Hornets Bracing For Losing Jeremy Lin In Free Agency

[RealGM Wiretap]

While the Charlotte Hornets would like to re-sign Jeremy Lin this offseason, they are fearful of losing him to a rival team.

The Hornets will have to use cap space to re-sign Lin as they don't own his Bird Rights.

Lin will meet with three other clubs beginning at midnight on July 1st in Palo Alto, California.

Lin is looking for a long-term home after playing for four teams in the past five seasons.

"I've played six years in the NBA; I've played on five different teams. I've played for two D-League teams -- so seven cities in six years. I'm tired of boxes, I'm tired of moving companies, and I want to find a home," Lin said in an interview with the World Economic Forum over the weekend.

Via Chris Broussard/ESPN

[luss54321]

Is losing Jeremy Lin really something you need to brace for?

[malgus]

Brace yourself Jeremy Lin is leaving!

Or maybe just going "huh oh well" is enough.

[tsherkin]

I don't think the Hornets want to be too casual about this because he did help Kemba a fair bit. If they don't replace him effectively, then things will get noticeably more difficult for Kemba again, though obviously Walker busted hump of his own accord. Sometimes, non-star players do have significant meaning. Batum is another example.

[Pickled Prunes]

Is losing Jeremy Lin really something you need to brace for?

Yes, not because he's an all-star or anything like that. He's difficult to replace because he works hard, he knows his roll, he performs well in that roll, and whether his roll is big or small he is happy to be there. That positive attitude spreads through the locker room and when you plug in a new player it's hard to know if they will have that same impact, even if they are a better player on paper. He won't be a key player anywhere he goes but he was a key player in CHA this past season. He would be wise to stay if it's an option.

[ChokeFasncists]

Is losing Jeremy Lin really something you need to brace for?

Yes. Lin averaged 18 ppg last season as a starter. He was used as a stopper at both guard positions. He was arguably the most important player in the 6 biggest wins of the team last season, including the first three franchise playoffs wins. The only game he started at PG, they snapped a six-year, 23-game losing streak to LeBron. The Hornets were rated by experts to be out of the playoffs even before MKG's injuries; Lin was instrumental in their surprise record, tied at third in the conference. A lot of times, the starters would get behind and then he would lead the 2nd unit (Bench Force One) to get the lead back. He was elite in passing out of the PnR, helped the bigs greatly. He was arguably the best player on the team in fastbreaking and drawing fouls. Kemba had a career year with Lin both because of what Lin does and because he feels more pressure. So yes, it's something they need to brace for.

[luss54321]

Is losing Jeremy Lin really something you need to brace for?

Yes. Lin averaged 18 ppg last season as a starter. He was used as a stopper at both guard positions. He was arguably the most important player in the 6 biggest wins of the team last season, including the first three franchise playoffs wins. The only game he started at PG, they snapped a six-year, 23-game losing streak to LeBron. The Hornets were rated by experts to be out of the playoffs even before MKG's injuries; Lin was instrumental in their surprise record, tied at third in the conference. A lot of times, the starters would get behind and then he would lead the 2nd unit (Bench Force One) to get the lead back. He was elite in passing out of the PnR, helped the bigs greatly. He was arguably the best player on the team in fastbreaking and drawing fouls. Kemba had a career year with Lin both because of what Lin does and because he feels more pressure. So yes, it's something they need to brace for.

Jemery Lin was 44th out of 46 PG's in AST/TO ratio and 27th our of 30 PG's in FG%.

I understand the intangibles that he brings to the table, but statistically speaking he was one of the worst shooting PG's in the NBA, and one of the worst passing PG's in the NBA. His production was terrible to say the least. Charlotte should have no problem replacing him.

[Mystereevan]

Is losing Jeremy Lin really something you need to brace for?

Yes. Lin averaged 18 ppg last season as a starter. He was used as a stopper at both guard positions. He was arguably the most important player in the 6 biggest wins of the team last season, including the first three franchise playoffs wins. The only game he started at PG, they snapped a six-year, 23-game losing streak to LeBron. The Hornets were rated by experts to be out of the playoffs even before MKG's injuries; Lin was instrumental in their surprise record, tied at third in the conference. A lot of times, the starters would get behind and then he would lead the 2nd unit (Bench Force One) to get the lead back. He was elite in passing out of the PnR, helped the bigs greatly. He was arguably the best player on the team in fastbreaking and drawing fouls. Kemba had a career year with Lin both because of what Lin does and because he feels more pressure. So yes, it's something they need to brace for.

Jemery Lin was 44th out of 46 PG's in AST/TO ratio and 27th our of 30 PG's in FG%.

I understand the intangibles that he brings to the table, but statistically speaking he was one of the worst shooting PG's in the NBA, and one of the worst passing PG's in the NBA. His production was terrible to say the least. Charlotte should have no problem replacing him.

He's definitely not a guy who can run an NBA offense at the PG. He's another example of a combo guard who can bring up the ball, play well in the pick and roll, and create his own shot. Off the ball he is decent, but not great and really isn't a great shooter, but not terrible either. His defense is ok, he has speed and surprisingly doesn't get out match strength wise too often, but lacks athleticism and size if he's asked to guard 2s. A great 6th man and can start in a pinch of you HAVE to. But definitely not starting PG material.

[ChokeFasncists]

Is losing Jeremy Lin really something you need to brace for?

Yes. Lin averaged 18 ppg last season as a starter. He was used as a stopper at both guard positions. He was arguably the most important player in the 6 biggest wins of the team last season, including the first three franchise playoffs wins. The only game he started at PG, they snapped a six-year, 23-game losing streak to LeBron. The Hornets were rated by experts to be out of the playoffs even before MKG's injuries; Lin was instrumental in their surprise record, tied at third in the conference. A lot of times, the starters would get behind and then he would lead the 2nd unit (Bench Force One) to get the lead back. He was elite in passing out of the PnR, helped the bigs greatly. He was arguably the best player on the team in fastbreaking and drawing fouls. Kemba had a career year with Lin both because of what Lin does and because he feels more pressure. So yes, it's something they need to brace for.

Jemery Lin was 44th out of 46 PG's in AST/TO ratio and 27th our of 30 PG's in FG%.

I understand the intangibles that he brings to the table, but statistically speaking he was one of the worst shooting PG's in the NBA, and one of the worst passing PG's in the NBA. His production was terrible to say the least. Charlotte should have no problem replacing him.

He's not perfect, sure. His biggest flaw is that he's TO prone. He doesn't have good enough awareness of the opponents who potentially could disrupt the play he has in mind. His ball handling has improved alot. It would come with experience, trial and error I guess. I think they were trying to remedy that by not trying to make so many risky passes. Otherwise, his assists number surely would have gone up. He is a pretty good passer other than being TO prone.

His FG% wasn't bad until last year. He used to shoot the ball with a full jump and high release. It's nice for evading defenders, but it took too much energy and it led to him being inconsistent. To remedy that, he changed his form last season; hence his low FG%. With another summer of hard work, next season one could expect a back to normal or even improvement over the earlier years in terms of FG%.

Again, he was a very important part of the Hornets last year as I pointed out in the previous post and replacing him would be very difficult.

[ChokeFasncists]

Yes. Lin averaged 18 ppg last season as a starter. He was used as a stopper at both guard positions. He was arguably the most important player in the 6 biggest wins of the team last season, including the first three franchise playoffs wins. The only game he started at PG, they snapped a six-year, 23-game losing streak to LeBron. The Hornets were rated by experts to be out of the playoffs even before MKG's injuries; Lin was instrumental in their surprise record, tied at third in the conference. A lot of times, the starters would get behind and then he would lead the 2nd unit (Bench Force One) to get the lead back. He was elite in passing out of the PnR, helped the bigs greatly. He was arguably the best player on the team in fastbreaking and drawing fouls. Kemba had a career year with Lin both because of what Lin does and because he feels more pressure. So yes, it's something they need to brace for.

Jemery Lin was 44th out of 46 PG's in AST/TO ratio and 27th our of 30 PG's in FG%.

I understand the intangibles that he brings to the table, but statistically speaking he was one of the worst shooting PG's in the NBA, and one of the worst passing PG's in the NBA. His production was terrible to say the least. Charlotte should have no problem replacing him.

He's definitely not a guy who can run an NBA offense at the PG. He's another example of a combo guard who can bring up the ball, play well in the pick and roll, and create his own shot. Off the ball he is decent, but not great and really isn't a great shooter, but not terrible either. His defense is ok, he has speed and surprisingly doesn't get out match strength wise too often, but lacks athleticism and size if he's asked to guard 2s. A great 6th man and can start in a pinch of you HAVE to. But definitely not starting PG material.

I don't know why you're so definitely sure, but in a few days, we'd know what GMs around the league think. There are more than two starting positions opened in the league and he's usually ranked as the third best PG in this FA class.

OTOH, it depends on what kind of offense he's asked to run. He might not be the CP3, Lillard, Westbrook, Rondo types, but if the offense is heavily reliant on PnR, he shouldn't have much problem as he's excellent at doing that.

[Marionettetc]

How will the Hornets recover after he leaves?

He was without a doubt the most important player for the team during the regular season and the playoffs. When he leaves for greener pastures he's going to leave a 2 million dollar gaping hole in the roster and our hearts.

[haste10176]

Jemery Lin was 44th out of 46 PG's in AST/TO ratio and 27th our of 30 PG's in FG%.

I understand the intangibles that he brings to the table, but statistically speaking he was one of the worst shooting PG's in the NBA, and one of the worst passing PG's in the NBA. His production was terrible to say the least. Charlotte should have no problem replacing him.

He's definitely not a guy who can run an NBA offense at the PG. He's another example of a combo guard who can bring up the ball, play well in the pick and roll, and create his own shot. Off the ball he is decent, but not great and really isn't a great shooter, but not terrible either. His defense is ok, he has speed and surprisingly doesn't get out match strength wise too often, but lacks athleticism and size if he's asked to guard 2s. A great 6th man and can start in a pinch of you HAVE to. But definitely not starting PG material.

I don't know why you're so definitely sure, but in a few days, we'd know what GMs around the league think. There are more than two starting positions opened in the league and he's usually ranked as the third best PG in this FA class.

OTOH, it depends on what kind of offense he's asked to run. He might not be the CP3, Lillard, Westbrook, Rondo types, but if the offense is heavily reliant on PnR, he shouldn't have much problem as he's excellent at doing that.

I am not a hornets or Lin fan but the games I saw him play last year he was excellent there were points when he stepped up to be the main guy when nothing else was clicking.. Also I saw instants when he was on fire and other did not pass him the ball to keep it going or he was benched which made no sense at the time... He is a decent player who sometimes can explode and actually turn games will not happen that often but does happen... Worthy of a 5-7mill contract but if your paying 12mill its overs..

[The_Hater]

Is losing Jeremy Lin really something you need to brace for?

Yes. Lin averaged 18 ppg last season as a starter. He was used as a stopper at both guard positions. He was arguably the most important player in the 6 biggest wins of the team last season, including the first three franchise playoffs wins. The only game he started at PG, they snapped a six-year, 23-game losing streak to LeBron. The Hornets were rated by experts to be out of the playoffs even before MKG's injuries; Lin was instrumental in their surprise record, tied at third in the conference. A lot of times, the starters would get behind and then he would lead the 2nd unit (Bench Force One) to get the lead back. He was elite in passing out of the PnR, helped the bigs greatly. He was arguably the best player on the team in fastbreaking and drawing fouls. Kemba had a career year with Lin both because of what Lin does and because he feels more pressure. So yes, it's something they need to brace for.

Jemery Lin was 44th out of 46 PG's in AST/TO ratio and 27th our of 30 PG's in FG%.

I understand the intangibles that he brings to the table, but statistically speaking he was one of the worst shooting PG's in the NBA, and one of the worst passing PG's in the NBA. His production was terrible to say the least. Charlotte should have no problem replacing him.

Where did Allstar Derrick Rose rank in those 2 categories?

Plus you do realize that FG% is not the best way to judge offensive efficiency, right? And how is the first list out of 46 PG's Nd the 2nd list out of only 30? Where did the other 16 PG's go?

[ChokeFasncists]

He's definitely not a guy who can run an NBA offense at the PG. He's another example of a combo guard who can bring up the ball, play well in the pick and roll, and create his own shot. Off the ball he is decent, but not great and really isn't a great shooter, but not terrible either. His defense is ok, he has speed and surprisingly doesn't get out match strength wise too often, but lacks athleticism and size if he's asked to guard 2s. A great 6th man and can start in a pinch of you HAVE to. But definitely not starting PG material.

I don't know why you're so definitely sure, but in a few days, we'd know what GMs around the league think. There are more than two starting positions opened in the league and he's usually ranked as the third best PG in this FA class.

OTOH, it depends on what kind of offense he's asked to run. He might not be the CP3, Lillard, Westbrook, Rondo types, but if the offense is heavily reliant on PnR, he shouldn't have much problem as he's excellent at doing that.

I am not a hornets or Lin fan but the games I saw him play last year he was excellent there were points when he stepped up to be the main guy when nothing else was clicking.. Also I saw instants when he was on fire and other did not pass him the ball to keep it going or he was benched which made no sense at the time...

Good calls. It happened alot. He was capable of many things, he's still inconsistent. Cliff's pretty rigid with his rotations; when the starters were healthy, a lot of times he got subbed by the clock rather than his performance. When he played with the starters, a lot of times Batum would have the ball most, then Kemba and they don't feed Lin for easy hoops very often.

He is a decent player who sometimes can explode and actually turn games will not happen that often but does happen...

That's his role in Charlotte. If he's the starter, which might happen in a few days, it'd be more suitable to his talents, which is passing out of the PnR and sometimes scoring.

Worthy of a 5-7mill contract but if your paying 12mill its overs..

Hey, cap raise this summer; everyone is getting "overpaid". He would most likely get 8 digit. (under the old cap, he'd probably get around 8)