So it looks like we're on Lin Watch. We know he met with the Houston Rockets this week. And according to sources, Jeremy is about to cash in. The Rockets have reportedly offered him backloaded three-year deal with a fourth-year option worth $28.8 million: Rockets to make offer on Knicks' Lin; Mavericks could be left in lurch.
Jeremy, who is a restricted free agent, is expected to sign Houston's offer sheet when the free agency moratorium ends on July 11. The Knicks are expected to match the offer, though the Rockets' hope is that the backloaded part of the contract, when the terms jump to $9.3 million per season, will make matching difficult:
Sources confirmed that Lin, the 23-year-old undrafted player who was waived by the Rockets and Golden State last season before becoming a Madison Square Garden star and later having his season cut short by knee surgery on April 2, plans to sign Houston's offer sheet for four years and $28.8 million when the free agency moratorium ends on July 11. The deal, which has a team option in the fourth season, is expected to be matched by the Knicks. They will have until July 14 to do so.I know some Rockets fans are pretty pumped about this prospect. It's kind of funny, considering the Knicks picked up Lin on waivers after Houston dropped him last December. But there you have it.
As was the case with Houston's offer sheet to Chicago restricted free agent Omer Asik, the deal was constructed in a way that's intended to make matching difficult for the "home" team by backloading the contract. Lin would be paid $5 million in the first season, $5.2 in the second, $9.3 million in the third and $9.3 million in the fourth season. As currently constructed, the Knicks are expected to owe Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler and Iman Shumpert a combined $64.2 million in payroll during the third season of Lin's deal (2014-15). That's before considering Kidd, who sources confirmed will join the Knicks on a deal reportedly worth $9 million over three seasons.
Considering everything that went down in February -- that mythic month that unleashed what we now know and love as "Linsanity" -- and Jeremy's enormous international popularity, the Knicks would be foolish to let him go. But you never know. More here: Jeremy Lin agrees to terms with Rockets; Knicks expected to match.