Breaking Down The Departure Of Jeremy Lin From Multiple Perspectives

Added by Stephen Zimkouski on July 24, 2012.

Should the Knicks have matched Houston's offer to Jeremy Lin all the way to the end?

With a few days to really digest the news of Jeremy Lin leaving the New York Knicks to join the Houston Rockets, I think we can really analyze the situation from a few different points of view. Before that, it is important to note that the Knicks have signed Ronnie Brewer who will help bolster an already impressive team defense and fill in for many of the minutes while Iman Shumpert recovers from his surgery and looks to come back around mid-season.

Ronnie Brewer is regarded as one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and has been an integral part of the Chicago Bulls success for the past two seasons.

The New York Knicks

The Knicks stance on Jeremy Lin has been quite clear all along. They wanted to bring him back and felt he would be a big part of their future. However, they made moves to keep tacking on salary that at the end of the day was too much to also bring back Lin. I still say that the Knicks should’ve matched even till the very end because at very worst Lin is an asset. As of right now I feel that he is better than any point guard on the Knicks roster as well. Many Knicks fans are excited to have Raymond Felton back but they must remember that this is no longer the Mike D’Antoni system that he thrived in. Lin is a marketing dream and a 23 year old point guard who in essentially his rookie year showed great promise and potential. At worst the Knicks would’ve been able to trade Lin before year three as an expiring contract. I’m sure teams would be willing to give a first round pick for Lin in a trade which is more than the Knicks got for him now, which is nothing.

The Houston Rockets

The Rockets have taken big gambles this off-season, getting rid of a lot of proven veterans and retooling with young and many unproven players. Lin and Omer Asik set to make near max money into the third year of their contracts. Houston is really depending on both of these players to develop to their full potential. On a marketing standpoint this move makes all the sense in the world for the Rockets who have not had the same buzz after the retirement of Yao Ming. Their attendance should increase as they will be a fun young team to watch with rookies Jeremy Lamb, Terrence Jones and Royce White also expected to have big roles with the team.

Jeremy Lin

Jeremy Lin made the right choice for himself in my opinion. Lin is going to a place where he is the guaranteed starting point guard. In New York it was quite obvious that Lin was not a Mike Woodson type player and the bringing in of Jason Kidd, Raymond Felton and Pablo Prigioni would’ve put more pressure on Lin to succeed. If he didn’t his minutes could’ve taken a significant hit. Lin will also be in a situation where Kevin McHale will most likely design a system that can benefit his abilities rather than the half court Mike Woodson offense which clearly didn’t. Lin has put himself in the best situation where Linsanity can live on again as he will be playing with young talented players as they look to all grow together over the next few years.