I'm not being completely realistic but just to vent a little
I want Lin back and I'm convinced he'll be back but man, WTF is going on here?? This whole thing feels so grimmy now. I know it's a business and Lin has to do right by himself and his family first and foremost, but man, God forbid he didn't sign this latest offer sheet and instead, reached out to the Knicks and said "look, if we go with the conditions of the first rumored offer sheet, I'm yours. Let me know right now." After all, wasn't the main idea all along to gauge his worth?? Well I think that first rumored Houston offer was more than fair...Come on, does Jeremy Lin really think he's a max player 2 yrs from now w/o really coming up with the complete body of work that other legit superstars who eventually command that amount of money compile??? Does he not understand that Houston doesn't even think he's worth that amount of money (how ironic that Morey cut this guy last yr -- now he wants him at all costs..JOKE) and are just doing this primarily to F the Knicks?? I mean WTF did we ever do to Houston? We don't even play in the same division for Christ's sake. LOL
Again, I understand it's a business, I know his agents would never allow such a thing, blah, blah blah...but wouldn't it have been refreshing for Lin to have treated the Knicks a little better here? He would've come out of it a multi-millionaire and a MEGA HERO, even eclipsing his hero status of last year. We're talking GOD STATUS here...After all, wasn't it the Knicks who gave him his opportunity? You can make a case that w/o the opportunity the Knicks gave him, HE NEVER WOULD'VE MADE IT!!!!!!!! Happens all the time -- look at all the young guys I talk about all the time that aren't in the league and deserve to be. Almost always, that one golden opportunity for these types of players is hard to come by. Most of the time, IT NEVER COMES and these types of players NEVER MAKE IT...Well, we gave it to him and now it almost feels like we're on the verge of being punished for it...SEVERELY...Hey, give Lin credit man -- he took the baton and ran with it. It's not like he blew his opportunity. But man, I dunno -- it's just doesn't feel right now for some reason. Bottom line: not necessarily Lin's fault here, but I think the Knicks deserve better than this. This **** is crazy.
Come on, Lin's a smart kid -- he knows damn well how this contract will pork his old boss Dolan in the ass with the lux. tax ramifications, not to mention how it could hurt the team a little a couple of yrs from now. I thought there was no 'I' in team?? LOL. Also, what if the Knicks were serious about bringing Fields back (say better than 50/50), thinking they were working under the conditions of the first Lin offer -- now, I betcha any chance of that went out the window. Say bye-bye to your buddy, Jeremy -- you just officially ran him right outta town.
Look, I know I'm not being fair to Lin here -- again, I know it's a business and if push came to shove, everyone would prob. do the same thing --- although, I tell ya man, I honestly don't know if I would've let it play out exactly like this...I'm tellin' ya, I honestly think I would've went to my agent and said look, call the Knicks and tell them I'm back for the original offer -- or tell them $10M in yr 3 is good enough. Something... Absolutely no loyalty involved here at all....Isn't it gonna be hard to look the Knicks in the eyes now when he comes back?? Just a little? It would've made me uncomfortable. Poor Knicks, huh? I mean we win the ****ing Bird rights hearing, only to get porked here royally in the end..SMH.
Instead of blaming Lin, I want to take this opportunity to BLAST the league, the owners and their stooge David Stern (an ******* I offically HATE, and I don't use that word often) for allowing something like this to go down. The contracts being thrown around this off-season are insane. The lockout was a complete joke -- owner greed is at an all-time high now. The lockout accomplished absolutely nothing. A situation like this should be taken right outta Lin and the owners' hands -- bottom line, a player like Lin, with his limited amount of service in the NBA, SHOULD NOT be allowed to make $15 million in yr 3 of what amounts to his first NBA deal. That's it. Case closed. I know, land of opportunity and all that, but this is wrong. How is this allowed to happen??? It's just not reasonable. I love Lin and he's pretty much proved himself to me, but ask yourselves, does 25 games really prove that he's worth $15M 2 yrs from now? It just doesn't make any sense. As a fan of the TEAM first and foremost, I wanna see my team's ownership have a legit shot to build the team up the right way. Not get to a point where they're forced to say, 'this is it -- can't build it up anymore. We ran outta cap space, there are lux. tax penalties, etc..'.
Also, wanna send out a big FU to Daryl Morey and Houston ownership. Never mind how they manhandled us in the Jefferies deal, nevermind how they handled this whole Lin situation (they're playing by the rules, I know, I know), but this Camby trade really makes me sick. If I were the Knicks I wouldn't deal with these guys again..EVER. I mean this dumb **** Morey had to take Harrellson in the Camby deal? Had to have him, Daryl?? Then he turns around and cuts him and now, under new CBA rules, we can't even bring him back until next July???? WTF is that? That's BULL****!!!! If Morey knew he didn't want any part of Harrellson, why couldn't he have taken Gadzuric's ****ing contract for the cap relief and be done with it? Had to **** us out of a good, young player, right Daryl?? **** YOU, you fat **** piece of ****!!! And this is a GM I've given credit to in the past, for his willingness to give young players a look, etc. Not anymore...F this guy.
Alright enough PMSing -- got that outta my system..Still love ya Jeremy and I want you back. Let's match the offer sheet and move on...I just wish the Knicks weren't used like a doormat sometimes. Rediculous player salary rules that completely burned us in the end (some of these rules need to be re-examined asap), players not acting like gentlemen, other GMs not acting like gentlemen, any sense of loyalty has gone right out the window...It's all been a little hard to swallow the past few days, know what I mean? Feel a little better now. Ready to move on. Rant over.