Jeremy Lin. The New York Knicks. I have so many opinions on both of those subjects that if I listed them, the list would be longer than my baseball reviews, and no one wants to read that much. So instead of going on and on about both of these subjects, I will sum up my thoughts on both subjects in a few short words, and then expand a bit on the current situation. Jeremy Lin: flash-in-the-pan. The New York Knicks: complete joke. In the following paragraphs, I will try to demonstrate why I feel that way about those two entities.
Since the turn of the century, the New York Knicks, "one of the most storied franchises in the history of the league," have won three playoff games. That is all I really need to say about the recent history of the team. During this past season, the Knicks were the centerpiece of the "Linsanity" hysteria. A young, Asian basketball player, graduate of Harvard, and complete unknown, came from nowhere to put together a stretch of about two months of good games. With the two stars of the Knicks, Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, hurt for portions of the season, Lin got his chance to shine, and took full advantage of that chance. And good for him. He obviously has flaws to his game, but overall, he did a very good job of capitalizing on his chance to play, and has now turned that chance into more money than I could ever imagine.
With Anthony and Stoudemire in and out of the lineup for most of the season, the Knicks played a majority of their games at less than full strength. If Anthony was healthy, then Stoudemire was hurt. If Stoudemire was healthy, the Anthony was hurt. Injuries are a part of sports, and are obviously both unpredictable and unavoidable. Even Peyton Manning and Brett Favre eventually were forced to the sidelines due to injuries, and they were two of the most reliable players in the history of sports. Neither Favre nor Manning has anything to do with this situation though.
The point is, the Knicks were in need of some kind of spark, and Lin provided one. Coming from relative obscurity, he burst on to the scene with a stretch of good performances. After two weeks of leading the Knicks to some wins, the discussion seemed as though it was over. Jeremy Lin was a Hall of Famer. Most Knicks fans were enthralled with Lin's play, and the Knicks were on the road to an NBA title. However, as I could have told anyone, reality eventually set in. We learned that Lin was, in fact, at best a mediocre player, and that the Knicks were, at best a mediocre team. Lin himself eventually was bitten by the injury bug, and watched the Knicks end their season in the first round of the playoffs with a loss to the eventual champions, the Miami Heat.
The best thing that Lin ever did though was, as millions of Harvard graduates have done, earn himself a whole lot of money. The Houston Rockets offered him a whole lot of money, and as a restricted free agent, the Knicks have had a chance to match that offer. Thus far, the Knicks have not matched the offer. By Wednesday, Lin could be a Houston Rocket. The only thing that could change that is the two subjects I brought up earlier. Lin is an absolute flash-in-the-pan, but the Knicks franchise is a complete joke. The only way that the Knicks can prevent Lin from going to Houston, is by matching the offer of the Rockets, subjecting themselves to a luxury tax because of their payroll, and adding another ridiculous contract to their roster that will make the acquisitions of guys like Stephon Marbury and Jason Kidd seem like great business decisions.
The Rockets are grossly overpaying for Lin. They obviously have a large fan base in China due to their history with Yao Ming, but they have had little or no success since Hakeem Olajuwon retired a decade ago. Making money overseas is obviously great for the heads of the organization, but there comes a time when they need to put a respectable product on the floor in their home country, and they have not been able to do so in quite some time.
Paying Lin as much money as they have offered him will not change that. The shrewdest business decision that the Knicks franchise can make is not matching the Rockets offer to Lin. They are already paying a while lot of money to Stoudemire, Anthony, and Tyson Chandler, and the last thing they need is more money on the payroll that will only result in immovable contracts and mediocre play on the court.
The combination of Stoudemire and Anthony just doesn't work, and the addition of another big contract will only make the team more of a joke. So my message as a Knicks hater is this: please, do yourself a favor, and do not match Houston's offer. Let the Rockets overpay for a mediocre player, and you will be able to at least have some hope of respectability for the future when all of your other ridiculously bad contracts pay no dividends and eventually expire.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: I don't even want to write about it. Wade Miley goes tonight against the Reds, and that is all I have to say.
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