The New York Knicks plan to let Jeremy Lin join the Houston Rockets and as of 4 p.m. ET have decided not to match the offer sheet the point guard signed with Houston, The New York Times reported Tuesday, confirming what two sources within the Knicks organization had told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith on Sunday.
The Knicks have until 11:59 p.m. ET Tuesday to announce their decision whether they will match Houston's three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet or let the Rockets have Lin, who became an international phenomenon during a dazzling February.
If the Knicks don't match the offer for Jeremy Lin, the Rockets will get a player that posted higher averages than their point guards last season -- Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic -- in both points and assists per 36 minutes last season.
The Times reported the Knicks aren't expected to announce their decision on Lin until Tuesday evening but that the team's deliberations on Lin's future had ended.
A team source told ESPNNewYork.com's Ian Begley earlier this week that the third year of the Rockets' offer -- worth $14.8 million -- caused the Knicks to consider letting Lin go. If the Knicks matched the offer, they would have been subject to a luxury tax in the third year, potentially bringing their total out-of-pocket cost for the team's salary to about $43 million in 2014-15.
The Rockets' offer to Lin would pay him $5 million in the first year, $5.225 million in the second and $14.8 million in the third, according to sources. Lin, a restricted free agent, made $788,000 last season.
Lin's life has been a whirlwind since last December, when he spent less than two weeks in Rockets' training camp. The Rockets liked what they saw in the undrafted Harvard graduate, but had to waive him because they had Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic on the roster.
The Knicks picked him up and Lin was once again relegated to the bench behind Toney Douglas and Mike Bibby. Lin was briefly demoted to the developmental league, recalled and finally got his chance when coach Mike D'Antoni put him in with the Knicks floundering at 8-15. Lin scored a career-high 25 points in a 99-92 win over New Jersey Nets and "Linsanity" was born.
But Lin proved more than just an overnight sensation -- he had 28 and 23 points in his first two NBA starts, then scored a career-high 38 in a 92-85 victory over Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Source: ESPN-GO
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