NBA Free Agency 2012: How Jason Kidd Signing Impacts Jeremy Lin's Future

Just when we thought this year's period of free agency couldn't get any crazier, Jason Kidd saw Steve Nash's controversial sign-and-trade and raised him one shocking move of his own. Just when we believed Kidd would end up re-signing with the Dallas Mavericks, the 39-year-old made a decision to sign with the New York Knicks.

Here's a recap of the madness.

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Sources -- Jason Kidd close to new deal to stay with Dallas Mavericks es.pn/NnOlmG

— ESPNDallas (@ESPNDallas) July 5, 2012"

Earlier in the day, we all expected Jason Kidd to abandon his dreams of playing alongside Deron Williams and remain a member of the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs were poised to offer him a three-year deal that would have paid him roughly $9 million.

Clearly, Kidd found a better opportunity elsewhere.

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In another unforeseen twist of this wild offseason, sources say Jason Kidd has decided to leave Mavs and join Knicks on a multiyear deal

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 5, 2012"

While we're all shocked by the decision and intrigued by the possibilities, we cannot lose sight of what we'd previously directed our focus towards. That, of course, is the potential for the Knicks to match the Houston Rockets' backloaded offer to Jeremy Lin and bring him back under early Bird rights.

As David Aldridge reports, that is all likely to occur.

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Source confirms Jason Kidd has turned down 3 yr/$9.5M offer from Mavs to play w/Knicks--who are also likely to match Houston offer for Lin.

"

"— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) July 5, 2012"

While the Knicks' former rival will likely bring a greater sense of maturity and focus to a star-powered lineup, there isn't much else Kidd can offer. He's an old 39 who had a well-rounded, but mediocre season in 2012. He can still rebound and shoot the three, and can post respectable assist and steal numbers.

Unfortunately, those averages have been virtually cut in half from what they used to be.

This opens up the door for the Knicks to do what Aldridge reported: re-sign Jeremy Lin. Lin is the anti-Kidd in the sense that he has full spring in his young legs and plenty of energy to offer on the floor. The one thing he does lack, however, is polished decision-making; something Kidd happens to be one of the best at.

For the Knicks to pass up on the opportunity to have Jason Kidd mentor Jeremy Lin would be foolish. Just not quite as foolish as they would be to believe Kidd could lead this team at the point. Chances are he'd just dump it off to Carmelo Anthony in 2013 like he did to Dirk Nowitzki in 2012.

The issue is, Jeremy Lin wants more money than we expected.

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RT @Ian_OConnor: Jeremy Lin wants more $ than reported $31M offer from Houston, according to league source. #Knicks facing a hefty match

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"— Alan Hahn (@alanhahn) July 5, 2012"

What does Jason Kidd do to Jeremy Lin's future with the Knicks? Makes him a potentially overpaid player with half a season of proof of ability.