NBA Free Agents 2012: Jeremy Lin and Players Due for Huge Raise

Jeremy Lin is about to get paid what he's worth, from the Knicks that is. He's already earned additional cash through endorsements to go with the $800K New York paid him last year. But now that he's a free agent, the Knicks will have to ante up if they want to maintain his services.

Is it just me, or can you not utter the words "ante up" without thinking about M.O.P? Sorry, that's my daily pause for old school hip-hop.

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Lin owns the rights to the word he inspired, "Linsanity," and he inked deals with Nike and Volvo during the height of the Linsane period. All those blessings were made possible because of his play. 

He averaged 14.6 points and 6.2 assists in 35 games, that includes a stretch in February where he scored 20 or more points nine times. He exploded for 38 against the Lakers on February 10.

Lin slowed down a bit as defenses began to key on him, and then he suffered the knee injury that ended his season.

I'm not sure Lin is a star-caliber point guard, but at 23 years old and given the success he had last season, look for him to receive perhaps the biggest raise of any NBA free agent. The Knicks want him back, but Lin doesn't appear to be offering any friendly discounts.

Marc Berman of the New York Post quotes Robert Montgomery on Lin's possible return to the Knicks:

"

“I don’t expect that. We’re not anticipating that’s going to happen. We don’t have assurances of anything. I know history shows most restricted free agents go back to their team, but I’m not going to assume anything. We’re waiting to see what happens.’’

"

So are a lot of Knicks fans.

A key to this saga is whether Lin is allowed to keep his Bird Rights. If he is, the Knicks will still have their mid-level exception to use on signing another player. If the results of the arbitration hearing that took place June 14 doesn't go in the players union's favor, the Knicks would have to use their MLE on Lin.

That would impede their ability to improve the current roster. Lin is going to have other interested teams, but in the end I believe the Knicks will not allow their talented, but largely unproven, young point guard to walk.

His on-court and commercial upside is just too high.

Here are two other free agents that will cash in this offseason.

Eric Gordon—New Orleans Hornets

Gordon is a restricted free agent and a proven scorer. He is also just 23 years old, but his games played has decreased every year he's been in the league. In 2008-2009, which was his rookie season, he played 78 games and averaged an impressive 16 points per game. Last year he played in only nine games, but he dropped over 20 points per night for the second consecutive season.

There is no question Gordon is a talented, high-volume scorer; but will he stay healthy? Opponents don't want him to get healthy. They don't like him when he's healthy.

My guess is that the Hornets will be willing to pay a pretty penny to retain him. Even with the No. 1 pick in the draft, that sources say will be Anthony Davis (just kidding, always wanted to say that), the Hornets still need scoring.

Gordon will see offers from other teams as well, but the Hornets will likely match them unless he gets a max-offer from someone.

Landry Fields—New York Knicks

I'm going back to New York for this one.

Fields made almost $800K last season, so even if he's offered $3 million a year, he more than triples his salary.

Per dollar, he was perhaps the most productive player in the NBA last season.

For under a million dollars, the Knicks got a shooting guard that played solid defense, played in every game for the second consecutive year, averaged just under nine points and pulled down over four rebounds per game.

Because of his production and the injuries to Baron Davis, Iman Shumpert and the sheer insanity that is J.R. Smith, the Knicks will probably match offers for him. This information is per Berman in a separate article. Except the Smith insanity part, that's all me.

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