http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8179341/nba-jeremy-lin-six-degrees-separation-lin-camp on July 1, according to a source close to Lin, when the Knicks failed to place the obligatory 12:01 a.m. ET phone call. While three other teams, including Toronto and Dallas, called Lin as soon as possible, the Knicks waited until 12:15 a.m. to contact Montgomery. And rather than call him, they sent him a text, saying they'd prefer to talk later on Sunday unless the Lin camp felt they needed to speak immediately, according to a source. They agreed to speak Sunday afternoon.
While it may not seem like a big deal, Lin's camp felt the Knicks' nonchalant approach was a show of disrespect and took it as a sign that the Knicks might play hardball.
The Knicks could offer Lin a four-year deal worth $24.3 million before he even hit the open market. While sources say Lin still would have tested the market -- where other clubs could offer as much as $40 million over four years, complete with the "poison p i ll'' -- Lin's representatives felt a Knicks offer right off the bat would have shown that New York was truly prioritizing him as much as they said.
While no one claims Lin would have definitely taken less money to stay in New York, one source close to him says a reasonable Knicks offer on July 1 -- and "reasonable" in this case meant the full four years, $24.3 million -- would have made it tough for him to leave the team.
But instead of making an offer, the Knicks spoke in terms of concepts rather than numbers, a source said. [B]And their concept, according to the source, was for Lin to sign a front-loaded contract that actually decreased in the third year of the deal, with no mention of a fourth year. Considering that the most Lin could get in the first year of the deal was $5.3 million, it seemed to Lin's representatives that the Knicks were asking him to settle for $4 million or even less in the third year.[/B]
Sources close to the Knicks would not confirm that the figures discussed were front-loaded or less than the maximum possible offer.
The Knicks' motivation for a front-loaded deal was to avoid a harsh penalty when the new luxury tax rules kick in for the 2014-15 season, the third year on a new Lin contract. The Knicks' apprehension about paying a steep tax later in the deal gave the Lin camp pause and led it to conclude for the first time that if Lin got a lucrative offer elsewhere, the Knicks probably would not match it.
NY 最初OFFER份遞減合約出來搵鬼簽
