New York Knicks Confirm They Will Not Match Rockets' Offer Sheet for Jeremy Lin
The New York Knicks have finally made the decision to let Jeremy Lin leave the bright lights of Broadway for the Houston Rockets.
According to Yahoo! Sports' Marc J. Spears, the Knicks will not match the Rockets' offer sheet:
"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"
The Harvard grad is definitely a welcome addition to the Rockets organization. Houston General Manager Daryl Morey (via Twitter) made sure his newest acquisition is well aware of that:
"Welcome to Houston @JLin7! We plan to hang on this time. You will love #RedNation
— Daryl Morey (@dmorey) July 18, 2012"
Morey is referring to when the Rockets waived Lin last December. That was long before anybody could have foreseen his meteoric rise to stardom coming.
The Rockets surely won't be letting him get away this time, but it comes at a very steep price.
Lin himself made it a point to let the Twitterverse know how excited he is about joining the Rockets next season and beyond:
"Extremely excited and honored to be a Houston Rocket again!! #RedNation
— Jeremy Lin (@JLin7) July 18, 2012"
This news certainly doesn't come as a shock. Owner James Dolan and the Knicks were rumored to be leaning towards letting Lin walk because of the back-loaded, "poison pill" contract he was offered.
Merely days ago, when the Knicks acquired Raymond Felton from the Portland Trail Blazers in a sign-and-trade, the end of "Linsanity" in New York City was all but a done deal.
In what is known as the Gilbert Arenas provision, Lin's new contract awards him a salary of just over $5 million the first two years, but balloons all the way up to $14.9 million in the final season, bringing the total to around $25 million.
The Knicks now find themselves without the man who saved the sinking ship that was the 2011-12 season with an unprecedented run of brilliance in the month of February.
Not only did he preserve Mike D'Antoni's job for an extra couple of weeks, but he sparked a turnaround leading to an 18-6 finish that vaulted the Knicks to the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference.
All good things must come to an end, though.
The international, cultural phenomenon that surrounded the 23-year-old point guard fell by the wayside when he suffered a season-ending knee injury, but Knicks fans never thought it would actually come to this.
Lin's emergence sparked a rise in the MSG stock, a surge in jersey sales, and a complete reversal of attitude and outlook on life within the Knicks community.
That's in the past now.
He takes his talents to Houston, where he will look to help the Rockets make some noise in the Western Conference.
