Jason Kidd Arrested: Why DWI Should Force Knicks to Bring Back Jeremy Lin

On the heels of the rumors that the Knicks would let Jeremy Lin take his talents to Houston, freshly signed point guard Jason Kidd allegedly drunkenly crashed his car into the woods. Now the Knicks should revisit their stance on Jeremy Lin. 

Southampton Patch's Taylor K. Vecsey broke the news of Kidd's DWI, and Peter Vecsey helped pass along the info. 

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East Hampton Patch (Taylor Vecsey) broke story that Jason Kidd was arrested for DWI this morning in Hamptons. Police to put out release

— Peter Vecsey (@PeterVecsey1) July 15, 2012"

Taylor Vecsey reported that Kidd was in the car alone and crashed into a telephone pole and into the woods. He was taken to the hospital to treat minor injuries. Kidd signed a three-year, $9.5 million contract with the Knicks on Thursday. 

At the time, it was widely assumed that he was signing to be the backup for Lin, whom the Knicks were in a position to retain by matching any offer sheet he signed. Well Lin did sign an offer sheet, and it was a healthy one. 

ESPN is reporting hearing from sources that the Knicks are not going to match the Rockets deal for three years and worth just over $25 million. That is a lot of money for a relatively unproven player, but it is money New York needs to start dishing out. 

At 39, Kidd was never going to be able to shoulder the load of running this team, and having legal issues likely hanging over his head all offseason is certainly not going to help that. 

The plan was never to have Kidd run the show by himself. To help ease that load, the Knicks have reportedly acquired PG Raymond Felton from the Blazers. Felton was with the Knicks for part of the 2010-11 season before being shipped as part of the deal that brought in Carmelo Anthony. 

Felton was excellent in his time in the Big Apple. He averaged 17.1 points and 9.0 assists per game, and now Felton is twice the player he was when he was last with New York. 

The problem is that he is twice the player in weight only.

The last time Felton was seen on a basketball court, he looked slow, sweaty and disinterested. There is a reason, after all, that the Trail Blazers were willing to take Jared Jeffries and Dan Gadzuric for Felton and Kurt Thomas. 

The point is, maybe Felton will once again be motivated and return to form, but that is not something the Knicks should count on, and maybe Jason Kidd will use this incident to fuel him to new training heights, and have a big finish to his great career, but the Knicks shouldn't count on that either. 

What they should count on is paying the luxury tax for the next three years after they go over the salary cap to retain Lin. They need a point guard with less variable pointing towards disaster. 

Of the three, Lin is the best answer for the next three years. Yes, he is costly, but he would make money for the owners by making the Knicks a better team, and simply by being Jeremy Lin: international superstar. 

Bringing Lin back was likely a close call before Kidd's incident. Now it should be a no-brainer to keep him in the fold.