With the Houston Rockets close to offering another $30 million back-loaded contract to a restricted free agent, this time New York Knicks PG Jeremy Lin, there's still no way to know whether Lin's team will match the offer.
However, the Knicks dogged pursuit of Phoenix Suns free agent PG Steve Nashh could mean they're prepared to let "Linsanity" walk.
New York, which would offer promising rookie G Iman Shumpert in a sign-and-trade, is facing a huge salary cap problem over the next few years. After amnestying Chauncey Billups to free up the room to sign Tyson Chandler, they have three players -- Chandler, Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony -- making near-max money and no way to clear any off their books.
As a result, there's little chance the Knicks can afford to pay Nash and Lin significant amounts of money, which means acquiring Nash could open the door for Lin to come to Houston.
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