Jeremy Lin, Houston Rockets to Sign Offer Sheet on July 11; Knicks Have Three Days to Match Offer

By David Salazar | First Posted: Jul 06, 2012 12:18 AM EDT

Jeremy Lin with the Knicks and reporters (Photo : Creative Commons / Jeremy Lin)

New York Knicks point guard, Jeremy Lin, aka "Linsanity," is expected to sign an offer sheet from the Houston Rockets for a four-year, $28.8 million deal.

The Knicks are expected to match any offer sheet before the July 14 deadline, but could face difficulties in living up to the contract's "backloaded structure."

Lin would make $5 million in the first season, $5.2 million in the second, and $9.3 million in each of the last two seasons with Houston.

The difficulty for the Knicks kicks in during Lin's third season when they will owe Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, and Iman Shumpert a combined $64.2 million. Throw in newly acquired Jason Kidd's $9 million cap hit over the next three seasons and the Knicks may find themselves with minimal salary cap space in the 2014-15 season.

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According to Sports Illustrated, the Knicks will match the offer because of Lin's popularity with the fan base.

The decision however is a rather precarious one as the undrafted Lin only participated in 35 NBA games this past season. Despite his rise to stardom, the 23-year-old point guard still must prove his abilities over the course of an entire 82 game season. The Knicks hope that in Kidd they have a mentor for their franchise point guard moving forward.

Lin arrived on the New York scene early on in 2012 when he and the Knicks reeled-off seven straight wins and returned to playoff contention.

Lin was the catalyst behind the revival and was slated to start in the playoffs for New York before suffering a season ending knee injury.