlotte - of being under the apron. It's doable.

With Lin... it's over. Short of completely dumping Stoudemire, Anthony or Chandler (highly unlikely), there's no ability to get under the apron. That's the team the Knicks are going to war with for the next 3-4 years, and I just don't see how it's good enough. If I'm the Knicks, having zero hope of any free agent deals and being locked into this particular group just isn't worth it.

 

Lol. That's the stupidest excuse for being an overweight pro.

 

I understand that. In fact I kept on pinching myself last night to remind me of that fact.

But you can't deny we looked smooth, intellegent and diverse out there.

 

http://deadspin.com/5926623/how-the-knicks-could-afford-jeremy-lin-and-other-questions-answered
Article from DS on him being afforded by NYK

 

In Summer League.

Rookies and scrubs playing against rookies and scrubs with weak officiating and less game strategy. I love watching summer league, but I'm not going to even consider the possibility that the Rockets are going to redefine the PG position based on summer league games.

 

Exactly- you know who else is killing it in summer league? Lazar Hayward.

Calm it down folks.

 

"Cause the Houston Rockets ain't going to the NBA championship any time soon"- Stephen A Smith.

Nevermind, lets prove him wrong by winning the championship. I want us to put up a dart board with his face on it in the locker room. And the backboard should be his face. **** Stephen A Smith.

 

To those of you who assert the position that:

If NYK match Lin's offer, they can 'just trade him later'..

Think about it a bit.

If NYK tries to trade Lin, they would be trying to trade him *for a reason*.

What reason?

Obviously, they would be wanting to get out from under the terrible 'poison pill' contract that they were originally so nonchalant about getting into.

They would want OUT of it because, apart from the absurd amount of luxury tax they would be sending to all the other teams in the league, they will have discovered that they simply cannot compete in the marketplace of signing players, and that not being able to do that, coupled with now having an EXTREMELY old team, all of that spells DOOM for that franchise.

So if they are as stupidly unwise as they would have to be to match, they would probably relatively quickly sober up and realize they ought to try to get out from under it, possible as early as January.

Problem is, it is one thing to say 'we can just trade him'. It's another thing to actually be able to DO it.

Assume that if they decide they want to trade him, this means that Lin is, for whatever reason, NOT equaling his performance of the 'Linsanity Era'. (if he WAS, then they would simply not be trying to trade him.) Therefore, they are already trying to trade a player who is not performing up to expectations.

The contract is just as toxic to whomever they would trade Lin, and for an under-performing player, it is silly to assume 'they could just trade him' and it would be as easy as that.

Secondly, it's not simply a matter of trading him.

They would need to trade him and NOT TAKE EQUAL DOLLARS BACK. Otherwise, trading him does them little to no good.

This means they would not only need to trade an under-performing player saddled with an enormous toxic contract, but they could ONLY trade him to a team with enough room under the cap to absorb him without returning a large dollar amount in return.

NYK has hardly any draft picks left to offer as sweetener.

AND, each team will be scheduled to be receiving free $$ from Dolan to the tune of almost 3 million annually as long as they are strapped over the cap that far.

So I ask you: which team or teams out there would be both able and willing to take on Lin's poison contract, be under the cap that far, AND be willing to forego large amounts of free cash from the richest and most arrogant NBA franchise in the league?

Serious question. I literally do not know what team out there would be willing to take Lin from NY under those circumstances. But I just can't imagine anyone at all would do that.

Not even Houston. I mean, it's one thing to overpay Lin to the tune of 8.3mil per season, but it would be another thing to have to wait a year, then pay 20mil for two seasons, AND have to give something of value up in trade? That's even assuming we are still far enough under the cap at that point.

All of this leads me to lean slightly to the side of 'NYK will not match'.

They just can't. It will kill their franchise if they do.

They just need to face reality: They got beat. By Houston. Again. Deal with it.

 

well. okay.

you just missed the little smirk I had while typing that...


But, I will consider a redefinition...hell, I'll consider anything during, like you say, the SL.

And it did worked well if you noticed.

 

I actually hope Screamin A is right this time so that we land a quality PG

 

I still don't believe it. Come get me at 11pm if the Knicks haven't done anything.

No matter what his front office tells him, for James Dolan it is now a matter of pride. And for a man like that, the price of pride has no number. They will wait until the end out of spite to the Rockets, but they will match.

Honestly can you guys envision a future in which Jeremy Lin has on a Rockets uniform, and we are the most popular team in China again, and New York fans languish in frustration at the fact that PG is the one position keeping them out of contention with Miami? Because I can't. Even if New York hangs on to Lin, they will not make it to the ECF much less the Finals, because Melo won't gel with a point guard who needs the ball in his hands.

but this is all irrelevant because Dolan is making the decision. The players will shut up and play together. Stephen A will blast Dolan on his radio show for making him look the fool. And life will go on in New York with a brand new shiny expensive scapegoat for their playoff shortcomings

 

My gut feeling says Knicks will match. Lin means so much to that city and makes the team loads of money

 

I did say at or near.

I think it would be a good comparison to say he needs to play at a Lowry or Dragic level to make the deal worth it.