Jeremy Lin: Why the New York Knicks Made an Incredible Mistake

They tried so hard, made it so far, put together a team that looked as if it was going to be something worthwhile, but the New York Knicks finally made a big mistake, and who would have thought it would have been motivated by not wanting to waste money.

After the Houston Rockets signed Jeremy Lin to an offer sheet, the Knicks decided to pass on him, as the poison-pill contract would have meant the Knicks had to pay Lin $15 million in the third year of the deal, putting them far enough over the luxury tax that they would have had to pay about another $15 million.

It seems this move has been motivated solely by the desire to save money, which brings up the question: Since when did the New York Knicks pinch pennies?

Remember when the Knicks paid Jerome James $30 million over five years to play fewer than 100 games? Or Alan Houston $100 million over six years to get them to 50 wins just twice? They traded for Stephon Marbury's dumb deal along with Zach Randolph's, overpaid Quentin Richardson and Jared Jeffries and dealt with Eddy Curry. 

Needless to say, this isn't their first rodeo with big contracts, so why the reluctance to spend money now?

Jeremy Lin has shown that he is a money-making entity with the number of jerseys sold, television ratings and overall interest in the team, but the Knicks still balked at his deal.

It's not like this is a deal that would have ruined their ability to add good players, that ability is already ruined with Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler under contract.

New York, with the addition of Jason Kidd, Marcus Camby and Raymond Felton, along with the re-signing of Steve Novak are already at the luxury tax level, so it's not like they were working with cap space. In fact, barring a trade, the Knicks just wasted their one chance over the next three years to add a real impact player.

It's not like the guys they have to fill in for Lin are going to be tearing apart the league.

If anyone in New York watched a single Portland Trail Blazers game last season, they'll realize that Raymond Felton isn't what he was two years ago. He's shooting poorly, he's as bad a defender as he ever was and what speed and elusiveness he had disappeared as his waistline expanded.

Hell, at this point rumors are going to swirl that Felton is the founder of Famous Ray's Pizza if he stays the size he is.

The fact is New York made a huge mistake in letting Lin leave. Sure, he may not continue to be the high-octane player he was during his peak last season, but at the very least he's the first guard off the bench who can come in and score, which is a legitimate skill.

The Knicks, after letting Lin leave (and Landry Fields for that matter) are without youth, with Iman Shumpert the only young player left under contract.

Hopefully for their sake they find another diamond in the rough like Lin. They already had the second-best offseason of any New York based team, they'd better hope that this doesn't lead to the second-best basketball season of any New York based team.