Knicksfan wrote:crzymdups wrote:Knicksfan wrote:Gymkata wrote:Would matching Lin affect Shumpert's signing down the road? Could we get poison-pilled again?
Yes. We may even have to trade him in order to trade a big contract to make room for Lin's poison pill. But who cares? The future of New York's humanity rests on the Knicks matching Lin.
Shumpert is on a real rookie deal which is much more favorable for the team that drafted him. They'll have to make a decision on Shump after two more years aka the same summer they'll have to try to move one or two of the massive expiring deals of Melo, Amar'e, Tyson or... (possibly Lin).
My whole thing is that the Knicks will be above the luxury tax threshold with or without signing Lin. Signing Lin gives them a young asset and much more flexibility that summer.
And if Lin turns into a star, something I think is a very real possibility, he will be worth his contract and then some.
The only downside to matching Lin is that in two years this team will have some big decisions to make. Signing him means this team has a two year window to do some damage. With Kidd and Camby on board as key pieces, a two year window is about all they have anyway.
Letting Lin walk means they STILL have no way to add more pieces and they have a core with much less potential.
To me, signing Lin is a no-brainer. And I won't quit the team because I'm in love with Lin. I will be extremely frustrated that the best young player on this team was given away because the whole contract negotiation was poorly handled - actually it wasn't even handled, the Knicks let some other team do the negotiation. You can't do that and then be pissed about the result. Knicks gambled Lin wouldn't get a great offer and he did. They HAVE to match it or this whole "All In" charade is just that and the team has a dramatically lower ceiling.
BUT, you roll out a line up of:
Lin / Felton
Kidd / JR / (Shump)
Melo / Novak
Amar'e / Kurt
Tyson / Camby
and you've got something potentially special that might just be able to make some noise. But have no illusions - Lin is a MAJOR piece of this puzzle. To let him walk for nothing is insane.
Good post but no need to preach the choir, as I also hope/expect the Knicks match. But I think with so much hysteria over losing Lin, people are not understanding how tough the Knicks situation will be in that third year.
First, we have to understant it isn't simply paying the Tax, but understanding exactly how limited will the team be because of being SO over the Tax limit. We haven't read a true report yet on the consequences of that, but just the fact that NY is considering not matching and exploring scenarios where they have to make moves to improve their cap situation tells you this isn't just Dolan being petty.
Second, we have to understand that it isn't as simple as saying "don't worry, if the Knicks have to make a move, they'll do it year three." If we hate some of the trades the Knicls do with no pressure, just imagine a desperate NY team trying to trade Amare, Melo, Chandler or even Lin because of this. If Lin becomes a superstar, you keep him. If not, he is untradeable unless you send him as an expiring contract, but again, how limited we will be of making moves in that third year? Real qiestion.
I trully think this is the sotuation we are: NY expected one offer to Lin and made other moves around it. Once it changed, they jumped the gun on the Felton trade in case of emergency. Now they must be studying the new CBA and projecting their situation in year 3. If they see they will benefit from Lin whilw being able to make moves and avoid Tax limitations, they will match.
I don't think it is a personal thing like we have been made to believe by the crap media like ESPN and the crappy NY media.
it seems odd the knicks would not be prepared for a team making a tough offer. if it isnt official, they should know better than to believe it or worse, act on that.
7/16/2012 9:48 PM