Jeremy Lin: Knicks Reportedly Decline to Match Rockets' Offer Sheet
Jeremy Lin will not be coming back to the New York Knicks, according to Yahoo! Sports' Marc Spears.
Update: Tuesday, July 17 at 10:45 p.m. EDT by Sam Quinn
"Knicks spokesman confirms that Jeremy Lin's offer sheet will not be matched. @JLin7 is now officially a Rocket.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) July 18, 2012"
This news would have come as a shock up until a few days ago, but as of late, the Knicks weren't expected to match the offer that the Houston Rockets extended to Lin because it was so back-loaded.
The good news for the Knicks is that they won't be over the luxury tax in 2014-15 as much as they would be with Lin on the roster. The bad news is that the organization just took a huge hit in terms of popularity and marketability.
The official deadline for the Knicks to match the offer sheet is 11:59 EDT on Tuesday night.
---End of Update---
With the New York Knicks deciding to go with the Raymond Felton-Jason Kidd battery at the point guard position, the Houston Rockets were free to swoop in and take restricted free agent Jeremy Lin after offering him a three-year, $25 million deal, according to Howard Beck of The New York Times.
"Posting momentarily to nytimes.com: Lin will be a Rocket. Knicks deliberations over.
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeckNYT) July 17, 2012"
Lin's offseason has been one of the most fascinating to watch play out. All along, everyone assumed that the Knicks were going to retain the budding superstar after an injury halted his breakout performance in 2012.
As recently as July 11, head coach Mike Woodson said Lin would definitely be back in a Knicks uniform next season.
Then the Rockets stepped up their efforts to get Lin, including offering a deal that reportedly included a $14.8 million salary in the third year. Because the Knicks are so close to the luxury-tax threshold, they couldn't match such a deal without incurring a financial penalty.
It's a telling sign of where the Knicks are right now. There was a time not that long ago when they would have taken on any amount of money if they thought it would improve the team on the court.
Now, they don't want to invest that heavily in a player who has obvious marketability after 25 successful games.
The Rockets are trying some unusual things this offseason. They'll be investing a lot of money in Lin in hopes that what they saw out of him in his limited time in New York was not an aberration. He is going to be the face of the franchise, so the pressure on his shoulders will be even greater than it was during his time in New York.
One thing is for certain: The Rockets certainly look a lot more interesting now than they did one month ago.
