With Felton now heading back to the Knicks, you can say goodbye to Lin, and why not?

image from usatoday.com

Jeremy Lin the New York Knicks starting point guard. What was believed as a sure statement has now become a long shot. Last night the Knicks agreed to acquire point guard Raymond Felton and center Kurt Thomas in a sign and trade deal that will send Portland Jared Jeffries and Dan Gadzuric. Raymond Felton is a very good starting point guard, he was a key component of the Knicks success back in Stoudemire's first season with the Knicks, before the Carmelo trade. He averaged 17.1 ppg in that short stint with the Knicks and had stated that he wanted to return to New York. In addition, they also have Jason Kidd so where would that leave Jeremy Lin?

The main issue with bringing Lin back is the way the Rockets have structured their offer sheet to Lin. the first year Lin would receive 5 Million, the second 5.225 Million, but the problem lies in the third year and 14.8 Million he would receive. By that year the new collective bargaining agreement will kick in, and with those 14 million in the books, the Knicks would be over the cap, and would have to pay luxury tax for every cent they go over. That means the Knicks would pay about 1.75 in taxes for EVERY dollar of Lin's 14 million that year. If you do the math, that means that Lin that year would cost the Knicks almost 30 million dollars.

Now, Lin will obviously make them a lot more money off the court, but regardless of how much money he makes them because of his appeal off the floor, 30 million in one year is 30 million. Jeremy Lin is not worth all that money in one year, specially when you have a point guard in Felton who has produced over a 8 year period and not just for 32 games. After all, we are talking about production on the court, Felton knows how to play with Stoudemire. Don't forget, that in order for the Knicks to become a championship team they need their 2 stars to play like stars. Stoudemire cant have another year like his 2011-12. Felton knows how to play with Amar'e and will definitely easy his burden of having to play with Melo a bit.

Now, lets look at a situation in which they do sign Lin back. The Knicks would have 3 point guards who could all be starters. How do you distribute the minutes? Kidd is the veteran future hall of famer, he obviously needs to see playing time. Kidd signed to help the Knicks get deep into the playoffs not to sit on the bench. He is a great three point shooter, the better of the 3 and quite frankly this is an area that the Knicks need help in. Outside of Steve Novak last year, the Knicks struggled shooting the 3. Felton and Lin will obviously need to play and both are starting quality point guards. So one way or another, if you have all three point guards the knicks would be spending money on an asset and not using it to its full potential. Depth is never a problem, specially at a time where the league is being dominated by good point guards. But you need to use your depth one way or another. 

The Rockets meanwhile need a point guard, they lost both their point guards in Lowry and Dragic who were both very good. Lin will immediately start, and in addition will have a much better chance to develop in Houston. So Lin to Houston is the best move for everybody, the Knicks, Houston, and Lin himself. After all Did you really expect Lin to continue his development playing alongside Carmelo Anthony for a full season?

News around the league
-The Hornets have matched the Suns offer sheet for Gordon, despite Gordon stating publicly that he hoped they wouldn't

-The Bulls once had a deep bench, and now have lost Watson, Korver, Brewer, and possibly Asik and Hamilton

-Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving broke his hand in practice yesterday

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