林书豪3年2510万重返火箭 林旋风将席卷休城

Houston, you can have him.

That was the message the Knicks sent on Tuesday when they decided not to match Jeremy Lin's three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet from the Rockets.

The team announced its decision on Tuesday night, confirming several reports that surfaced over the weekend stating that the Knicks would not match Lin's offer.

"Much love and thankfulness to the Knicks and New York for your support this past year...easily the best year of my life#ForeverGrateful," Lin tweeted Tuesday night.

"Extremely excited and honored to be a Houston Rocket again!!#RedNation," Lin added in another tweet.

A team source told ESPNNewYork.com earlier this week that the third year of the Rockets' offer -- worth $14.8 million -- caused the Knicks to consider letting Lin go. If the Knicks matched the offer, they would have been subject to a luxury tax in the third year, potentially bringing their total out-of-pocket cost for the team's salary to about $43 million in 2017-15.

The Rockets' offer to Lin would pay him $5 million in the first year, $5.225 million in the second and $14.8 million in the third, according to sources.

The Knicks will turn to Raymond Felton at point guard. Felton was acquired in a sign-and-trade announced on Monday. The Knicks decision ends Lin's brief but unforgettable run in New York.

The 23-year-old averaged 14.6 points, 6.2 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 35 games with 25 starts before his season was cut short because of surgery to repair torn cartilage in his knee.

But in the 35 games he was healthy, Lin went from an end-of-the-bench afterthought to an international phenomenon.

The undrafted guard out of Harvard, who was cut twice in the preseason (once by the Rockets) and played in the D-League, set the league on fire in February, leading the Knicks to seven consecutive wins. He scored at least 20 points in nine of 10 games during that stretch.

Lin, a restricted free agent, made $788,000 last season. The hefty raise Houston offered of $25.1 million over three years was too much for the Knicks to match.

北京时间7月18日，三天期限已到，最终尼克斯选择了放弃匹配火箭开给林书豪的那份3年价值2510万美元的报价合同，这意味着林书豪的纽约岁月已经正式结束，他将前往曾经裁掉过自己的火箭在休斯敦继续自己的职业生涯。

雅虎体育记者马克-斯皮尔斯透露说，尼克斯发言人已经确认，他们将不会匹配火箭开给林书豪的报价合同，林书豪已经正式成为了火箭球员。这则消息也得到了尼克斯当地媒体《纽约每日资讯》记者伊安那松的证实。

根据此前的报道，火箭给林书豪开出的这份合同具体细节为为期三年，三年全部保障，总价值2510万。前两年林书豪的年薪都在500万美元以上，而第三年他的年薪将暴涨到1489万美元。

林书豪跟火箭颇有渊源，去年他曾短暂加盟火箭，但后来在新赛季开始前，为了签下自由中锋达姆波特，火箭选择了将林书豪裁掉腾空间。随后林书豪加盟了尼克斯，并在赛季中期掀起了一股“林热潮”，他的爆发也曾令火箭总经理莫雷颇为后悔。

在加盟火箭后，林书豪将扮演火箭主控的角色，此前火箭已经将洛里送到了猛龙，并放任德拉季奇回归太阳，在一号位火箭已经无大将可用，林书豪是他们在一号位唯一能够依仗的球员。

上赛季，林书豪代表尼克斯出战35场比赛，其中首发25场，他场均可以贡献14.6分3.1个篮板6.2次助攻1.6个抢断，投篮命中率为44.6%。根据ESPN的统计，林书豪每36分钟的得分和助攻数据比洛里和德拉季奇均要出色，他有能力扮演好火箭主控的角色。