Houston Rockets Show NBA How to Play Hardball with Jeremy Lin Contract Offer

You have to admire what the Houston Rockets are doing with the Jeremy Lin situation. 

Sure, bringing in the breakout point guard might not be enough to fulfill the long-term goal of landing Dwight Howard, but at least Daryl Morey is putting his organization in position to try. If you're fishing for big game, it's impossible to catch the big one without at least putting the bait on the rod and casting it out into the water. 

The Rockets have done a masterful job of completing the baiting by playing hardball with the Jeremy Lin contact offer of three years and $25.1 million. 

After holding their cards close to their chests for the last few days, the New York Knicks still haven't officially commented on the Lin situation, but have signed Raymond Felton to a three-year, $10 million deal. That leaves them with two capable point guards on the roster already and a low likelihood of retaining Linsanity. 

While ESPN's Ian Begley reports that the team is still debating whether or not to bring Lin back, he also shares a bit of compelling evidence for why they won't. 

• The Felton sign-and-trade is the most obvious of the reasons for not matching the offer.. 
• Two sources within the organization told Stephen A. Smith they won't match the offer. 
• The $14.8 million third year of the contract makes it financially difficult for the Knicks. 

This is a big change from just a week ago, when the Knicks were prepared to match any offer that didn't exceed, oh, 10 figures. 

It's all because of the Rockets' willingness to play hardball. 

Houston coveted the services of Lin, so the organization did everything in its better to make acquiring him possible. The Rockets shipped off Kyle Lowry to the Toronto Raptors, then let Goran Dragic return to the Phoenix Suns. 

All of a sudden, they were without a starting point guard. And of course, the guy they wanted was still linked to the Knicks, as Glen Grunwald and the N.Y. brass was expected to match any offer. 

Still, the Rockets decided to make an offer. They didn't stop there, but instead backloaded the deal to make it even more financially harmful for the Knicks to match. 

Amazingly enough, it worked out for Morey and the Rockets. If anyone in the NBA is looking for an example of how to play hardball with a restricted free agent, they now have a perfect example to imitate. 

Now if only Morey could figure out the Dwight situation...