Stuff happens in sports it’s just the way of life. Since free agency has burst on the scene it has allowed players to do “what cha’ like” to quote the og Shock G. There is nothing wrong with players leaving teams to joint other teams for more money, contrary to popular belief. As the common fan we get mad at the player because they left your favorite team to join a rival or vise versa but at the end of the day it is a business. Business decisions are made everyday by the players and the owners, so get paid that’s all I say. (This is my disclaimer)
Around the world people are pissed the Knicks didn’t match the offer sheet the Houston Rockets sent for overnight sensation Jeremy Lin. The deal on the table was a 3 year deal worth 25.1 million but the catch for the Knicks is the last year of the deal wasn’t worth between 8-9 million it was back loaded via poison pill at 14.8 million. Do people really think the Knicks should’ve matched that? In the words of the Great Kobe Bryant, “The kid has played two games” Figuratively not literally but you get the point. I think the Knicks were smart for not matching, they didn’t let the hype make them over spend for no reason.
The writing was on the wall the Knicks were not going to match once they did a sign and trade deal with the Blazers to acquire Raymond Felton. With the acquisition of Felton it gives the Knicks a solid point guard who can make plays on a nightly basis and they signed OG Jason Kidd so their PG situation isn’t in bad hands.
Lin only played 35 games last year and had a great 2-3 week run where he helped the Knicks go 8-0 and helped bring them back to respectability in the eastern conference. I understand Lin helped bring excitement to Knicks basketball that the Garden hasn’t seen in years but let’s not mistake Lin for Steve Nash people, just don’t do it. After his hot start he came down to earth and became a regular player,which was expected. Lin is a decent player, we can’t call the kid a bum but do we know if he can even solid play throughout a whole season? Is he worth the 25.1 million over 3 years the Rockets are about to shell out to him?
My question to everybody that is on the Lin bandwagon is do you remember another Rockets point guard by the name of Matt Maloney? If not here’s a little background story on the situation, Matt took the Rockets by storm with a hot month or two and everybody thought their PG situation was solved, but it wasn’t.
Do you remember Ronald “Flip” Murray? Who had a hot half of a season replacing the great Ray Allen at the two guard. Yeah we saw how that ended up but I bet Flip is saying why couldn’t I get cashed out for my flash season..
Maybe Lin doesn’t pull a Flip or Matt but I believe the Knicks did the right thing. Why pay him top-tier money when he hasn’t proven over the long haul he is a top-tier player? Why? So, Knicks get over Linsanity it’s gone, your front office made the correct decision.
Feel like you talking to me. I don’t really mind Lin leaving. I’m in the minority but I like Ray Felton’s game and I think in space (Melo’s iso game will create this) he is a decent shooter. Obviously he can distribute the ball. But if he gives 13 and 7 he’s doing exactly what we need. Kidd as his backup? We’re okay. Melo will have to take his game to a higher level. I think we’ll be fine.
I feel that Jeremy Lin may have generated a lot of financial revenue, but he was a distraction. People were so in love with Linsanity they forgot that Melo and Amar’e are the franchise players. It’s a shame that people wanted to Melo to alter his game, because of Lin.