Why the New York Knicks Should Part Ways with Jeremy Lin

Last season, Jeremy Lin had five minutes of fame like few in the history of Earth. He went from sleeping on his brother’s couch to the 21st most marketable athlete in the world in a period of mere weeks.

That’s ahead of Dwyane Wade, in case you’re wondering.

His explosion was not entirely unearned either, as in spite of turning the ball over at a record pace, he was actually playing solid basketball. As a starter on the season, he averaged 18.2 points and 7.7 assists per game. He had a player efficiency rating of 19.9. Those are credible numbers.

Not quite as impressively, he turned the ball over 4.7 times per game. Those are the numbers of a young player learning his way.

Certainly, overall, he’s established he's a solid NBA player. But his play also demonstrates he is still developing. It’s worth bearing in mind, as well, he had been a shooting guard in college and is still learning the position.

What will his long-term numbers be? They could be better as he’ll improve in time in some of the areas  he struggles. At the same time, even as teams started to get film on him and learn how to defend him, his numbers started taking a hit.

In March, he shot .407 from the field and averaged 14.6 points with 6.3 assists.

The fair and accurate way of evaluating Lin is that he’s a worthwhile project. He’s a player that has real talent and real potential, but he also has very real flaws that need work. He’s not a player right now who can captain an NBA championship team.

The reality of the Knicks' situation is that they need a point guard who can do just that. That player is available, but he’s not likely to sign for the veteran’s minimum. That player is Steve Nash.

Both Nash and Lin are likely to command the same price, the full mid-level exception of $5 million, and the New York Knicks will have one of those to spend. The question facing them isn’t so much should they sign Lin. It’s which point guard gives them the best chance to win an NBA title.

Nash has the maturity and seniority to command Carmelo Anthony’s respect and, in essence, keep him “in check” (but not in an adversarial way). He simply has the type of seniority and intelligence players wouldn’t think a negative thought of if he offered them constructive criticism.

If Anthony were commanding the ball too much or over-shooting and Nash were to say something, Anthony would willingly acquiesce. I’m not sure Lin has that same type of respect. Yes, they have a friendship, but friendship doesn’t mean respect.

Nash also has the experience of working with Amar’e Stoudemire, who has all but disappeared since Anthony’s arrival, (or at least he’s disappeared in comparison to what he was doing before Anthony’s arrival).

Finally, Nash is still the best distributor in the league. With two players who can score the ball as well as Anthony and Stoudemire, what the Knicks need most is a player who can create shots for his teammates and feed them the ball.

Assist-plus is an interesting stat. It includes the number of assists which lead to three-point field goals. Nash led the NBA by a wide margin in assists-plus per 36 minutes last season, averaging 13.4. He also led the league in assists per 36 minutes at 12.2.

In fact, in terms of assists per minute, the last three seasons have been the best three of Nash’s career. Last year was his second best, lest you think age has caught up with the old man.

When you consider that the targets he had with the Suns included Marcin Gortat, (who is a fine player, don’t get me wrong, but he’s just no Amar’e Stoudemire), Jared Duley and Channing Frye. With that crew, he nearly led the Suns to the postseason.

What’s he going to do if he has weapons like Anthony and Stoudemire to work with and a guy like Steve Novak out on the wing?

Let’s not forget that while Nash is an extraordinary assist man, he’s also one of the best shooters in the history of the league. He is the only player in league history to have a free-throw percentage of .900, a three-point percentage of .400 and a field-goal percentage of .480.

He is fifth among guards in NBA history in true shooting percentage.

His pairing of shooting and passing is matched only by John Stockton and Magic Johnson in the history of the game. That trio makes up for the only players in league history to have a true shooting percentage of at least .600 and an assist percentage of 40 percent or higher.

To use a military example, Steve Nash is the equivalent of a guy who just took out an entire platoon with a cap gun and a water pistol. Putting him on the Knicks is the equivalent of giving that guy an armory worthy of a team of US Navy Seals.

It’s reasonable to think that with Nash having his offseason residence in New York, he would willingly take the mid-level exception to come and play for the Knicks. It’s also reasonable to think that if they don’t, he won’t be eager to run and play for the veteran’s minimum.

The Knicks need to part ways with Jeremy Lin but not so much because anything is wrong Jeremy Lin. They need to do it because he’s not Steve Nash. Nash can lead the Knicks to a title this year; Lin can’t. It’s that simple.