There is so much negativity with some of the NY media about JLin getting 10 million a year. I'm telling you right now, they will eat crow again. He will be the bargain of this off season for sure.
As JLin said himself, he has to keep proving himself over and over and over…and still people won't believe. He's been doing it since high school, going up against one of the greatest AAU teams of all time, the DC Blue Devils with Kevin Durant, Ty Lawson, and DaJuan Summers. His Metro Mirage team made up of a bunch of Palo Alto HS players lost by only 5 because of his incredible all around play.
Just as he came back a new player after breaking his ankle after his junior year in high school, JLin will come back with a vengeance. This contract stuff will just add to the huge chip on his shoulder. I am so confident he will play at an all-star level this season and prove all of the doubters wrong. He'll just keep doing what he has been doing his whole life, dominating on the hardwood!
Roots of Resilience – Jeremy Lin’s Past Foreshadows His Future : The Viking Magazine
Jeremy Lin is one of the most dominant players I have ever seen at any level.
ReplyDeleteThis is a guy that has excelled at every level of basketball all the way to the NBA, and usually in underdog situations.
The article clearly states what most of us here have been saying: Don't doubt Lin, because he'll come back to dominate you.
Over on the Knicks board at RealGM it's still nothing but deluded Knicks fans creaming themselves over the prospect of Nash and even saying trading Shumpert away or losing Lin is worth it.
ReplyDeleteI honestly feel like NY doesn't deserve Jeremy. There are STILL hordes of fans that claim Lin is barely starting material and that he hasn't "shown enough."
They also go on to claim he dropped out of the US Select team to avoid being "exposed" by better players and bring up the Heat game last season as an example.
My dream would be for Jeremy to go to Brooklyn and make the Knicks and their fans eat crow like they've never eaten before.
No offense, but the badly-managed Knicks and their delusional fans deserve each other.
DeleteDystopia, don't sweat it. That's just what happens on big market teams like NY and LA. You get the good and the bad since there's a lot more attention on them. Remember the reports about Steve Blake getting death threats after missing that shot? It comes with the territory. On the contrary, being in NY was a huge reason why Linsanity got that much exposure and not just because he's Asian.
DeleteDon't worry about RealGM, there's a lot of trolls and extremists on there. People on there argue over petty topics like: Are Manu Ginobili and Jose Calderon, White?
People also still troll Lin simply because they didn't like the hype and posted negative comments every time Lin struggled. Not to mention, any time something gets discussed as "offensive" towards Asians, people are quick to reply that people are being too sensitive about it.
Also speaking of the Lakers, when they got Ramon Sessions a bunch of fans were drooling over him and saying they'd take Ramon over Lin by a mile. A lot of fans over at the Lakers forums loved to call Lin OVERRATED. Some people over at RealGM even called the Ramon Sessions trade a "Paul Gasol-esque" steal! LOL!
DeleteAfter his performance against OKC, now they make Ramon Sessions out to be like a puny scared little kid. People are very quick to judge and change their minds over there. Also because Jeremy has so many Asian fans, there's a lot of salty people who want to discredit Lin any chance they get.
I've liked the idea of Lin on the Brooklyn Nets, but now that they have Joe Johnson, it's a much less attractive idea. Anthony is a shot hog, like other top scorers, but at least he doesn't pound the air out of the ball like Joe Johnson.
DeleteThe Hawks lacked good PGs under Woodson, compelling Joe Johnson to handle the ball, and he pounded the air out of the ball when handled it. Both were true at the same time.
DeleteEric, please understand that your constant ongoing defense of everyone and everything Knicks related except Jeremy Lin is so damn tiresome!
DeleteToo bad ex Lakers coach Phil Jackson doesn't post on this forum.
DeleteHe is a fan of Jeremy Lin but not of the historically incompetent Knicks.
Phil Jackson would fit right in here!
# 1 j, I'm confused: explain to me how the idea of Johnson's tendency to overdribble and the idea of the Hawks using him as a ball-handler oppose each other. The two ideas seem congruent to me.
DeleteCara, anti-Knicks is not equal to pro-Lin.
DeleteThe argument that for the next 1-2 season block, Lin playing for the Knicks would be good for Lin's development is a pro-Lin argument.
# 1 j, you're mixing up perspectives again.
DeleteFor NBA GMs and owners considering a big long investment in Lin, one complete season and post-season by Lin should be enough to settle their doubts about the durability of his knee.
For Lin supporters who worry about Lin's financial security, a multi-year guaranteed contract in case he gets hurt makes sense. Again, different perspectives.
Also for GMs and owners, 1-2 years should be enough for Lin to prove, improve, and experience enough to earn NBA star stature. That's enough time for Lin to prove his knees are sound, too.
I made 1 main point and 1 conditional point about Lin and Iso-Melo vis-a-vis Bibby and Iso-Joe.
My main point begins with that under Iso-Joe, Bibby had 33-35 MPG and 12-13 FGA when he was a full starting PG.
33-35 MPG is good, it's what we want for Lin.
12-13 FGA is also good. Bibby had the green light and was not a shy shooter. But Lin is a more versatile, natural scorer than Bibby.
Contrasting Anthony and Johnson, Anthony shoots a lot and tends to overdribble into his shots, but Anthony won't over-handle the ball as much as Johnson did. (Recall that Anthony did not like playing the point last season, whereas Johnson often played the point for the Hawks.) That means, relatively speaking, Lin should handle the ball more playing with Anthony than Bibby handled the ball playing with Johnson. So, what happens when a natural scorer handles the ball more? Generally, a natural scorer like Lin will score more if he handles the ball more.
Main point: Lin should be fine even with Iso-Melo. Bibby had a respectable 12-13 FGA in 33-35 MPG under Iso-Joe. Assuming the same 33-35 MPG for Lin in a similar Iso-Melo system, Lin should have at least Bibby's 12-13 FGA. I'd even give a scorer's bump to Lin for 13-14 FGA.
Conditional point: Iso-Joe was at least partly due to the shortage of quality PGs on the Hawks, including Bibby in his decline, thus compelling Johnson to handle the ball more. Johnson was, relatively, a superior ball-handler on the Hawks. On the Knicks, Anthony is not, relatively, a superior ball-handler than Lin. While Anthony will most likely be the focus of his offense, Woodson may be more willing to run plays through his superior playmaking Knicks PG than he was with his more-limited Hawks PG.
Possible evidence of Woodson's willingness to bend with Iso-Joe: see Jamal Crawford's exceptionally high 14.0 FGA as a 3rd guard in 2009-10.
We'll see how much Woodson will bend for Lin next season.
As far as Joe Johnson with Deron Williams on the Nets? I suppose I'd look at Johnson's history on the Suns with Nash to see how he plays off an elite PG.
Great article, way better than the fluff published by ESPN, Bleacher Report, and Yahoo! News .... and by a high school newspaper of all sources. Real journalism is a dying art form in this country.
ReplyDelete+1. That's one of the best articles on Lin I've read and I thought I've read them all.
DeleteBlame this on the Knicks clueless management. Clueless is clueless no matter how lucky you are. Look no further than the Minny franchise despite striking gold in trading for Kevin Love but being cheap to offer Love a shorter contract instead of the max years he could get. This will surely come back to haunt them when Love hits FA. Don't think the player won't remember this type of thing. Same thing is happening with Lin. If the Knicks are not careful and being cheap here as they appears to be, it will come back to haunt them for sure sooner than later. The Knicks are simply a bad-run franchise and it clearly shows in their results for so many years. If not for Lin, I could care less about them.
ReplyDeleteThe gist is fans want a larger sample size from Lin.
ReplyDeleteThe analogy I've used to peg Lin's current basketball value is a #1 overall draft pick. Their contracts are for 4 years, about 5 mil per, with 2 team options. Since the rookie scale was implemented, fans have been accustomed to even the best 'can't miss' players playing well for at least 1 full season before they're awarded with 8-figure salaries. In that sense, every #1 overall since the rookie scale, including Lebron James and Tim Duncan, has had to prove doubters wrong in order to earn an 8-figure salary.
So what some fans may interpret as disrespect or insulting to Lin, other fans see as Lin being held to a normal NBA standard.
Of course, there are Lin haters and racists who minimize everything he's done. Then there are fans who've been impressed and believe he will be a star, but think it's fair to hold Lin to the same standard as NBA players who've earned their big paydays with full-season samples. Those fans who question an 8-figure salary for Lin this off-season would have no issue with that salary for Lin after he's proven his doubters wrong for a full season or more, just like Lebron James and Tim Duncan did.
It's also relative by team, of course. Lin poses a different risk/reward profile for rebuilding teams with particular fan bases like the Raptors and Nets than a win-now, capped out team like the Knicks whose championship hopes, such as they are, rely heavily on having the right PG.
Fans think like that anyway, and it's not their money (directly) being paid to players. The question is how many GMs and owners who have to pay the bills think the same way about Lin's current sample size.
# 1j, I agree that giving Lin a contract won't be a worst signing ever.
DeleteYeah, and a "normal NBA standard" thinks that 60 players in the 2010 draft were incomparably better than Jeremy Lin who's actually head and shoulders above everybody in that draft.
DeleteI REJECT Eric's "normal NBA standard". It's racist and dumb.
Are NBA contracts awarded to lesser talents than Lin? I'm not arguing that. The issue we're discussing is the reaction to Lin's sample size as a free agent, not his talent.
DeleteThere are haters, but most fans and media recognize Lin has the potential to be good to very good. Here, we think he'll be great.
20 years ago, incoming rookies with no NBA experience were awarded big contracts on talent alone. Many players today are drafted lacking reliable track records. To balance the risk, the NBA decided that big salary cap-busting contracts would be based on a reliable NBA track record, not just potential.
Of course, teams still make bone-headed mistakes signing players. It's a risk/reward business.
Lin isn't an incoming rookie - he has an NBA track record. It's just smaller than is normally considered for a big contract offer. Some fans and media are uncomfortable with that.
It remains to be seen how GMs and owners feel about it. It's a factor, but it's just one factor. There is only 1 Jeremy Lin. If a team wants him badly enough for any reason, this may be their only chance to get him, ever, even if that means paying over Lin's current basketball value. I wouldn't be surprised if Lin received a max backloaded offer. And there is a compelling argument that the Knicks would match.
The generalization I made up is basketball value + added marketing value. Beyond that, there's team need, fit, season expectations, competition from other teams, whatever else GMs and owners factor in.
DeleteYou're talking about fairness, but I don't believe that mistakes should define what's fair.
Gilbert Arenas, who's been a scrub for years, has the 3rd highest salary in the NBA. I'm sure every team in the NBA would take any average NBA guard over Arenas, but they wouldn't pay him like Arenas.
I prefer not to cite bad contracts to justify a big contract for Lin because, one, Lin is better than that, and two, doing so reminds fans about risky investments in players that hurt their teams.
The NBA has a salary cap. Fans who don't care if a team owner goes bankrupt do care a lot whether an overpaid underperforming player drags down his team, on the court and in the salary cap.
I'm confident Lin will succeed. But I also understand why some fans view a max backloaded contract to Lin as a risky investment for a win-now team.
Lin got hurt, which meant a small sample size, but worse, he missed the post-season.
DeleteThe next time Lin is a free agent, as a proven veteran, I expect he'll be paid superstar money.
Probably the negativity in the NY media.toward Lin comes from the Knicks themselves.
ReplyDeleteHistorically, the Knicks will attack their own players in the media if they think it fits their agenda. It's why NY is actually the toughest team to play for in the NBA.
The Knicks attract quality players because of NYC's appeal, but then those quality players get run out of town.
I just read on the HoopsHype,
ReplyDeletehttp://hoopshype.com/salaries/new_york.htm
New York Knicks salaries /
qualifying offer:
Landry Field $2,695,391.-
Jeremy Lin $1,054389.-
I don't understand. Are these actual figures from the Knicks? Does anyone know what it means?
Those are just qualifying offers. Both players are still restricted free agents, which means they can sign with an offer sheet with any other team, but the Knicks have the right to match. Landry Fields just recently signed a deal with the Toronto Raptors.
DeleteRaptors should extend an offer sheet to JLin so that JLin can play with a backcourt mate he can trust, has chemistry with, in a city which will embrace him, on a team which can afford to pay him, and part of a franchise which will play him to his full potential.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeletePinoy,
DeleteI know what you mean, but the offers just reflect the attitude of the Knick management.
Despite their performance, salaries of Landry and Lin in 2011-2012 were the same. Why qualifying offer to Landry is much higher? It seems the Knicks try to downgrade Lin by playing a numbers game. It's so vile because in NBA, money/salary represents RESPECT! Their 1 million offer to Lin and at the same time 2.569 million to Landry not only mean disrespect to Lin, but also humiliate him.
The 1-year qualifying offer reserves the team's right of first refusal and makes a free agent a restricted free agent. It's for free agents ending their rookie scale contracts or have 3 or fewer years experience, like Lin and Fields.
DeleteFor players not on 1st round rookie scale contracts, the qualifying offer must be for 125% of the player's previous salary, or the player's minimum salary plus $200,000, whichever is greater.
http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q43
JesLee, good catch. Qualifying offers are a formality to reserve a team's right of 1st refusal. Press announcements don't even say the amount. According to Larry Coon's CBA FAQ, the amount is determined by a set formula. Lin's QO fits the formula, Fields' QO doesn't. Odd.
DeleteLin should go back to Houston...
ReplyDeleteFolks, once Nash and D. Will are signed, the dust will settle quickly for JLin. Contract negotiations can and most often get complicated with the parties posturing if not threatening to do the unthinkable.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Knicks, inaction is their strategy for Lin. But the dust will settle, and we'll all be back to talking about what Lin needs to do to get ready for next season very soon.
Interesting development: Knicks might lose Fields. JLin might end up with back loaded offer.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/knicksblog/raptors_sign_fields_acquiring_offer_TlNwgAS2dxQaJFzKrBIRFO
It's still way too early to tell where any of these trade rumors are going of course. All we know is that Lin will be in NBA uniform come this November. :)
That would be very fair money for a nonAsian player of Lin's caliber, wherever they are.
DeleteJeremy Lin's personality with leadership qualities, with another strong rule of force and ambition, looking forward to his performance.
ReplyDelete