While obviously it is too soon to tell if Jeremy Lin is going to continue his standout play for the New York Knicks, I figured that there was enough uncertainty among the readers about Lin’s future status with the Knicks that I would detail the situation (and discuss Landry Fields’ future, as well).

The Knicks are about to guarantee Jeremy Lin’s full salary, which is a one-year contract for roughly $800,000. Landy Fields, meanwhile, is on the second year of a two-year contract paying him roughly $800,000 a year. Both Lin and Fields will be free agents at the end of this season.

Before I discuss anything, note that the Knicks are over the salary cap for next season but will not be at the luxury tax level. Therefore, they will have both the Bi-Annual Exception (roughly $2 million) and the full mid-level (roughly $5 million) as exceptions (on top of the ability to pay any free agent the minimum salary for that player, which is how they signed Baron Davis and Mike Bibby).

Now on to Lin and Fields. The difference between the two is that Fields is eligible for the so-called “Early Bird Exception,” since he has played for the Knicks for two seasons. Lin, on the other hand, has only played one season for the Knicks and is therefore not eligible for any Bird Rights protections.

As an Early Bird player, Fields can be offered a contract that starts at 175% of his current salary or anything up to the average NBA salary (which is roughly $5 million). They can pay Fields this money without affecting their mid-level exception. However, if Fields just signs a one year deal for anything up to the average salary, then the following season the Knicks will have his full Bird Rights and then can re-sign him to a salary larger than the average salary. It really depends on how well Fields plays the rest of the year to determine what kind of deal he signs.

Lin, however, is not an Early Bird player since he has only played one year for the Knicks. Therefore, if they want to re-sign him, they would have to use one of the following:

1. The Non-Bird Exception, where they could pay him up to 120% of his current salary (or roughly $1 million)
2. The Bi-Annual exception (which is something like $2 million) or
3. However much of the mid-level (which is roughly $5 million) they would need to re-sign him.

This is bad news in the sense that if Lin plays well enough to be worth more than the Bi-Annual exception, the Knicks would be in a position where they would have to dip into the mid-level to pay him and if they do that, well, it is hard enough to get Steve Nash to come play for just the mid-level, see what he would do if you couldn’t even offer him $3 million. It wouldn’t be pretty.

One additional wrinkle is the ability of other teams to snatch Fields and Lin away from the Knicks. Both Fields and Lin are technically restricted free agents. However, due to the so-called “Gilbert Arenas provision,” other teams are limited in what they can offer Fields and Lin. They can only offer them up to the full mid-level. In the case of Fields, they Knicks would be able to match any offer and not have to touch their own mid-level exception (since they have Early Bird Rights on Fields). With Lin, though, they’d have to dip into their mid-level exception.

So, as things stand, Fields is pretty much guaranteed to be a Knick next season if the Knicks want him (which they certainly seem to) while Lin…it is tricky. If he plays this well for the rest of the season, I suppose the Knicks would pretty much have to pick him over Steve Nash, right? In that case, if I’m Lin, I’m asking for the full mid-level for 2 years at which point he would be eligible for full Bird Rights (since he would have been on the Knicks for three straight years) and then he could get a substantial raise. I guess he could also be more conservative and just say the full mid-level period for five years. The trouble comes in if he plays somewhere in between great and mediocre. If he’s good enough to make more than the Bi-Annual exception (roughly $2 million) but not good enough that you’d want to pass on Steve Nash, then I guess they’d lose him if anyone offers him more than the Bi-Annual Exception. However, if the Knicks want to keep him at all costs (as in using the entire mid-level on him), they can. It’s going to be interesting to see how it turns out.

Thanks to the man, the myth, the legend Larry Coon and his Salary Cap FAQ for the ground rules of this discussion. Read them for some other tricky stuff about the Gilbert Arenas provision that have not, to my knowledge, ever come up before so I didn’t address them but I guess they could (like how a team can backload a contract for a player like Fields so that the overall deal could be 4 years/$40 million).

Bonn1997 wrote:I think there's a very high chance that some team would offer Lin more than the bi-annual exception

That is true, but he is young and could be the starting PG for the NY Knicks! As stated in the article he could sign for two years gaining full Bird rights. What other team will pay him more than 5 mil a year AND give him that gig? He is also a beneficiary of MDA's system.

Dolan better think about that.

You think an Economics grad from harvard might also understand the benefits and opportunity of having the financial capital of the world a few subway stops away?

He's lost more balls in his own half court than I've seen in my entire life. He has bad footing, and has almost as many offensive foul / min as STAT.

That guy has a couple of good games and people are already talking about the MLE ?! I mean really ?!

If Lin puts up half the production that he did the past 2 days (Which I'd be very happy about), then this wont be a problem. We should be able to resign Lin, Fields and have a chance at Nash.

However, if he continues playing the way he is now, why are we even thinking about Steve Nash? That would be purely irresponsible

Bonn1997 wrote:

If Lin puts up half the production that he did the past 2 days (Which I'd be very happy about), then this wont be a problem. We should be able to resign Lin, Fields and have a chance at Nash.

Did you see the article? If Lin does that, we'll have to use up part of the MLE to re-sign him and won't have enough of it left to sign Nash.

However, if he continues playing the way he is now, why are we even thinking about Steve Nash? That would be purely irresponsible

It would be irresponsible if the goal is to build a long-term winning team. If the goal is to maximize the few remaining years of Amare's and Melo's primes, I'm not as convinced.

You still try to get Nash if MDA is extended.

Nash can only help Young Lin.

mrKnickShot wrote:If Lin plays this good, I don't care what we give him.

I just hope Dolan doesn't trade him for Elton Brand.

However, due to the so-called “Gilbert Arenas provision,” other teams are limited in what they can offer Fields and Lin. They can only offer them up to the full mid-level.

The article implies that we can combine the mid-level with bi-annual and go over 5 million (if Lin exploded this year - just sayin.)? We wouldn't have to go to the combined values of 7.5 million, just a bit more than the mid-level - I think.

earthmansurfer wrote:I think we are in the drivers seat. Teams can't offer Lin more than we can:

However, due to the so-called “Gilbert Arenas provision,” other teams are limited in what they can offer Fields and Lin. They can only offer them up to the full mid-level.

The article implies that we can combine the mid-level with bi-annual and go over 5 million (if Lin exploded this year - just sayin.)? We wouldn't have to go to the combined values of 7.5 million, just a bit more than the mid-level - I think.

you cannot combine them.

soundcrib wrote:Does picking up Tony Douglas' option and extending, resulting in us being over the cap as of now for next year, hurt us in any way? Front office was certainly quick in picking up TD's option and extending. No idea why they would do that.

in fact, I think picking up Tony's contract may help the situation by moving the Knick's salary number to a position where they are just over the cap (or right at it). That way they get both the MLE and Bi-annual exceptions.