The fate of point guard Jeremy Lin comes down to Tuesday evening (July 17), and reports say that the New York Knicks don’t plan to match an offer from the Houston Rockets … which, in turn, will send the international phenom to Texas.
According to ESPN.com, NYC announced its decision on Tuesday night, confirming several reports that surfaced over the weekend stating that the Knicks would not match Lin’s offer.
“Much love and thankfulness to the Knicks and New York for your support this past year…easily the best year of my life#ForeverGrateful,” Lin tweeted Tuesday night (@JLin7).
“Extremely excited and honored to be a Houston Rocket again!!#RedNation,” he added in another tweet.
The Knicks had until 11:59 p.m. ET Tuesday to announce their decision, on whether they will match Houston’s three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet or let the Rockets have Lin, who became a star overnight during a breakout run in February.
ESPNNewYork.com’s Ian Begley reported 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’d 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.
In contract, the 23-year-old made $788,000 last season, but became a restricted free agent when the season ended.