On February 4, 2012, Jeremy Lin was inserted into the Knicks lineup by former head coach Mike D’Antoni, kicking off the phenomenon known as “Linsanity.” It didn’t last nearly as long as “Vinsanity” nor was it as successful, but is still gave the basketball community something to rave about for a while.
Before the Harvard graduate earned some playing time, New York was 8-15 but the tides changed as soon as the rotation did. The Knicks then went on a 7 game winning streak without Carmelo Anthony or Amar’e Stoudemire and were back at a .500 winning percentage.
That season, Lin held averages of 14.6 points, 6.2 assists, 3.1 rebounds, 1.6 steals and .3 blocks in 26.9 minutes per game. He only made 35 career appearances for New York, all in this season, 25 of which were starts.
Even though Lin was unable to make it through the season due to an injury he suffered, the Knicks slipped into the playoffs as the 7th seed. The team ended up exiting the postseason after a Game 5 loss to Miami in the first round.
Back then, teams all around the league were fighting for Lin to come play for them, and the Houston Rockets were the lucky winners in free agency. After that, everything seemed to go down hill for both Lin and the Knicks.
This past season, the Knicks finished 17-65 and earned the 4th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft while Lin was traded off to Los Angeles to clear up cap space. The pick was used to take Kristaps Porzingis and Lin ended up leaving LA to back up Kemba Walker in Charlotte next season.
What if Lin had chosen to stay in the Big Apple? What if he could have learned from Jason Kidd, who signed with the Knicks to specifically mentor Lin? What would the Knicks look like?
Let’s start with Lin. Instead of having to compete against Patrick Beverly for time in Houston, he would have been able to have a quality backup behind him who had so much to teach.
Not only would Lin have been a much better basketball player today, but he would have also seen more time and had more control of the offense. Instead, he had to spend time watching James Harden dominate the ball and be the main scoring option.
Had he chosen to stay in New York, Lin may be talented enough to find teams still wanting him rather than teams looking to hold his talents in a backup role. Now, he is making much less money, but that shouldn’t be much of a problem after how much he was overpaid in the last contract.
The Knicks haven’t had a point guard of the future since Lin left. Kidd was there for a season while leading the Knicks to a very successful season, but he was never expected to be there for years to come.
Ever since, a young, or even a serviceable point guard has yet to make an appearance in New York as a member of the Knicks. The team has struggled to find an identity of any success in recent memory.
Had Lin stayed and spent a year being mentored by Kidd, the Knicks would have had a pretty talented trio of Lin, Anthony, and Stoudemire. They may not have been good enough to be competing with the “Big 3” in Miami at the time, but at least they could have had a core compiled of teammates people around the city would actually know and remember.
Let’s say Melo was able to stay healthy, Amar’e was at least able to at least stay reliable, and Phil Jackson chose to keep Tyson Chandler on the roster. With Lin still on the roster, there is no way Jackson would have chosen to blow up the roster by sending Chandler back to Dallas. Especially in the Eastern Conference, that’s a team that is going to compete every night for wins, and a team that could have ever made a run into the Eastern Conference Finals.
Carmelo has averaged 25.2 points in his career, Amar’e has averaged 19.1, Lin has averaged 11.7, while Chandler has averaged 8.8. Throw in another starter who can score right around 10 per game andmaintain their quality bench, which included J.R. Smith at the time, and they would have been up at the top of the Eastern Conference.
If Lin had stayed in New York, they would have been a team threatening some of the top teams in the East for playoff positioning and opportunities to play in the next round in the summer. Yes, a few more pieces would have had to fall, but for a team winning, things could have easily gone their way.
