The New York Knicks will not match Jeremy Lin's three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet with the Houston Rockets, a Knicks spokesman confirmed to multiple reporters. Rockets GM Daryl Morey celebrated the decision on Twitter:
Welcome to Houston @JLin7! We plan to hang on this time. You will love #RedNation
— Daryl Morey (@dmorey) July 18, 2012
New York's decision wasn't a surprise, in part because Morey included a "poison pill" third year that would have forced the Knicks into paying an exorbitant luxury tax. After making a combined $11 million in the first two years of the contract, Lin will make $14.9 million in his third season alone. As the New York Times' Howard Beck previously reported, that sum would have triggered a luxury tax penalty of $35 million or more for the Knicks given their existing payroll commitments.
So instead, Lin returns to Houston. Lin played for the Rockets in the preseason last December before being released one day before the start of the regular season -- and several weeks before becoming a household name with the Knicks. Instead of fighting for a roster spot, he returns with a guaranteed starting job -- not to mention an extra comma on his paycheck and a worldwide following of fans.
For more on the Knicks, visit Posting and Toasting and SB Nation New York.
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