Part 2 from February,
2016 (“The Jeremy Lin Saga Continues...JLin Strikes Back as a Hornet” was a
hopeful chapter that covered the second half of his Laker madness, a strong
second half that set up his signing and ultimate redemption as a role player
with the Charlotte Hornets.
Part 3 from February,
2017(“Hamstrung”) covered the remainder of his Hornets tour, through the
signing with the Nets and his maddening, injury-laced first year with them,
through last year’s All Star break.
Part 4 from February,
2018 (“Devastation”) chronicled yet another strong second half performance, as
Lin returned to the Nets, albeit with limited minutes, and instantly turned
them into a respectable squad, and then on through the summer when the Nets
acquired D’Angelo Russell, and through the devastating injury in the first game
of the season and his rehab to yet another uncertain future.
So we pick up the story
from one year ago, with Lin in Vancouver.
Through the twists and
turns of his remarkable saga he remains the controversial enigma that sparks a
full gamut of emotions from NBA fans. The
central thesis of these articles is that we do not know -- and may never know --
his true ceiling as an NBA player. Even
after nearly eight seasons, Lin is viewed along a wide spectrum, polarized
evaluations that range from over-hyped one-month wonder to potential
superstar. The truth surely lies in
between, and the clock is running.
The links to the other
articles in this series are provided at the end of this installment. If you like the series, please share the
articles with your fellow Lin fans on social media.
The Nets Post-All Star Break, 2018
Jeremy Lin’s NBA career has nearly ended on six separate
occasions: when he went undrafted after a stand-out career at Harvard; when he
was cut successively by the Warriors and the Rockets in December, 2012; on the
fateful night of February 4, 2012 that was literally his last shot with the
Knicks (but instead Linsanity erupted); when he was a free agent after a difficult year with the Lakers in
2015; and again in October, 2017, when, as a Brooklyn Net, he ruptured the patellar tendon of his
right knee in the fourth quarter of the first game of the season.
Lin managed to hold onto the dream each of the first five
times, surviving the G-League circuit, making the astonishing, globe-spinning
epic “Linsanity” run when given that last chance with the Knicks, refurbishing
his image as a productive NBA player in his one-year stint with the Hornets,
which set up his long-awaited return to being the “first option,” with the Nets
and Kenny Atkinson, who, unlike anyone since Mike D’Antoni, promised him the
ball. (Atkinson, of course, had tutored
Lin when they both toiled in obscurity with the Knicks in the fateful run-up to
Linsanity.)
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After the knee surgery, Lin, holed up in Vancouver with Fortius,
a first-rate sports fitness crew.
Determined to come back from the depths yet again, he set goals for the
rehab not only to repair his knee, not simply to reinvent his body, but also
to learn new ways of protecting himself on the court without crimping his
headlong, attacking style. He remained
close to the Nets, texting Atkinson with frequency, and teammates as well,
following their fortunes. Lin surely
relied on his faith to carry him through, but the secular side of him must have wondered
where it all might lead in terms of his NBA future.
Unlike in 2016-17, when Lin’s recurring hamstring issues
had forced him to miss more than half the season, and the Nets fell apart
without him, the 2017-18 Nets carried on ably in his absence. The whole roster was stronger, and deep enough
to withstand not only the loss of Lin but also of D’Angelo Russell, who was
envisioned to be Lin’s running mate in the Nets’ motion offense and the
ultimate insurance policy if Lin continued to be injury prone. But Russell went down with knee injuries of
his own early in the season. These Nets,
though, were resilient, and came into the All-Star break with a 19-40 record, a
.322 clip that was a remarkable showing given the loss of their two best
players. Much of the credit went to
Spencer Dinwiddie, who grew by leaps and bounds when thrust into the starting
role. But Dinwiddie was not alone; he was aided amply by the solid development of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Joe Harris, the
veteran leadership of DeMarre Carroll and Allen Crabbe, and the near limitless
upside potential exhibited by rookies Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen.
But these overachievers were fraying at the break, having lost 11 of 12 in the run-up. This
stretch largely coincided with Russell’s return to the lineup, and he was, actually, the
main culprit, seemingly lost while trying to find his sea legs after the
injury. This, in turn, spawned a legion of
“Dinwiddie versus Russell” arguments, particularly as the two failed to mesh in the same
backcourt.
But the All-Star break was a tonic, and the Nets finished the rest of the season with a respectable 9-14 mark, a near 40% winning clip that
extrapolates to a 32-win season. Russell
regained his form (and his three-point shot in particular), Dinwiddie found his
niche, albeit with less usage, Harris continued his progress, Allen cracked the
starting lineup and LeVert flourished.
The Nets had a strong young core and were clearly on the rise.
The open question heading into the offseason was: would Jeremy Lin, still rehabbing and turning 30, be a part of
it?
THE SUMMER
Lin clearly thought he would be a Net going forward, but
the Nets’ fan base was ablaze with controversy, hardly a surprise when it comes
to Lin. The Linsaniacs thought he would
be good as new and envisioned a simple reboot to the Marks/Atkinson Russell/Lin
plan, with Dinwiddie in reserve. The
more jaded rather justifiably pointed to Lin’s inability to stay on the court for
two years and his $12 million price tag, and foresaw a playing time logjam with
LeVert and Harris also figuring in the backcourt mix. They looked to Marks to weave his magic and turn
Lin into a future asset. And the more
pragmatic of the fan-bunch found a middle ground, opining that the best course
would be to see what Lin has in the first half of the season, and then deal him
at the trading deadline in February, hopefully for higher value than what could
be obtained for the damaged goods that Lin represented over the summer.
The bombshell dropped on July 13, when Marks opted for door
number two, and announced that Lin (and two second round picks in 2023 and
2025) had been traded to Atlanta for a 2020 second round pick and the rights to
the obscure Isaia Cordonier. This was a shocker
to Lin, who had thought that since Marks had not said he was on the block, he
must be safe. But suffice to say, the
only surprise about this trade to veteran NBA watchers was how little the Hawks
had extracted from the Nets. Given Lin’s
price tag (the last year of his Brooklyn contract, that $12 million), the
thinking was Lin might have fetched a first-round pick straight up. But Marks was surely “hawking” Lin all along,
and, skeptical of Lin’s rehab progress, he wanted to limit his risk, go
with the youngsters and take the best deal he could get.
But apparently Atlanta did not consider Lin ”dead money”
material, and had enough confidence in his recovery to consider him a live
playing asset. This was confirmed when
Hawks’ incumbent point guard Dennis Schroeder was traded to Oklahoma City less
than two weeks later, leaving Lin the only legitimate point guard on the roster
other than the brand new lottery pick from Oklahoma, 19-year old shooting and
passing sensation Trae Young, who led the NCAA in both scoring and assists in
his one year of play.
Young himself was at the center of another drama and
another bombshell, the draft-day trade in which the Hawks took Euro-sensation
Luka Doncic (also 19 but battle-tested for years in European leagues) as the
third pick and traded him to Dallas for fifth pick Young and a protected Dallas
first round pick in 2019 (or beyond).
This was a stunner that rocked the NBA, as Doncic was viewed as a “can’t
miss” franchise shaper, while Young was viewed as far riskier, given his
relatively tepid second half of his only season at Oklahoma, plus his thin
frame and complete lack of prowess on the defensive end. Atlanta GM Travis Schlenk was roasted in the
aftermath, and for months thereafter, and this deal will define him one way or
the other for years to come, depending on how all the pieces turn out.
The Hawks were much like Brooklyn in terms of franchise
development, but behind them in terms of timing. In 2019 Marks and Atkinson were starting year
three of their Nets’ makeover, while Schlenk was in year two, and with a brand
new coach, Lloyd Pierce. Schlenk was
clear that the Hawks were in “development” mode, meaning the core group of
young players would receive ample playing time, and there was little doubt that
wins were less the priority but rather the opposite – the Hawks were tanking,
owners of not one but two lottery picks in 2020, their own (if they lost
enough) and Dallas’s by virtue of the Doncic trade (as long as the Mavs were
not one of the worse five teams, in which case the pick would convey to 2021).
Lin was certainly less than overjoyed to be jettisoned from
a Nets team where he had been welcomed as a lynchpin, and was on the rise, to
the Hawks, but this marriage of convenience clearly offered a win –win for both
parties. Schlenk needed a solid NBA
veteran point guard to mentor Young and a good locker room presence for the
young team overall. But he also needed
someone who could play, and that is where the risk lay, since there was no
guarantee Lin would return to form. Lin,
of course, needed a stage to demonstrate that he was indeed back, and to build
his value in the hope that that would lead to substantial playing time, either
with the Hawks or another team down the road, looking ahead to either the
trading deadline or Lin’s pending free agency in the summer of 2019.
On media day, Hawks’ coach Pierce, who knew Lin from their
days together on the Warriors (Pierce was another assistant who worked with Lin
in the pre-Linsanity years), set up Lin and Young as competing for the starting
job. But while Lin arrived at training
camp healthy, the reality was he was far from ready, and he knew it: “I’m not sure
if I had as bad of a training camp in my career as I did this year. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t hit shots. I
couldn’t make plays. Everything was going at a different speed. I couldn’t
guard. I couldn’t get by people. I had no rhythm. I didn’t have 5-on-5 to build
up to it. I didn’t have 3-on-3. I didn’t have any of that stuff. I just got
thrown into it. It was an awful, awful training camp.” There was no real competition; Young would be
the starter.
ATLANTA, FIRST HALF 2018-19
That Lin was not ready was proven lamentably in the first
six games of the season. He looked
exceptionally tentative and made very few attempts to make plays. He shot poorly and was stiff on defense. His stats confirmed the eye test: averaging a mere 13 minutes per game, Lin
shot 33% from the field, hit only one of eight three pointers, and committed
more turnovers (9) than assists (8). Far
from returning to form, Lin looked like someone who would be bounced out of the
NBA in short order.
The contrast with Young was stunning. In only his third game, the phenom sprung for
35 points and 11 assists versus Cleveland.
While Young’s overall game was uneven at the outset, he was filling up
the box score and certainly looked to be fulfilling the promise. He gave every indication that, in time, he
could reach the high ceiling the Hawks felt he had. In particular, his court vision was elite,
and he brought an energy to the offense that noticeably sagged when Lin
replaced him.
But all this changed once the calendar flipped to
November. And it was a truly stunning
reversal for both players. Lin had ended
October with a reasonably productive game against the Cavaliers in the seventh
game of the season; he came up with 12 points and 8 assists and earned 23
minutes on the court, even as his shooing advanced only from abysmal to
mediocre (4 for 11 from the field, including 2 for 6 from the three). But the next game, versus Sacramento on
November 1, was a true breakout, as Lin popped for 23 points in 23 minutes on
8-13 shooting. While much of this was
achieved in garbage time, more to the point Lin played with confidence and
freedom, clearly upping his productivity and giving credence to the Hawks’ plan
for him.
Young continued to be productive until the middle of the
month. It was hardly surprising that he
would hit a wall – a 35/11 in game three will wake up the NBA, as well as the
highlight-reel-worthy assists he authored each night. The NBA has too many excellent veteran point
guards – so good that the highest paid of them, the exceptional Mike Conley of
Memphis, has never even made the All-Star team – for Young to excel on any kind
of consistent basis from the outset. Indeed,
in the previous years the NBA had seen a number of Top 10 draft pick points
guards struggle in their rookie years and beyond, including Lonzo Ball,
D’Angelo Russell, Frank Ntilikina, Trey Burke, Dennis Smith and, most infamously,
2017 #1 pick Markelle Fultz of the 76ers, who completely lost his jump shot and
threatened to become an even bigger bust than Anthony Bennett.
But even with that expectation of hard times, no one
foresaw the depth of the slump, which last about a month. In that time, Young made only 14 of his 75
three-point attempts, a staggering 19%.
He was still hoisting them up at the rate of five per game, so the
numbing miss rate was impossible to miss.
His defense was non-existent; he looked utterly lost in the NBA world of
constant communication and switching. He
also committed 58 turnovers in this 15-game stretch, about four per game, and,
not surprisingly, given his dominance of the offense, the team won only three
games in this stretch.
Lin, on the other hand, caught fire. His November was, statistically at least, his
best month since Linsanity, albeit in fewer minutes. For the 14 games in November Lin shot at an
otherworldly 58%, a pace usually reserved for centers who play close to the
rim. And at the three-point line, he
connected at a Steph-like rate of 48%.
His touch was simply astonishing for a player who had missed over a year
and a half due to injuries, and was just weeks into his return.
Shooting Pct.
|
Per Game
|
Per 36 Minutes
|
|||||||||
Month
|
G
|
MPG
|
FG%
|
3P%
|
FT%
|
PTS
|
TRB
|
AST
|
PTS
|
TRB
|
AST
|
Feb '12
|
14
|
35.1
|
0.472
|
0.325
|
0.758
|
20.9
|
4.0
|
8.4
|
21.4
|
4.1
|
8.6
|
Nov '18
|
14
|
21.0
|
0.560
|
0.479
|
0.840
|
13.9
|
2.4
|
3.6
|
23.8
|
4.1
|
6.2
|
Lin looked good, but he also looked different. He was still
attacking the hoop at roughly the same rate as ever, but the headlong drives
were rare. Instead, he developed a new
signature move, off the middle pick and roll, essentially coming off the
screen, cutting off his own defender, essentially carrying him on his back as
he edged down the lane, and invariably either stopping for a short, deadly
jumper in the key, or drawing a foul from the frustrated defender behind
him.
But Lin averaged only 21 minutes per game during this heat
wave, and while Trae Young struggled, there was no thought of replacing him
with Lin in the starting lineup (except from Lin fans). Pierce was committed to
Young and never wavered in his support, though at times he pulled Young - or
the entire Hawk starting five -- quickly if the player or the team got off to a
bad start. If Lin was rolling, Pierce tended
to stick with him longer. But Lin only
played as many as 30 minutes once in November. And yet, despite the limited minutes, he led
the Hawks in scoring seven times in a
single 12-game stretch, which could be an NBA record for a second-teamer.
On November 16, in the midst of Lin’s tear, second year
power forward John Collins returned to the lineup for the first time of the
season. Collins, the 19th pick in the first round in
2017, had a fine rookie year, and after a few games on a minutes restriction,
proceeded to demonstrate why he is considered the Hawks’ best player, routinely
turning in 20/10 production, driven by excellent work with both Hawk point
guards on the pick and roll, incredible offensive rebounding prowess, a great
touch around the hoop and, as the season progressed, a surprisingly deft touch
from the three-point line. At about the
same time as Collins return, sharpshooting rookie Kevin Huerter entered the
starting lineup (in a nice coincidence, both Collins and Huerter were 19th
picks in the draft). It took a few more
weeks for Young to finally shake off the doldrums, but when he did, in
mid-December, the Hawks suddenly had both a respectable present and a very
bright future on display.
Lin’s hot streak ended in December, when he missed four
games due to various minor injuries (back, biceps, flu). But it was shortly after his return that he
pulled off a true “Linsanity” effort that ignited the Hawks and propelled them
to more winning ways. The Hawks entered
the December 18th game with the Wizards with a 6-23 record, a
tank-worthy .207 percentage, and had lost 7 of their last 8. That marked the first half of the 58 games
they were to play before the All-Star break.
The Hawks and Wizards were tied at 82-82 when Lin
re-entered the game at the start of the 4th quarter. Lin had had a very quiet game to that point,
with only 4 points, but that soon changed.
Lin, working the middle pick and roll to perfection, nailed five driving lay-ups and a snazzy
switchback, step-back 17 foot jumper in a five minutes span to put the game out
of reach, throwing in two assists, and a take-charge and a few John Wall stops
on the defensive end. It was a vintage
Lin down-the-stretch performance.
From there, the Hawks played extremely respectable ball; in
the next 29 games before the break, they improved to 13-16, a .448 pace that,
if it continues, could diminish their lottery odds. Lin was not the key to this drive, but more
of a vital cog. Collins, Huerter and
Young were the Big Three for the Hawks, amply supported by a bunch of savvy
veterans including Lin, the ageless Vince Carter, Dwayne Dedmon, Alex Len and,
ultimately, Taurean Prince and Keith Bazemore, who missed large swaths of the
first half due to injuries but returned productively to the lineup in the new
year.
Through December and January, Lin settled into a steady
mode, providing productive bench play and occasionally earning minutes
alongside Young, with the injuries to the wings. By mid-January, Young started to put it
together, averaging 20/9 from January 13th to the break, including a
truly amazing five-game stretch where he put together 27/9 averages. (Coincidentally, at this same time D’Angelo
Russell of the Nets also floated into a new zone, averaging 24/8 over January
and February and earning the first All-Star selection of his four-year career.)
Young, to be sure, still has major flaws in his game: he remains a turnover machine (he’s on track
for the most turnovers by a rookie in 20 years), lacks consistency in the
three-point shot (31% for the year, though improving) and plays, arguably -- and
if you believe ESPN’s defensive rankings based on “Real Defensive Plus Minus”,
statistically -- the worst defense of anyone in the NBA. But he is just a 20-year-old rookie and
offers limitless promise, and the potential to improve in each of those areas
in time. He is holding up his end of the
bargain on the Doncic trade, and it will be up to Schlenk to turn the next pick
into a player that justifies it altogether,
As mentioned, with Bazemore out, Lin began (finally) to see
some time at the off-guard next to Young, and overall his minutes went up to 24
per game in January, approaching his career average of 26. But with Young’s strong play and Bazemore’s
return at the end of January, the handwriting was on the wall. In early February Lin slipped back to 17
minutes per game, with the February 7 trade deadline approaching the rumblings
that Lin would be off to some new destination grew louder. The rumor mill was active for all the Hawks’
veterans (save Carter), but the deadline came and went without any of Dedmon,
Lin, Bazemore or Prince departing.
And thus began the buyout season, another NBA happy hunting
ground, typically for veterans stuck in dead-end situations with expiring
contracts, searching for a home with either contenders or lesser teams where
they could get some minutes to show off their wares before the summer shopping
season. Lin was a prime candidate for
this market, as any number of contending teams could use help at the crucial
point guard position, with Lin’s ability to play the off-guard a bonus. The trade deadline rumors focused on
Sacramento, Philadelphia, Portland, Orlando and others, including Toronto.
It wasn’t terribly surprising that the deal came together
so quickly. The Raptors, an elite team
in the East (just a half-game behind the Bucks for the top seed) had been among
the rumored teams for Lin’s services for quite some time. All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry, turning 33
in March, had missed 12 games due to a balky back, and neither of his two
back-ups, Fred VanVleet (more of a shooting guard) and Delon Wright, were ideal
for either the back-up point guard role or emergency starting duty if Lowry
went down again. Wright was, in fact,
traded at the deadline as part of the coup the Raptors engineered to acquire
Marc Gasol from Memphis to play the post.
And VanVleet had just injured his thumb, a ligament issue initially
thought to be relatively minor, but, in fact, ultimately required surgery that could
keep him out for most if not all of the balance of the regular season.
Thus the Raptors’ need was acute, and Lin, a long-time
favorite in Toronto, was a natural choice.
The Hawks, at Lin’s request, waived him, and he signed with the Raptors
on February 13, just in time for a home game against the Wizards.
Lin’s time with the Hawks could not have not been scripted
better for all parties. For the Hawks,
Lin indeed provided veteran leadership in the locker room, where, along with
Vince Carter, he was a popular role model, and on the court, where he excelled
in his role. He developed a strong
relationship with Young, and also provided Pierce with a steady alternative,
one who played the point guard position similarly to Young (featuring the pick
and roll), though less flamboyantly.
For Lin, Atlanta was a low-pressure showcase to prove he
was back, as well as a laboratory for the modified game he created to match his
body, with more controlled drives to the hoop.
Up with the trends of the modern NBA, a career high 65% of his shots
were either at the rim or beyond the three, and he had virtually eliminated the
long (non-three) jumper from his shot selection repertoire. Defensively he held his own, though not quite
as athletically as before (exemplified by the near disappearance of a former
nifty Lin trademark, the blocked shot, where he typically was ranked in the top
five among point guards).
The only black mark was his three-point shot, which simply
deserted him after the torrid November; Lin shot an anemic 25% from December to
the break. That said, he remained an
effective and efficient offensive force, averaging 10.7 per game in just 19.7
minutes per game, and on just 7.6 shots.
And he re-established himself as one of the best back-up point guards in
the league, and certainly starter material if that elusive opportunity ever
emerged again.
Statistically, his Atlanta numbers held up well in
comparison to his career norms, more closely resembling his highs in New York
and (his abbreviated) stint in Brooklyn, exceeding those of Houston, Los
Angeles and Charlotte, as amply demonstrated by his per-36 stats (below). Most of Lin’s career bests (and “second
bests”) have, in fact, occurred in his last two full seasons, and the shooting
stats in particular have been very solid (save the three-pointers in Atlanta).
Per 36
|
Team
|
G
|
MPG
|
FG%
|
3P%
|
2P%
|
FT%
|
TRB
|
AST
|
STL
|
BLK
|
TOV
|
PTS
|
29
|
9.8
|
39%
|
20%
|
40%
|
76%
|
4.3
|
5.3
|
4.2
|
1.1
|
2.3
|
9.6
|
||
35
|
26.9
|
45%
|
32%
|
48%
|
80%
|
4.1
|
8.3
|
2.1
|
0.3
|
4.8
|
19.6
|
||
82
|
32.2
|
44%
|
34%
|
48%
|
79%
|
3.4
|
6.8
|
1.8
|
0.4
|
3.2
|
14.9
|
||
71
|
28.9
|
45%
|
36%
|
49%
|
82%
|
3.3
|
5.2
|
1.2
|
0.5
|
3.1
|
15.6
|
||
74
|
25.8
|
42%
|
37%
|
44%
|
80%
|
3.7
|
6.4
|
1.5
|
0.6
|
3.1
|
15.7
|
||
78
|
26.3
|
41%
|
34%
|
45%
|
82%
|
4.4
|
4.1
|
1.0
|
0.7
|
2.6
|
16.1
|
||
36
|
24.5
|
44%
|
37%
|
48%
|
82%
|
5.5
|
7.5
|
1.7
|
0.6
|
3.5
|
21.3
|
||
51
|
19.7
|
47%
|
33%
|
54%
|
85%
|
4.3
|
6.5
|
1.4
|
0.3
|
3.5
|
19.6
|
||
Career
|
458
|
25.8
|
44%
|
35%
|
47%
|
81%
|
3.9
|
6.1
|
1.6
|
0.5
|
3.2
|
16.5
|
Having said that, for all of the inconsistency charges Lin has
endured, the game-to-game mix of Linsanity eruptions over the years and confounding
poor performances, he has been a remarkably consistent player over the course
of a season, as his career stats reveal.
You would hardly know that the narrative of Lin painted Houston and Los
Angeles as “disastrous” seasons when he “lost” starting positions, whereas Charlotte
was a “golden” time when he shone. The
statistics in those periods are actually remarkably similar.
Season
|
Tm
|
G
|
MP
|
FG%
|
3P%
|
2P%
|
FT%
|
TRB
|
AST
|
STL
|
BLK
|
TOV
|
PTS
|
29
|
9.8
|
39%
|
20%
|
40%
|
76%
|
1.2
|
1.4
|
1.1
|
0.3
|
0.6
|
2.6
|
||
35
|
26.9
|
45%
|
32%
|
48%
|
80%
|
3.1
|
6.2
|
1.6
|
0.3
|
3.6
|
14.6
|
||
82
|
32.2
|
44%
|
34%
|
48%
|
79%
|
3.0
|
6.1
|
1.6
|
0.4
|
2.9
|
13.4
|
||
71
|
28.9
|
45%
|
36%
|
49%
|
82%
|
2.6
|
4.1
|
1.0
|
0.4
|
2.5
|
12.5
|
||
74
|
25.8
|
42%
|
37%
|
44%
|
80%
|
2.6
|
4.6
|
1.1
|
0.4
|
2.2
|
11.2
|
||
78
|
26.3
|
41%
|
34%
|
45%
|
82%
|
3.2
|
3.0
|
0.7
|
0.5
|
1.9
|
11.7
|
||
36
|
24.5
|
44%
|
37%
|
48%
|
82%
|
3.8
|
5.1
|
1.2
|
0.4
|
2.4
|
14.5
|
||
1
|
25.0
|
42%
|
50%
|
40%
|
100%
|
0.0
|
4.0
|
0.0
|
0.0
|
3.0
|
18.0
|
||
TOT
|
52
|
19.8
|
47%
|
33%
|
54%
|
85%
|
2.4
|
3.6
|
0.8
|
0.2
|
1.9
|
10.7
|
|
51
|
19.7
|
47%
|
33%
|
54%
|
85%
|
2.3
|
3.5
|
0.7
|
0.1
|
1.9
|
10.7
|
||
Career
|
458
|
25.8
|
44%
|
35%
|
47%
|
81%
|
2.8
|
4.4
|
1.1
|
0.4
|
2.3
|
11.8
|
So, once again, Lin had risen off the scrap heap and
rescued a career that had been derailed many times by indifference and
injury. And it was on to Toronto.
THE TORONTO OPPORTUNITY
It is hard to imagine a more congenial setting for Lin to perform
than in Toronto, which is Atlanta’s polar opposite in so many ways. Toronto is a NBA championship contender; they
play to win every night (unlike a developing team – call it “tanking” if you
will -- that is stressing playing time for their young players and desirous of
the lottery picks that come with mounting losses); their fans want them to win every night (definitely
a mixed emotion for tanking teams, with this year’s fantasy object, Duke’s
extraordinary Zion Williamson, in their sites); they have star players on their
roster (Kawhi Leonard and Kyle Lowry); and, with the addition of Lin and Gasol,
are two-deep in veteran talent at every position. For Lin to contribute meaningfully to this
team is an amazing opportunity.
And he will get
that opportunity, on the court. The
injury to VanVleet, while certainly unfortunate (and not the way one wants to
gain playing time), certainly opens up the door for Lin to see a steady 25+
minutes per night backing both Lowry and running mate Danny Green. The fact is, Lin is moving from a losing
team, focused on the future, getting 12-16 minutes per night, to a major
contender where he could easily double that total.
And it gets better.
Toronto, quite simply, loves Jeremy Lin.
Who can forget how the Air Canada Centre erupted in pandemonium when Lin
drained a three-pointer over Jose Calderon in the midst of the Linsanity run in
2012? Check out the replay on YouTube…it’s
easy to forget that it was the home
team that was vanquished with the game-winner.
Watch the fans flying out of their seats, levitating with glee, as an opponent drives the dagger into their own team. They were positively, well, en-Raptored.
It does not hurt that Toronto, a cosmopolitan,
international city, has an enormous Asian population providing the basis of
that support. Atlanta fans certainly
respected Lin (at least after he started playing well), but they never saw Lin
as a long-term piece of the puzzle. Their love was for Young, and why not, he
was the future, and an energetic, charismatic, gleeful performer as well. Lin, a short-term rental, found himself, for
the first time in his career, largely viewed with indifference by the home town
fans.
Finally Lin, throughout this career, has found the Raptors
to be his absolute favorite opponent, as the stats bear out.
Total
|
Team
|
G
|
MPG
|
FG%
|
3P%
|
2P%
|
FT%
|
TRB
|
AST
|
STL
|
BLK
|
TOV
|
PTS
|
Career
|
16
|
33.1
|
50%
|
47%
|
52%
|
78%
|
2.8
|
5.3
|
1.3
|
0.5
|
2.9
|
16.9
|
|
Career
|
vs NBA
|
458
|
25.8
|
44%
|
35%
|
47%
|
81%
|
2.8
|
4.4
|
1.1
|
0.4
|
2.3
|
11.8
|
Apart from the epic Linsanity game, this included another
top-10 effort in this career, an incredible game when Lin was with Charlotte, in
December, 2015. It was one of the 12
games Lin started that year (Lin averaged 18 points per game in those starts),
when Lin, subbing for Nic Batum, alongside Kemba Walker, scorched Toronto for
35 points in 47 minutes in a Hornets’ overtime win. Clearly Lin is comfortable in Toronto.
The timing was tight for Lin to make his debut with the
Raptors before the All-Star break, but he made it, signing his contract and
arriving in Toronto just hours before game time. He had time enough to learn a grand total of
three plays in a late afternoon run-through.
He reclaimed his old Linsanity #17 after texting the recently departed
Jonas Valanciunis, who wore the number for nearly 500 games for the Raptors, to
secure his permission.
As it happened, I was visiting Toronto on that day,
February 13, on business, and found myself stranded there when all flights back
to New York were cancelled due to weather.
So I simply bought a ticket at ticketmaster.com and made the 10 minute
walk from my hotel to ScotiaBank Arena, and readied myself for this next
chapter – the first in-season switch of Lin’s peripatetic career.
You could feel the buzz in the Arena through the warm-ups,
and when Lin aced Lowry’s elaborate team-involved pre-game introduction ritual (which
had mystified Gasol in his debut in the prior game), the fans could tell Lin
had done his homework. (At this stage of
Lin’s career, he has former teammates or coaches at every new port of call, and
he had smartly queried former G-League teammate Danny Green in advance on the
drill. Lin also played briefly with Lowry in his very brief time with Houston in the preseason in 2011.)
Lin entered the game at the 4:05 mark of the first quarter,
to what can only be described as a thunderous ovation. He was clearly feeling his way in the early
going; he made a steal on his first defensive play, but attempted a too-cute-by-half
feed to Pascal Siakam, instead of attacking the hoop, and turned it right back
over. He did rattle in a three, but a
foul away from the ball negated this effort.
But despite such little prep, he managed to fit in and contribute,
ultimately filling the box score with 8 points, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, a block
and that steal in 25 minutes.
About half of that time he was on the court with Lowry, in
sharp contrast to Atlanta, where he managed only 142 minutes with Young in 51
games, or less than 3 minutes per game.
The Raptors beat the Wizards 129-120, and Lin was on the court for a
critical stretch when the Raptors ran off a 15-0 run to overcome a 12-point
deficit in the third quarter, the streak punctuated with a nifty Lin reverse
layup off a stellar Lowry feed. Lin ran
the offense capably while Lowry rested, complemented him when they played
together (the Raptors were +10 when the two were paired), and played steady
team switching defense the whole time, and the crowd loved every minute.
LOOKING AHEAD
Lin will clearly get his chance to showcase his talents in
Toronto; where this takes him will be another matter. It will certainly be to his advantage if, in
addition to overall positive contributions, he can straighten out his
three-point shot. It is almost a
necessity for a combo guard to demonstrate perimeter competence in today’s
trigger-happy NBA. It is easy to imagine
ample pick and rolls with Serge Ibaka and Gasol, and with Leonard, Lowry and Siakam
(who had 44 in the Wizards game) occupying defensive attention, Lin will often
be the open man even when he is not initiating the action.
A productive and deep run in the playoffs is a perfect
showcase, but for what? Lin will, of
course, be a free agent as of July 1; exactly what he will be looking for is
less clear. Even with an exceptional
run, Lin’s dream, a starting point guard job in the NBA, will be hard to
find. One can make a good case that Lin
is one of the top 30 points guards in the league, but that is no guarantee of
such a slot. The better teams already
have excellent point guards, and the lesser teams are often trying to develop
one early in their career. It’s not
expected that another Trae Young is in a draft, an instant starting point
guard, and so, if Lin wishes to start, where might he end up?
This is a hard game to play, because so many NBA point
guards are eligible free agency, starting with superstars Kyrie Irving and
Kemba Walker, and on through more than a dozen in the “next tier” group,
including Lin age-group peers such as Darren Collison, Ricky Rubio, Jeff
Teague, Derrick Rose and Pat Beverly, as well as some of the younger generation
including D’Angelo Russell (who the Nets will almost surely sign up) and
Emmanuel Mudiay (supplanted in New York by Dennis Smith).
One could well imagine Orlando as a potential target for
Lin as a starter. They are a borderline
playoff team (a half-game out of the playoffs in the East right now) who have
been operating with career back-up D.J. Augustin as their starter, who has played
very well but is overmatched defensively.
Orlando just acquired former first round pick and potential dud Markelle
Fultz. Steve Clifford, Lin’s former
coach in Charlotte, has the helm in Orlando, and he has always been a Lin fan.
Beyond that? Phoenix
could use a point guard, unless Tyler Johnson’s audition turns around quickly
after a difficult start. Detroit seems
perennially dissatisfied with Reggie Jackson.
Collin Sexton has struggled in Cleveland. The Clippers, the Spurs or New Orleans do not
have ideal point guards today.
But then again, might Lin decide, at this stage of his
career, that serving a back-up role for a playoff bound team is a more
realistic future? Any number of NBA
teams – including Toronto, with an aging Lowry – might be interested in him in
this capacity. Lin could provide starter-quality backup work plus a first-rate
insurance policy should the first-string star go down. And plenty of NBA teams, like Toronto, love
playing two point guards at once, and so backing up a star does not necessarily
mean limited minutes, it could well mean the 26 Lin has averaged for his
career.
There can be no destination that is truly a shocker,
except, perhaps, say, Houston or Oklahoma City.
But Lin may have to wait to see where Irving and Kemba end up and how
the dominoes fall from there.
AND FROM THERE?
Jeremy Lin’s epic, unique story is not over, perhaps far
from it. But it has been such a
roller-coaster, as he has picked himself off the mat time and again, that it
practically demands one more climb up to the peak of the mountain, one more long
stretch where Lin commands the ball and makes us dance. It seems unlikely, but frankly, so has every
other step in the journey. Who would
have scripted Linsanity itself? Who knew the Knicks would not match Houston’s
offer? That the Rockets would trade for
Harden? That Byron Scott could be so bad?
That Charlotte would work out so well? That Brooklyn would be such a disappointment? And that, just seven games into a return from
such a devastating injury in Atlanta, he would enjoy one of his finest months
of play ever?
But regardless of whether there are more epic turns on up
the road, Jeremy Lin has established himself as a solid NBA point guard in an
era where point guards are sublime.
Below is a chart of the primary NBA point guards over the last decade. The chart below divides these point guards
(and I certainly could be missing a few – it is designed to include those who
entered the NBA from 2005 to 2013, and lasted for a decent career), into four
groups, top/middle/lower tier starting guards (those who started roughly half
their game or more), and then the bottom group which includes those who were
subs for the great majority of their games).
Forget about “what might have been”; forget about
cherry-picking the best of times; forget about “per 36” stats. Just taking the straight up career
statistics, it is clear that within his era as an NBA player, Jeremy Lin has
been a solid, middle-tier starting NBA point guard, neither a superstar nor an
All-Star, but not simply an elite back-up.
His peer group is George Hill, Darrin Collison, Jeff Teague, Goran
Dragic and Reggie Jackson. Even though
each of them has been handed the ball and ran a team for major stretches of
their careers, Lin stands up extremely well in comparison.
Player
|
G
|
MP
|
FG%
|
3P%
|
2P%
|
FT%
|
TRB
|
AST
|
STL
|
TOV
|
PTS
|
PER
|
926
|
35
|
47%
|
37%
|
51%
|
87%
|
4.5
|
9.7
|
2.2
|
2.4
|
18.6
|
25.4
|
|
741
|
34
|
44%
|
37%
|
51%
|
86%
|
5.2
|
6.2
|
1.5
|
3.6
|
24.0
|
24.3
|
|
671
|
34
|
48%
|
44%
|
52%
|
91%
|
4.5
|
6.7
|
1.7
|
3.1
|
23.5
|
23.9
|
|
797
|
34
|
43%
|
31%
|
46%
|
81%
|
6.9
|
8.4
|
1.8
|
4.0
|
22.9
|
23.7
|
|
488
|
34
|
47%
|
39%
|
50%
|
87%
|
3.6
|
5.6
|
1.3
|
2.7
|
22.1
|
22.1
|
|
Lillard
|
525
|
36
|
43%
|
37%
|
48%
|
89%
|
4.1
|
6.3
|
1.0
|
2.8
|
23.5
|
21.3
|
474
|
30
|
44%
|
36%
|
49%
|
88%
|
2.5
|
5.1
|
0.9
|
2.4
|
18.8
|
20.5
|
|
573
|
36
|
43%
|
32%
|
46%
|
78%
|
4.3
|
9.2
|
1.7
|
3.8
|
19.0
|
19.4
|
|
580
|
34
|
42%
|
36%
|
45%
|
83%
|
3.8
|
5.4
|
1.3
|
2.2
|
19.5
|
19.2
|
|
838
|
31
|
42%
|
37%
|
47%
|
81%
|
4.2
|
6.1
|
1.3
|
2.3
|
14.4
|
18.5
|
|
1244
|
31
|
49%
|
32%
|
51%
|
75%
|
2.7
|
5.6
|
0.8
|
2.3
|
15.6
|
18.3
|
|
Williams, D.
|
845
|
34
|
45%
|
36%
|
48%
|
82%
|
3.1
|
8.1
|
1.0
|
2.8
|
16.3
|
18.2
|
536
|
33
|
45%
|
31%
|
48%
|
82%
|
3.5
|
5.7
|
0.8
|
2.7
|
18.9
|
18.1
|
|
548
|
28
|
45%
|
34%
|
50%
|
80%
|
3.9
|
4.7
|
1.5
|
2.7
|
14.0
|
18.0
|
|
774
|
33
|
44%
|
37%
|
47%
|
82%
|
2.9
|
5.7
|
1.5
|
2.0
|
14.7
|
17.6
|
|
576
|
31
|
44%
|
32%
|
47%
|
76%
|
4.6
|
4.9
|
1.3
|
2.5
|
15.9
|
17.3
|
|
704
|
28
|
45%
|
36%
|
48%
|
84%
|
2.5
|
5.8
|
1.2
|
2.3
|
12.7
|
17.2
|
|
736
|
28
|
47%
|
36%
|
51%
|
76%
|
3.1
|
4.8
|
1.0
|
2.3
|
13.8
|
17.2
|
|
551
|
29
|
46%
|
36%
|
49%
|
77%
|
2.7
|
6.0
|
1.2
|
2.1
|
12.7
|
17.2
|
|
644
|
33
|
45%
|
35%
|
49%
|
79%
|
3.8
|
6.4
|
1.5
|
2.7
|
15.5
|
16.8
|
|
802
|
32
|
46%
|
32%
|
49%
|
60%
|
4.8
|
8.5
|
1.7
|
2.8
|
10.4
|
16.3
|
|
690
|
29
|
47%
|
40%
|
50%
|
85%
|
2.6
|
5.0
|
1.1
|
1.9
|
12.5
|
16.2
|
|
962
|
25
|
43%
|
33%
|
48%
|
80%
|
2.2
|
4.0
|
1.0
|
1.7
|
10.9
|
16.1
|
|
504
|
25
|
43%
|
33%
|
47%
|
86%
|
3.0
|
4.4
|
0.7
|
1.9
|
12.7
|
16.0
|
|
458
|
26
|
44%
|
35%
|
47%
|
81%
|
2.8
|
4.4
|
1.1
|
2.3
|
11.8
|
15.9
|
|
Calderon
|
892
|
27
|
47%
|
41%
|
51%
|
87%
|
2.4
|
5.8
|
0.8
|
1.5
|
8.9
|
15.8
|
480
|
31
|
39%
|
32%
|
41%
|
84%
|
4.2
|
7.7
|
1.9
|
2.8
|
11.1
|
15.8
|
|
555
|
30
|
39%
|
35%
|
41%
|
80%
|
3.0
|
5.7
|
1.2
|
2.2
|
14.1
|
15.7
|
|
711
|
28
|
45%
|
38%
|
50%
|
80%
|
3.1
|
3.2
|
0.9
|
1.3
|
11.3
|
15.0
|
|
651
|
28
|
42%
|
30%
|
44%
|
82%
|
2.9
|
3.6
|
0.9
|
1.8
|
12.6
|
14.9
|
|
Nelson, J.
|
878
|
28
|
44%
|
37%
|
47%
|
81%
|
3.0
|
5.1
|
0.9
|
2.1
|
11.3
|
14.4
|
867
|
28
|
44%
|
34%
|
47%
|
86%
|
2.9
|
4.6
|
0.8
|
2.0
|
10.8
|
14.1
|
|
397
|
31
|
41%
|
35%
|
45%
|
81%
|
3.2
|
4.1
|
0.9
|
2.6
|
14.8
|
14.1
|
|
955
|
30
|
41%
|
33%
|
45%
|
79%
|
3.0
|
5.3
|
1.2
|
2.1
|
11.3
|
13.9
|
|
361
|
28
|
41%
|
38%
|
45%
|
77%
|
4.2
|
3.4
|
1.2
|
1.3
|
9.1
|
12.5
|
|
691
|
23
|
43%
|
32%
|
45%
|
79%
|
2.7
|
4.1
|
0.7
|
1.7
|
10.3
|
15.9
|
|
Barea
|
802
|
20
|
42%
|
35%
|
46%
|
79%
|
2.1
|
3.9
|
0.4
|
1.5
|
9.0
|
14.5
|
784
|
24
|
41%
|
38%
|
44%
|
86%
|
1.8
|
3.9
|
0.6
|
1.5
|
9.7
|
14.2
|
|
831
|
22
|
46%
|
35%
|
50%
|
83%
|
2.1
|
3.4
|
0.7
|
1.4
|
8.4
|
14.0
|
|
401
|
24
|
42%
|
35%
|
46%
|
82%
|
2.5
|
4.8
|
0.6
|
1.9
|
9.0
|
13.7
|
|
504
|
21
|
45%
|
33%
|
48%
|
76%
|
2.6
|
2.8
|
0.7
|
1.0
|
7.0
|
12.7
|
|
454
|
18
|
42%
|
33%
|
47%
|
73%
|
2.0
|
3.1
|
0.7
|
1.2
|
6.6
|
12.4
|
No one knows where the Jeremy Lin story goes next; it seems
almost every possibility is on the table, from playoff stardom to a starting
role in 2019-20, to less happy outcomes in both 2019 and next season. But the next step -- a real opportunity to
shine in a potentially deep playoff drive in Toronto -- certainly has a great
feel to it. And it begins tonight, when
the Raptors take on the Spurs at home, 7 PM EST.
And we’ll be back one year from now for Part 6, to see how
it all worked out.
If you would like to
read the previous four installments in the series, here are the links:
http://www.borntorunthenumbers.com/2018/02/btrtn-part-4-jeremy-lin-saga-continues.html
