Maybe it’s about orders from above, but more and more players and other people in the New York Knicks organization or more than willing to talk about how Jeremy Lin leaving the team is a good thing, both financially and professionally.
Tyson Chandler spoke to the media about the fact that Lin was a positive influence on the team during a hard team, but wasn’t really a point guard and didn’t really know how to move the team. He made things happen and created excitement in that weird Linsanity phase the NBA was experiencing, but it’s better to have actual experienced players who know a thing or two about the position.
We didn’t have a point guard to get himself, Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire the ball in their comfort zones last season. In Raymond Felton and Jason Kidd, the Knicks have experienced floor leaders who already have made a difference through the first four days of training camp.
Let’s not forget. Once Mike D’Antoni was fired, Mike Woodson got the job and Carmelo Anthony was healthy again, Lin’s role with the team was diminished. Still the starting point guard, but no longer the main ball handler. This was Anthony’s team, and everyone got to recognize it once he came back from injury. The run with Lin? Almost treated like a statistical anomaly.
Baron Davis was hurt and Jeremy was a young point guard who was just learning, trying to learn and figure out an offense. It was nothing against them and it was definitely nothing against Baron. Jeremy was a young point guard who was inexperienced, who brought a great light to the organization. But as far as being able to run the offense and putting players in the right position he just wasn’t there.
A few days earlier someone confirmed the reason Jeremy Lin wasn’t offered a contract to match what the Rockets offered him during the offseason was salary cap reasons. The same salary cap the Lakers don’t mind bending because they make a huge profit from their various TV deals, the same huge money that the Knicks are making. Maybe it’s about being committed to winning right now? The Knicks expect to win now, they’re just not making the right choices, not to mention the commercial value of Lin, with many estimating it to be greater than his salary including the luxury tax they would have had to pay for it.
An early rumor that sprung when Lin left the Knicks was the James Dolan factor, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. A pride, vain man who wants to be recognized as the mastermind behind the Knicks’ success. Jeremy Lin was a fluke, a chance and freak accident that neither he or anyone else on his team was planning on happening. He became the main focus of the team, so instead of trying to win with him, Dolan let him go. Doesn’t sound so far fetched when you look at a history of bad decisions by this man.
Pretty soon, we’ll know if the decision to make this team a slow post up team, in the hands of Carmelo Anthony, while Amare Stoudemire tries not to emulate his disappointing previous season (which might have had something to do with Anthony’s dominance), was the correct one. So far, the voices from the Knicks say yes, but there’s a good chance someone is pulling the strings on these puppets.