Jeremy Lin: Knicks Would Be Smart to Match Houston's Offer Sheet

It's a good thing the Houston Rockets didn't offer Jeremy Lin a billion dollars. 

According to a source (via ESPN's Marc Stein), the Knicks were prepared to "match any offer on Lin up to 1 billion dollars."

Fortunately for New York, the Rockets only offered Lin four years for $28 million. The first two years are worth $10.2 million while the other 18 come in the final two, although the fourth year is a team option. 

Despite the hefty contract for a young player, the Knicks, who appear ready to match Houston's offer, would be smart to bring back Lin for next season and beyond.

Let's take a look why.

Monetary Reasons

The contract isn't ideal, as the third year is a hefty $9 million, but other than that, there's isn't much not to like here. 

Lin, who will continue to develop and improve under the guidance of Jason Kidd for the next two seasons, will be a relative bargain for $5.1 million per year. And if he continues to improve, that $9 million won't look so bad in 2014-15. 

What's more, look at the alternative options if the Knicks decide to go in another direction.

Because Lin is under early-Bird rights, New York is able to sign Lin to this contract, even though it means it is going over the salary cap. 

The only other way for the Knicks to sign a player and go over the salary cap, at this point, is to sign a veteran to the minimum. If they were to do that, they would be getting nowhere near the talent of Lin. 

Finally, Lin's impact on Madison Square Garden's revenue can't be overstated. This seems like a no-brainer.

Play on the Court

The same excuses people were coming up with when "Linsanity" was at its peak are going to continue to be thrown at Lin throughout his entire career.

The sample size isn't big enough. He won't keep it up. He turns the ball over too much. Overrated. Blah, blah, blah.

People, however, seem to forget this kid is still just 23 years old. He's not just some fluke 30-year-old who averaged 18.2 points and 7.7 assists per game as a starter and will never approach those numbers again. 

Granted, the sample size is smaller than perfect, but look at the players in the last 10 years to average 18 and 7 at 23 years or younger:

Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, LeBron James, Deron Williams and Baron Davis

Not a bad group to be a part of. 

Now, I'm not comparing Lin to some of the players in that group, and technically he's not even a part of that group, I'm just saying that what he did last year is not something to ignore or just chalk up as a fluke. 

As time goes on, he'll improve his decision making and became an even more dangerous player, especially with dominant offensive options taking pressure off him over the next three seasons. 

That might not be worth a billion dollars, but it's certainly worth $19 million over three years. 

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