There is a lot of controversy surrounding the New York Knicks and Jeremy Lin. Specially after the Knicks let Lin walk, becoming a Houston Rocket. But, was it right or wrong for the Knicks to let him go? Most press members piled up on the Knicks. But, what if it was a good idea?
Now, I’m not saying I’m 100% right about any of this. We’ll know in the coming years. Still, I can’t help but feel a certain way.
Lin only had 25 games to prove what he could do. I don’t care about your projections; 25 games is not enough. How many times we saw a young players cause havoc on the League and vanish?
Big risk. Specially after the press and fans used to kill the Knicks for spending too much.
I wrote about Lin before. I still think he can be a very good Point Guard. But, is he willing to be a supporting actor to his leading teammates? I kinda missed seeing that during the whole Linsanity thing. Lin never gave up the ball as much as he should.
Another thing people say to defend the Knicks matching Houston’s offer is the Asian market. Because Yi Jianlian has the same market share as Yao Ming, right? Unless he performs, Lin will not bring much revenue for the Knicks.
And by performs I mean, be a starter, not a borderline bench player, which he was for most of the season.
Lin said he “wanted to be a Knicks”. If he really wanted to, he wouldn’t go back to the Rockets to rework the offer. He had a 4 year – 4th year a team option – backloaded offer for $28M. But, after learning the Knicks would match that, he went back and got a new, 3 years, $25.1M, earning $15M in the last year.
With taxes, that last year could cost up to $40M for the Knicks. Really? $40M for an unproven PG?
Other than that, Lin never seemed to match with Carmelo Anthony. You can hate Melo, but he IS New York’s top dog. One of the best offensive players in the league. Working hard on defense. he is trying.
With Lin, Melo averaged 18.5 points per 36 minutes and had a Player Efficiency Rating of 16 – NBA’s average is 15. Without Lin, New York’s main talent had 23.9 points per 36 minutes and a PER of 23.
In the end of the season, with Lin out, Melo took over the team – helped by fewer injuries and a system that worked with him – and averaged 27 points per game, hitting .480% of his Field Goals.
Now, I know I wrote about Omer Asik’s contract and how it was not bad. Lin’s contract seems a lot alike Asik’s but, it has two big differences. Or three. Asik won’t cost the Bulls – if they match – near $40M in the last year. Asik did his defense thing for two season, not one quarter of one. And, it is easier to trade a big man bust than it is to trade a point guard bust.
Now, only time will tell if the Knicks were right. Still, I can’t blame them for moving on.
