The Houston Rockets and Jeremy Lin reached an agreement on an offer sheet for the restricted free agent point guard. Lin visited with the Rockets on Wednesday and many expected General Manager Daryl Morey to make a substantial offer. Initial reports indicated that the offer sheet would be for four years and at least $31 million.
Jeremy Lin, Rockets Agree To Terms On Offer Sheet, According To Reports
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! sports reports that the offer sheet is a three-year deal with a club option for a fourth. As expected, the four-year deal is backloaded with Lin’s salary spiking to more than $9 million in the last two years of the contract. Wojnarowski again with the details of the contract:
Offer sheet for Lin will pay him $5M in year one, $5.2M in year two and $9.3M in years three and again in team option year four, source says.
Despite the agreement on the offer sheet, it is expected that the New York Knicks will match the deal and retain the rights for Lin. One source conveyed the Knicks' adamant wishes to match in no uncertain terms to ESPN's Marc Stein:
Source with knowledge of Knicks' thinking: "They will match any offer on Lin up to 1 billion dollars"
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 5, 2012
The Knicks may have to take a luxury tax hit when Lin’s deal increases in the third year, but all indications are that James Dolan and the front office will match the Rockets’ offer.
For more on the Rockets, visit The Dream Shake and SB Nation Houston. For more on the Knicks, visit Posting and Toasting and SB Nation New York.
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