Carmelo Taking a Shot at Lin?

[rrlbees]

You need to read the whole quote: "It's not up to me. It's up to the organization to say that they want to match that ridiculous contract. I'd love to see him back, but I think he has to do what's best for him right now."

No problem at all with that statement.

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[kcsu]

Lin is a one hit wonder Kid doesnt have enough game to warrant that kind of cha ching

 

[jekelish]

I admit I haven't read every post here, but one thing no one is mentioning (from what I've read here): he may not have meant ridiculous in the way you all are perceiving it, given the context.

I use ridiculous in place of "extreme" or "awesome", as in "ridiculously awesome" shortened to just ridiculous, or whatever all the time, as in "Man, that lobster dinner and filet mignon dinner I had last night was ridiculous!"

A contract that large, in the context of that Carmelo quote, seems like it could easily fit that definition.

 

[JLine]

Best of luck to Lin, I hope the Knicks try to win games here and let him go. If they just want the marketing money then match it but they will never win managing the team like that. Still have a long way to go but matching this offer will push back the timeline to win.

 

[Ghost]

He played 25 games and only Miami shut him down. You reference his great games as being "a half dozen" but he he played about 20 good games as well. Dude has talent. Not 3 yrs/25r mil talent but it is what it is.

I don't know, the 20 good games scares me. Flip Murray did something similar and never turned into much - if you turned over the Knicks to JR sans Melo, and he got into one of his "hot" streaks, I could see him spending 20 games going ballistic. I think there are a decent number of NBA players capable of such things in the regular season (assuming you were playing up-tempo and had a coach unconcerned with your TO numbers).

I could be wrong and he could develop into a decent starter, but I don't see it being worth the risk. Who knows though, he's a marketing machine - if he plays semi-decent, I guess you have that. Assuming Linsanity has any staying power of course. Either way, I do agree with your main point, 3/25 is not where his skill level lies...but may still be worth the chance.

 

[Knicks411]

Best of luck to Lin, I hope the Knicks try to win games here and let him go. If they just want the marketing money then match it but they will never win managing the team like that. Still have a long way to go but matching this offer will push back the timeline to win.

How do you figure? The money won't go into improving the team otherwise.


I am pro matching on Lin; that doesn't mean I think he is worth the contract. He has a lot of question marks. I think it is worth the risk because it's either match the contract and take the shot that Lin is something close to the player he was, or don't match and save Dolan some money. The team will be better with Lin on it then not. There is also a loophole in the way the contract is structured; from the Rockets POV they willk be paying Lin about $8 million per year, but for the Knicks they have to pay 5/5/15. If it was 8 per year for the Knicks, I think they would've matched in a second.

Also, I think Melo saying ridiculous was just referencing how much it is backloaded.

 

[newmexicuse]

And how did the Knicks do when they had Felton & Melo ? They were a .500 team then, too, weren't they ?

Knicks never had Felton & Melo together . Felton went in the Melo deal, but before that he had played very well w Stat.

 

[IthacaMatt]

I admit I haven't read every post here, but one thing no one is mentioning (from what I've read here): he may not have meant ridiculous in the way you all are perceiving it, given the context.

I use ridiculous in place of "extreme" or "awesome", as in "ridiculously awesome" shortened to just ridiculous, or whatever all the time, as in "Man, that lobster dinner and filet mignon dinner I had last night was ridiculous!"

A contract that large, in the context of that Carmelo quote, seems like it could easily fit that definition.

It's about more than Melo's quote. It's that Melo doesn't want Lin, period. Looks like he'll get his wish. He got D'Antonio fired. He got the coach who will say "throw Melo the ball" - now let's see if you know how to win games, Mr. Superstar.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Knicks never had Felton & Melo together . Felton went in the Melo deal, but before that he had played very well w Stat.

Sorry, my bad. I forgot that he was part of the trade. Who was the PG after Felton was gone? Toney Douglas ?

 

[Ghost]

It's about more than Melo's quote. It's that Melo doesn't want Lin, period. Looks like he'll get his wish. He got D'Antonio fired. He got the coach who will say "throw Melo the ball" - now let's see if you know how to win games, Mr. Superstar.

Was there anything before that quote that indicated that Melo didn't want Lin? Didn't Lin credit Melo for going to the coach and telling him he needed to get him on the court when he first came over?

 

[Knicks411]

Sorry, my bad. I forgot that he was part of the trade. Who was the PG after Felton was gone? Toney Douglas ?

Billups came back with Melo, Douglas backed him up.

 

[Knicks411]

Read a good point about the stretch provision, which allows you to waive a player and count the salary against the cap over twice the remaining years, plus one.

So if the Knicks didn't want to pay Lin $15 millin in the last year, they could just waive him, and they would owe him $5 million over the next 3 years each.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

It's about more than Melo's quote. It's that Melo doesn't want Lin, period. Looks like he'll get his wish. He got D'Antonio fired. He got the coach who will say "throw Melo the ball" - now let's see if you know how to win games, Mr. Superstar.

D'Antoni got D'Antoni fired. His all offense, no defense approach was never going to get them to a title.

 

[BlackSquirrels]

One of the most common sentiments in the storm around Jeremy Lin seems to be that the Knicks should not match the Rockets' offer because the Knicks would have to pay a massive luxury tax hit as a result of overpaying Lin during the third year of his contract. I think this viewpoint fails to see the big picture.

If the Knicks match Lin's offer, they will take a massive luxury tax hit as a result of overpaying Lin AND ALMOST EVERYONE ELSE ON THE TEAM during the third year of Lin's contract. Outside of Iman Shumpert, who is still on his rookie deal, and J.R. Smith and his excellent Twitter feed, the Knicks are overpaying everyone on the roster in relation to the amount they help produce victories. These overpayments vary from the extreme (Amare Stoudemire) to the slight (Tyson Chandler).

This offseason, the Knicks have had no problem overspending on guys like Steve Novak, Raymond Feltonsanity, Jason Kiddtoxication and Marcus Camby. For the last three players, all of whom are past their athletic peaks, they also gave up almost all of their admittedly few trade assets.

However, now they're suddenly reluctant to overpay Jeremy Lin. Granted, Lin's superstar streak last season was most likely an anomaly, but unlike Felton and Kidd, his performance on the whole was above average, his game has room to grow, and you can make a good case that he will be an above average NBA guard in the future.

What's the market for that kind of player? George Hill, a solid but not special guard, signed with Indiana earlier this offseason for $40 million over five years. Lin's deal is worth slightly more money annually and shorter in length than Hill's. Yes, the Knicks would have to pay the luxury tax in year three but that's a matter for Jim Dolan's wallet, all the sports marketing gurus say Lin would generate the Knicks way more money than any luxury tax penalty they might incur.

IMO the above material, combined with the fact that people like Mike Lupica, Mitch Lawrence and Stephen A. Smith came out against matching, makes matching the offer a no brainer.

I have a hard time seeing why the Knicks wouldn't match unless they are letting emotional factors get involved, which is always possible with Dolan and his flunkies.

 

[Knicks411]

Only disagreement i have is with Chandler. He's underpaid, I think. Or at least fairly paid. He's great.

And like I said, they can waive him after 2 years and spread the luxury tax hit out if they are really worried about that.

 

[Orangemen]

Stephen A. Smith brought up some intriguing posts. Having Lin for year 3 would cost the Knicks a $1.75 for every $1 which in no way Lin's play is worth. He has only 1 season under his belt and so the unknown of how he will perform for 3 more years is an issue, he needs to get better defensively and find a more consistent shot. I mean I love what Lin did but I honestly don't think he is worth the match if he is going to cost over 25 mil to keep. He also brought up an intriguing point, the Knicks still have questions on Lin. Lin had said he was 85% ready to go yet doesn't play against the Heat. Where as players on the Heat like Wade and Bosh came back to play after injury and personal issues, respectively. I understand he probably did it for money reasons which I can't really blame but it was the playoffs and by doing that he puts into question his desire to win. If I was a player in that locker room and one of your better players opts not to play in the playoffs because he is 85% with an injury he could have played in pain with then hell yeah I would be pissed especially after Shumpert went down with his injury. All I got to say is if Mike Miller can play then so could have Lin.

I don't blame Lin for not coming back at 85%.

This is a guy who had always been an end of bench player, basically lucky to be pulling a min salary. Now he is on the verge of what could easily be the only really nice NBA contract he ever signs.

Why come back at 85%, against the one team that really shut him down (IIRC), in a series that the Knicks could have played 1 million times and never won? Why leave a potentially bad memory in the minds of GM's around the league?

The Heat guys play at 85% because they were playing for a title. The Knicks were playing to maybe win 2 games in the series if the stars aligned. No upside for Lin in that deal.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

J Lin went to Harvard. He understood how this off season would set up his entire future. I don't blame him for sitting.

 

[NovaOrange]

They are gonna carry Lin/Felton/Kidd on the active roster...and none of them can play off guard. Doesn't seem likely...

Also, I thought there was an unwritten rule about not discussing other players contracts. Weird for Melo and JR to say what they said... would they have done the same if he were black and one of their buddies?

Why in the hell does that matter that is stupid to even bring into the discussion. I never got why people always have to bring this type of crap up. I am sure Melo isn't going to single out every non African American player on his team :bang:

 

[armory]

Apparently this is 100% media fabricated drama, taking a single word completely out of context.

As usual.

 

[realorange]

The story I read has no drama in it. In fact, the writer made it clear that Melo has no bones to pick with Lin.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/sto...ys-ridiculous-jeremy-lin-deal-new-york-knicks

I don't understand why anyone would feel that Melo is coming down on Lin or in any way disrespecting him. Sounds more like some Knick fans are upset with the fact that Lin is unlikely to come back to NYC and they are looking for someone to take it out on.

 

[Knicks411]

I think it's more the media being the media and stirring up problems.

 

[longislandcuse]

1. Rod Boone ‏@rodboone
Melo was asked after tonight's game about his characterization of Lin's contract as being "ridiculous." Here's his answer in next tweet.
2. Rod Boone ‏@rodboone
Melo: "It was ridiculous for them to do what they did, as far as throwing that out there and making it tougher on us to sign him back."
3. Rod Boone ‏@rodboone
Why do people think Melo doesn't like Lin? "I don’t know. I can't worry about that. Ask Lin he’ll tell you what a good relationship we have"
4. Rod Boone ‏@rodboone
More Melo on ‪#Lin‬: "With Jeremy, I know he definitely wants to be back in New York & Dolan definitely wants him back."
5. Rod Boone ‏@rodboone
Melo: "It's just a matter of them figuring it out at this point."
6. Rod Boone ‏@rodboone
Was Melo surprised by the reaction to his comments? "I always get backlash. It's nothing new. It is what it is."