ChuckBuck wrote:

GodSaveTheKnicks wrote:

ChuckBuck wrote:The problem isn't with Lin seeking money from Houston. It's that Lin says he wanted to be back in NY, NY said they wanted to resign Lin, and then he goes backdoor on the reneg'ed offer, which the Knicks were in the dark on. The $15mill in the 3rd year is crippling to any capped out team, why did he have to reneg on the original $24 mill offer that the Knicks were ready to match?

Yeah def. agree with you that the issue here is that restricted free agency is supposed to go like this:

Knicks: Hey Lin, go out and see what the market offers you. (Smart business decision AND it lets Lin get paid more than what the Knicks could have offered in the 1st place)

Lin: So uhhh..Houston offered $X

Knicks: Ok. No problem. We love you. We'll match.

But Lin added this extra step:

Lin: Hey uhhh so I know I told you it was gonna be $X but SURPISE it's a lot more!

I have no idea what happened exactly or why that happened but it's pretty clear that Dolan is pissed and he's lashing out. I imagine him being like "F- that guy. GO get Felton Grunny. Do it! I'll show him and Morey!"

Year 3 is gonna be crippling from a luxury tax point of view BUT unless I'm mistaken that 3rd year won't be crippling to our cap flexibility. Again I spent an embarrassing amount of time learning about the new CBA and I'm still confused about so I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure that because we're already over all kinds of $s the only move we'll be able to make for the next 3 years is using the mini mid level.

In fact the only reason we can sign Lin is because we won the Bird Rights case. If he was just a regular unrestricted FA he'd be gone because we just don't have any $.

I'll have to read up on if we get the full MLE or just mini, but either way I think the original deal (4 yrs, $28mill with 4th year team option) gets insta-signed by Knicks if Lin has his old original agent. Shouldn't have got to this point, Novak and JR negotiations were merely a blip on the radar, easy peezy, you're resigned! Lin is at more fault than Knicks.

Def. agree that if Lin signed the original offer sheet he'd be a Knick. Who knows what really happened though? I mean..it was leaking all over the place the Knicks were gonna match after the original terms of Houston's offer leaked.

Maybe Lin walked into a room to sign the sheet and Morey said hey so uhhh we're gonna give you more $. If Lin really though the Knicks would match any offer..why not sign it? His only other choice would be to say Ummm..well I kinda wanna go back to the Knicks and I think Dolan's gonna throw a hissy fit because I originally told him it was 4 years/$28 Mil...

But yeah as far as the salary cap stuff goes basically:

- Knicks are well over the $58 million salary cap, the $70 million luxury tax and the $74 million “apron.” Because they are over the salary cap, the Knicks cannot sign a free agent without using an exception to the salary cap: trade exceptions, Bird exceptions, Mid-Level Exceptions and Bi-Annual Exceptions. Because the Knicks are over the luxury tax, they cannot utilize the full $5.0 million Mid-Level Exception or the $2.0 million Bi-Annual Exception. Rather, the Knicks can only use the Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception (the “mini-MLE”) of $3.0 million.

MOST importantly:

- for the next three years, the Knicks will be limited to their current roster, plus one mini-MLE player per year.

Here is a full explanation: http://knickerblogger.net/the-state-of-the-knicks-salary-cap/

BasketballJones wrote:

GodSaveTheKnicks wrote:i mean..do y'all just not like the guy? I get disturbed by grown ass men being on any athlete's nuts that hard so I feel you but I don't understand any Knicks fan who's like "yeah good riddance" esp. when it's just a pissing match with Dolan..who we all HATE.

Sports fans emotions are complicated. That's why I hope the Knicks actually do sign Lin after all. It would be so confusing for those who like to stake out absolute positions on these things.

+2

NYKBocker wrote:So..Any of you guys complaining about the contract Lin just signed...If you were presented with a better contract...you would not sign it?

He was not presented a contract, he's the one that renegotiated the 3 year poison pill deal instead of the 4 year more flexible deal the Knicks were willing to match.