Jeremy Lin to Houston Rockets: Analysis, Grade and Twitter Reaction

The Houston Rockets have just pulled off a major coup by poaching Jeremy Lin from the New York Knicks.

UPDATE: Tuesday, July 17, 10:40 p.m. ET by Eric Ball

The midnight deadline is just over an hour away, but Yahoo! Sports Marc Spears can confirm that New York has no plans of matching Houston's offer, and Lin is now officially a Rocket:

"

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"

Lin's tenure with the Knicks comes to a close after 25 games as a starter, and now fans in Houston will become familiar with the "Linsainty" that took the Big Apple by storm last February.  

It remains to be seen how this will effect the Rockets pursuit of Dwight Howard. 

---------End of Update--------

According to the New York Times' Howard Beck, the Knicks declined to match Houston’s offer to retain Linsanity.

"

Posting momentarily to nytimes.com: Lin will be a Rocket. Knicks deliberations over.

— Howard Beck (@HowardBeckNYT) July 17, 2012"

Analysis

New York could not find a reasonable way to swallow the “poison pill” that is Lin’s new back-loaded contract. That makes sense, considering the organization owes a lot of money to Amar’e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler and the rest of the stars on its roster.

The Rockets are hoping that Lin is as good as he was during the 25 games he played as a starter last season. He showed a ton of promise and could easily be a bargain.

It’s a major risk that they are undertaking, but GM Daryl Morey is never one to sit back and hope for some luck. The man is hell-bent on creating his own and is hoping that Lin becomes an unprecedented success with his organization.

Grade: B

This is a tough signing to grade, as so much depends on how Lin does during the 2014-15 season.

Should Lin be average to decent during his first two years, he’s still a reasonably-priced player, but one would have to believe he'll return to pre-injury form.

If Linsanity doesn’t live up to the hype by the time the summer of 2014 rolls around, this signing is an absolute failure—exactly what the Knicks hope will happen now that they chose not to swallow the poison pill.

Should he continue to play at a high level and build on his epic 2012 campaign, though, Lin is a bargain, and this grade goes way up for the Rockets.

Twitter Reaction

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith doesn't necessarily agree with all the hype over Linsanity:

"

All this talk about Lin, like he's the 2nd coming of Chris Paul is ridiculous. Stop it! es.pn/O1l9Cn.

— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) July 16, 2012"

Legion Sports also doesn't quite agree with the hype around Lin, as he makes it perfectly clear that the former Knick isn't worth the money:

"

Have to hand it to the Knicks, smart by not matching Lin's sheet. Lin is no where near worth that money, Felton can provide same PG play.

— Legion Sports (@MySportsLegion) July 17, 2012"

Magic Insider Brian K. Schmitz doesn't see the big deal over Jeremy Lin's contract, which is especially steep in the third year:

"

Why hand-wringing over Jeremy Lin deal? NY could trade him later. If Joe Johnson's contract can be moved, anybody can be moved.

— Brian K. Schmitz (@MagicInsider) July 17, 2012"

Sports Illustrated's Zach Lowe points out that things might get a little awkward over in Vegas during the Summer League:

"

NYK owner James Dolan is here in Vegas, sitting next to Mike Woodson and two rows in front of a Houston Rockets crew.

— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_SI) July 17, 2012"

Knicks blogger Jim Cavan sees himself having a bit of conflict with his allegiance now, considering Lin is such a fan favorite no matter where he plays:

"

The worst thing about this: Hoping for Jeremy Lin to fail is not even an option.

— Jim Cavan (@JPCavan) July 17, 2012"

And, of course, to cap it all off, we have a new play on Lin's name, courtesy of Steve McPherson:

"

Houston: We have Lin-toff.

— Steve McPherson (@steventurous) July 17, 2012"

You can expect to hear a lot more puns in the next three years.