NBA Free Agency 2012: Is Jeremy Lin Being Over Paid? Former Knick Head Coach Larry Brown Agrees [Audio]
Jeremy Lin has verbally agreed to sign a four-year offer sheet with the Houston Rockets on July 11, according to a source close to the talks.
The center of the "Linsanity" phenomenon last winter, will receive a deal worth $10.2 million over the first two seasons and $9.3 million each of the last two years. The fourth season is a team option.
The Knicks have repeatedly said they plan to keep Lin, but now have only three days to match the offer, with a deal set to be worth $24.5 million for four-years.
While both Lin and the Knicks are hoping for a reunion, sources told The Magazine's Chris Broussard of ESPN this past weekend that if a club offers Lin a back loaded contract that pays him an eight-figure salary in the third and fourth years, as Houston has done, the Knicks could be given pause about matching the offer.
Lin, who went undrafted out of Harvard, became a sensation with a remarkable stretch in February, scoring at least 20 points in nine of 10 games. A career high point game came Feb. 10, when he scored 38 points and had seven assists in a 92-85 win over the Lakers.
This agreement can serve the Rockets well in terms of tickets sales if everything goes according to design.
The Rockets already are popular in Asia because of the career of former star Yao Ming, who retired in 2011. With Yao's retirement, Lin could add to their appeal as the first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese decent.
The Rockets had Lin in training camp last season, but waived him because they already had Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic on their roster. Now that they've traded Lowry to Toronto, and with Dragic headed to Phoenix, Houston is trying to get Lin back.
With the Rockets willing to spend so much, it leaves to question whether or not Lin, who has yet to play a full season, is being over paid.
Former Knicks head coach, Larry Brown, visited "The Mike Lupica Show" on Thursday and weighed his own opinions on the Lin signing drama.
"I think the kid was great. The system helped him be really great," Brown said on Lin. "It's a wonderful story. But I look at him as a terrific backup in the NBA. I may be wrong, I really want him to be successful but I think if you overpay him for the interest that he created, that's not the best thing."
"I think you overpay him if you think he's going to make you better, going to make Stoudemire better, going to make Carmelo better, going to make Tyson better. Then pay him as much as you can."
To hear more of Brown's view of the situation, click here.
