Knicks have until Tuesday to match Rockets offer to Jeremy Lin

The New York Knicks are now on the clock to make a decision about Jeremy Lin but it’s not looking good. The Houston Rockets officially signed Lin to a three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet on Friday. The contract contains a “poison pill” third year where Lin will receive a a little over $14 million in the last year of the deal.

This is problematic for the Knicks. Where the Rockets cap hit will balance out the total of the contract over three seasons, around $8 million, the Knicks will have to absorb that entire $14.898 million in year three. That happens to occur during the same year the Knicks will be paying $24.3 million for Carmelo Anthony, $23.4 million for Amar’e Stoudemire and $14.5 million for Tyson Chandler. Those four salaries alone would put New York above the salary tax threshold of $70 million this season

The team has also signed Raymond Felton via a sign-and-trade with the Trailblazers, another point guard, to a three-year, $10 million deal and veteran Jason Kidd to a three-year, $9.5 million deal. That’s a lot of money to wrap up in three guards. Off that trio, who rides the bench?

One guard who won’t be back, Landry Fields. The Knicks won’t match his deal with the Raptors.

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