This offseason, the Knicks will have some tough decisions to make. The team, as currently constructed, does not appear to have the firepower to get past the elite teams in the East. Jeremy Lin has become a solid player and an amazing marketing tool for the Knicks, but re-signing him could be a challenge.
When the Knicks claimed Lin off waivers, they lost the ability to hold his bird rights. Bird rights are the ability to go over the salary cap to sign a player. This means that the Knicks will have to use their mid-level exception to sign Lin, which they are likely to do.
The problem that this creates is that the Knicks currently have over $59 million in committed salaries for next season with only seven players under contract. J.R. Smith is likely to decline his player option and either test free agency or restructure his deal.
The Knicks own the early bird rights to Landry Fields which means that they can pay him roughly $5 million (the average player salary) or 175 percent of his previous salary. His market value is higher than the 175 percent, so it is likely that he’ll get a deal closer to the $5 million figure.
Steve Novak ...
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Article written by Ian Kenyon
NBA 2012: How the Collective Bargaining Agreement Binds the New York Knicks
May 15th, 2012 by Ian Kenyon Leave a reply »
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