Originally, once the Jeremy Lin offer sheet came out and I was able to digest the giant final year of the deal, I decided that there is no way that the Knicks should even consider matching the offer. Bye-bye Linsanity.
I came to my senses yesterday. I realized that in 2014-15, with Lin adding to the contracts of Chandler, Stoudemire, Anthony, and the AARP club (Kidd and Camby), the Knicks would have to pay a lot of luxury tax. Yes, this is very true. The Knicks would have to pay $43 million and above in that 2014-15 year in order to keep Lin.
I get it.
My issue is, why is it all of a sudden such a problem for James Dolan to spend money? He has always had the mentality of spending however much he needs to for to team. He was willing to pay a giant wad of tax to keep Stephon Marbury, Steve Francis, Eddy Curry, Jerome James and Kelvin Cato. He payed $45 million in 06-07.
Trust me, James Dolan, Madison Square Garden, and Cablevision are not losing money. $43 million is probably not too much money for them. Even if it is, rebiulding teams around the lose covet expiring contracts and free cap space. This means that before the 2014-15 season, the Knicks can find a trade partner to take on the deals of Lin or Stoudemire.
Lin is an average point guard right now, but he has a high upside and can be very good. He's never going to be worth the $14 million price tag but the Knicks will make the money back because; Jeremy Lin brings in a whole other market and also because they are the New York Knicks. They make money.
So why, why are the big spenders suddenly so frugal? The time to start being cheap, is not now.
its the smart basketball decision and finding someone to take on the salaries of Lin and/or Stat especially if Lin doesnt pan out, which i dont think he will in comparison to his linsanity run (i expect him to average 8-12 ppg with 6-7 assists, something felton can replicate), is a big if. Just because fans have an emotional attachment to a player does not make retaining him a good move. We already saw the good teams shut him down after 2 weeks of play and the fact that he could not play with melo and stat. Its more logical to make a run at CP3 next year then to bring back Lin. Im so happy the Dolan realized that signing a player and worrying about the money later is not the best approach and that by letting lin go he made a sound basketball decision.
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