Jeremy Lin Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Warriors Still Eyeing Lin For Santa Cruz Affiliate

December 20th, 2020 at 2:54pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Warriors continue to eye point guard Jeremy Lin for their G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.

Lin did not receive a FIBA Letter of Clearance from China, where he played for the Beijing Ducks last season, in time for Golden State to sign and release him in time before yesterday’s waiver deadline. The team had hoped to sign the nine-year NBA veteran to a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal and waive him to lock up Lin’s G League rights.

Golden State could still sign Lin to an Exhibit 10 contract and waive him before Monday’s regular season roster deadline if that Letter of Clearance arrives, but doing so on Monday would mean paying the veteran guard for two days of NBA service and increasing the club’s already-substantial projected tax bill.

According to Stein (Twitter link), the Warriors intend to “explore all avenues” for getting Lin’s G League rights if he remains open to pursuing an NBA return via the NBAGL. The Santa Cruz Warriors could theoretically claim Lin off waivers directly if he signs a G League contract, but there’s no guarantee a team higher in the waiver order wouldn’t poach him in that scenario.

Lin started his NBA career with the Warriors after going undrafted out of Harvard. The 6’3″ guard played in 29 games for Golden State during the 2010/11 season, averaging 9.8 MPG. Lin also impressed in the G League (then the D-League) that year, averaging 18.0 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 4.4 APG, and 2.1 SPG in 20 games for the Warriors’ then-affiliate club, the Reno Bighorns. The next season, he caught on in a big way with the Knicks, going on an exciting run in Madison Square Garden that was dubbed “Linsanity.”

During the 2019/20 Chinese Basketball Association season, Lin averaged 22.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 5.6 APG for the Ducks. He was a starter in the CBA All-Star game and a finalist for 2019/20 CBA Defensive Player of the Year honors.

Warriors Sign, Waive Elijah Pemberton

December 19th, 2020 at 10:14pm CST by Luke Adams

The Warriors signed and waived undrafted rookie wing Elijah Pemberton prior to Saturday night’s waiver deadline, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter links).

A team that signs a player to a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 contract and then waives him secures that player’s G League rights, assuming those rights aren’t already held by another NBAGL team. Golden State had hoped to sign-and-waive Jeremy Lin for that purpose, but he didn’t receive a Letter of Clearance from China by tonight’s waiver deadline after playing last season in the Chinese Basketball Association.

Based on the reports from Charania and Stein, it sounds like the Warriors will no longer complete that deal with Lin, since doing so after today would require the team to pay him a prorated portion of his minimum salary while he’s on waivers, increasing Golden State’s projected tax bill.

The club instead turned to Pemberton, who spent his four-year college career at Hofstra and averaged 17.6 PPG on .450/.380/.854 shooting in 34 games (36.3 MPG) as a senior in 2019/20. He’ll report to the Santa Cruz Warriors after the G League finalizes its plan for a revamped ’20/21 season.

No Letter Of Clearance, No Warriors Deal For Jeremy Lin

December 19th, 2020 at 9:55pm CST by Arthur Hill

9:55pm: Lin’s Letter of Clearance didn’t arrive in time for the Warriors to sign and release him by today’s waiver deadline, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Having failed to do so by today, it sounds like Golden State won’t sign and waive Lin after all, having turned to undrafted rookie Elijah Pemberton instead.

8:23pm: The Warriors would like to have Jeremy Lin under contract by 11pm Eastern today, but it may be hard to obtain the paperwork in time, tweets Marc Stein of The New York Times.

Lin and the team have reached an agreement, but are waiting for a FIBA Letter of Clearance from China. That type of document can be difficult to obtain on a weekend because international offices are closed, Stein adds.

Golden State was hoping to sign Lin and waive him before tonight’s waiver deadline so they can ensure they’ll have his G League rights (Twitter link). However, the transaction cannot be completed without the letter from FIBA.

The cost of waiting an extra day or two could be significant because the team is so far into the luxury tax, Stein notes. If the Warriors execute the move on Sunday rather than today, it would cost an extra $74,925 in tax penalties. Waiting until Monday would mean an extra $127,650 (Twitter link).

Lin, 32, has been working out in California recently with the G League Ignite, an NBAGL select team of top prospects and NBA veterans.

Warriors, Jeremy Lin Finalizing Exhibit 10 Deal

December 18th, 2020 at 11:05am CST by Luke Adams

UPDATE: The Warriors and Lin were unable to complete their deal since Lin didn’t receive his Letter of Clearance in time.

Free agent point guard Jeremy Lin is finalizing a deal with the Warriors, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who notes (via Twitter) that Lin will require a FIBA Letter of Clearance from the Chinese Basketball Association in order to officially sign with Golden State.

It sounds like it’ll be a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal for Lin, with Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated tweeting that the plan is for the 32-year-old to play for the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s G League affiliate. That means he’ll be waived shortly after signing his contract.

Lin, who made his NBA debut in 2010 with the Warriors, spent time with eight teams in total over the course of nine NBA seasons, enjoying a breakout year with the Knicks in 2011/12 and winning a championship with the Raptors in 2019. He elected to play in China last season and averaged 22.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 5.6 APG for the Ducks, earning a CBA All-Star nod.

Lin was a reliable contributor in 51 games with the Hawks in 2018/19, averaging 10.7 PPG and 3.5 APG on .466/.333/.845 shooting. However, after being bought out by Atlanta and signing with the Raptors, he recorded just 7.0 PPG and 2.2 APG on .374/.200/.810 shooting and fell out of Toronto’s rotation for the playoffs.

Lin had recently been practicing in Walnut Creek, California with the G League Ignite, the NBAGL select team made up of top prospects and a handful of veterans.

The Warriors will have to cut a player from their 20-man training camp roster to officially sign Lin.

And-Ones: Lin, G League, Jenkins, Rookie Extensions

December 15th, 2020 at 12:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Jeremy Lin will indeed be a late addition to the G League Ignite’s roster for the squad’s scrimmages on Tuesday and Thursday this week, says Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link). As Givony explains, Lin lives near Walnut Creek and has been practicing recently with the NBAGL’s Select Team. The veteran point guard will be able to stick with the Ignite in a practice player capacity for as long as he chooses, Givony adds.

The Ignite’s two scrimmages this week against a squad of G League veterans won’t be streamed publicly, but NBA teams will receive access to the film, according to Givony, who lists the rosters for each club (Twitter link). The Ignite are headlined by prospects like Jalen Green, Daishen Nix, and Jonathan Kuminga, while the team of G League vets includes Isaiah Briscoe, London Perrantes, and Bryce Alford, among others.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Brian Shaw, the head coach of the G League Ignite, spoke to Mark Whicker of The Orange County Register about the team, suggesting that Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga “can step into the NBA right now.”
Former NBA first-round pick John Jenkins has officially joined Bilbao Basket in Spain for the next two months, as Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays. Jenkins, 29, has appeared in 171 total regular season games for five NBA teams, having suited up most recently in 2018/19 for the Wizards and Knicks.
Danny Leroux of The Athletic takes a closer look at the players who remain eligible to sign rookie scale extensions before next Monday’s deadline, identifying John Collins, OG Anunoby, Lonzo Ball, Derrick White, and Jonathan Isaac as some of the most interesting cases to watch.

And-Ones: Doncic, Lin, G League, Duffy

December 14th, 2020 at 12:42pm CST by Luke Adams

A panel of eight NBA scouts and executives polled by Tim Bontemps of ESPN nearly unanimously view LeBron James as the league’s best player, but voted Luka Doncic as the frontrunner for the MVP award in 2021.

“It’s hard to see Giannis winning three in a row,” a Western Conference scout told ESPN. “And I think there’s more of an opportunity for Luka to kind of put on an MVP show and do more on an individual basis.”

Bontemps also had those scouts and execs weigh in with their thoughts on the 2020 offseason, polling them on which teams had the most success upgrading their roster in either the short or long term — or both. Half the panelists picked the Lakers as the team that had the best offseason, with the Hawks, Thunder, and Sixers also receiving votes. Meanwhile, the Pistons, Rockets, and Bucks got votes for the worst offseason.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Free agent guard Jeremy Lin practiced this weekend with the G League Ignite ahead of their scrimmages on Tuesday and Thursday, league sources tell Adam Zagoria of Forbes (Twitter link). Lin wasn’t among the veteran players previously announced as part of the Ignite, but Zagoria suggests in his full story that the veteran is expected to suit up with the squad on Tuesday.
Dakota Schmidt of Ridiculous Upside is keeping tabs on which teams are expected to opt in and out of the G League’s proposed Atlanta-area bubble. With the NBA’s opening night just over a week away, it seems like a formal update on the plans for the NBAGL should be right around the corner.
After making a clerical error that cost client Anthony Carter approximately $3MM in 2003, agent Bill Duffy vowed to repay Carter in full and has made good on that promise, making the last of his payments to Carter this year, as Sopan Deb writes in an interesting story for The New York Times.

Free Agent Rumors: Bogdanovic, Hawks, Batum, Lin, Hernangomez

November 21st, 2020 at 5:19pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Sources remain confident that the Hawks are in a strong position to sign Bogdan Bogdanovic, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Kirschner says he has heard that a deal for Bogdanovic could be in the four-year, $72MM range, which is the same ballpark identified by Brian Windhorst of ESPN earlier this week.

The Hawks are believed to still have about $20MM in cap room available, so they have the flexibility necessary to make a move for Bogdanovic. However, he remains a restricted free agent, so if they sign him to an offer sheet that would tie up their cap space for multiple days, they’ll want to be pretty confident that the Kings won’t match it.

Here are a few more free agency updates:

Veteran combo forward Nicolas Batum has already received interest from multiple teams, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. The Hornets chose to waive-and-stretch the final year of Batum’s contract in order to sign free agent forward Gordon Hayward.
Point guard Jeremy Lin wants to return to the NBA and several contenders are interested, Alex Kennedy of Basketball News tweets. Lin spent last season in China, averaging 22.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG and 5.6 APG. Lin was recently spotted working out with Nets players, according to Kennedy, though it’s not certain whether Brooklyn is one of the teams showing interest. He played for the Hawks and Raptors during the 2018/19 season.
While Malik Beasley got a deal with the Timberwolves done quickly, the team appears willing to be more patient with its other restricted free agent. According to Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic (Twitter link), Minnesota is letting the market play out for Juan Hernangomez to establish the parameters of his potential deal.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Pacific Notes: Clippers, Lin, Warriors, Staples

November 11th, 2020 at 9:10pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Clippers‘ front office, piloted by president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, will face some important choices once the offseason kicks off in earnest next week, writes Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register. Forwards Montrezl Harrell, Marcus Morris, and JaMychal Green, as well as reserve point guard Reggie Jackson, are all unrestricted free agents.

The Clippers may look to make an upgrade from Jackson. Lakers reserve point guard Rajon Rondo, who is expected to opt-out of his $2.7MM player option this summer, has been discussed as a candidate. The team might also make a bigger move, as Rockets All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook, a Long Beach native and former teammate of Clippers star forward Paul George, has recently sought a trade out of Houston.

There’s more out of the NBA’s Pacific Division:

Jeremy Lin was spotted working out on an indoor court on the University of San Francisco campus with Warriors players Stephen Curry, Eric Paschall, Kevon Looney, Marquese Chriss and Alen Smailagic, fueling speculation that the free agent point guard might get a look in Golden State, according to Marcus White of NBC Sports Bay Area. Lin most recently suited up for the Beijing Ducks of the CBA during the 2019/20 season. Originally from Palo Alto in Northern California, Lin averaged 22.3 PPG, 5.7 APG and 5.6 RPG for the Ducks.
In a recent conversation with reporters, Warriors GM Bob Myers commented that league interest in the club’s No. 2 pick this year was “fluctuating,” per Mark Medina of USA Today (Twitter link). The team still has a $17.2MM traded player exception left over from its Andre Iguodala deal in the summer of 2019. “I haven’t been told I can’t use it,” Myers said of the TPE, Anthony Slater of The Athletic tweets. “I haven’t been told I have to use it.”
Both the Lakers and the Clippers will kick off the 2020/21 NBA season without any fans at their home arena, the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, due to current COVID-19 restrictions on indoor gatherings in LA County, according to Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register.

Jeremy Lin Seeking NBA Return Following CBA Stint

September 15th, 2020 at 12:21pm CST by Luke Adams

After spending the 2019/20 season in the Chinese Basketball Association, veteran point guard Jeremy Lin is leaving the Beijing Ducks and will look to return to the NBA for the ’20/21 campaign (link via ChannelNewsAsia.com).

“This decision has really been the hardest in my life,” Lin said in Mandarin in a Weibo video. “… Every morning I would wake up at 4:00 or 5:00 am, thinking, thinking and thinking all the time. In the end, although (the Ducks) have treated me incredibly well … giving me everything I wanted, in the end, I feel that I still have NBA dreams. I still have time to play (there) and I have to chase this.”

Lin, who made his NBA debut in 2010 with the Warriors, spent time with eight teams in total over the course of nine NBA seasons, enjoying a breakout year with the Knicks in 2011/12 and winning a championship with the Raptors in 2019. He elected to play in China last season and averaged 22.3 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 5.6 APG for the Ducks, earning a CBA All-Star nod.

It remains to be seen how much interest the 32-year-old will draw from NBA teams. He was a reliable contributor in 51 games for Atlanta in ’18/19, with 10.7 PPG and 3.5 APG on .466/.333/.845 shooting. However, after being bought out by the Hawks and signing with the Raptors, he recorded just 7.0 PPG and 2.2 APG on .374/.200/.810 shooting and fell out of Toronto’s rotation for the playoffs.

Lin, who is Taiwanese-American, said he cried when he told his family that he would be leaving China in an effort to make an NBA comeback.

Coronavirus Notes: Health Risks, Lin, LeBron, Facilities

May 2nd, 2020 at 5:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

Several NBA general managers are expressing concern over the safety of their coaching staffs and other personnel if the league resumes its season, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined that the coronavirus presents higher risk factors to older adults and people with underlying health conditions, which will factor into decisions on who will be allowed into a “bubble” environment.

“Based on all the information that we have today, probably people over 60 with preexisting conditions can’t go, for sure, no matter what their titles are,” one general manager told Holmes. “Whether it’s a father of the star player or whether it’s the general manager of the team, they can’t go there.”

The NBA is considering a bubble concept, with all its games taking place in a central location such as Las Vegas or Orlando. We learned this week that players and coaches will be permitted to bring their families with them for however long it takes to finish the season. The executives Holmes talked to agreed that once the concept gets closer to reality, teams will be forced to make difficult decisions on who qualifies as essential.

“The one area you don’t want to skimp on is the medical,” a GM said. “The coaching part of it, you could probably get by with a head coach, that’s it.”

There’s more coronavirus news to pass along:

Former NBA player Jeremy Lin tells Steve Serby of The New York Post that life in China means constant testing for the virus as he waits for the CBA season to resume. “I got tested before quarantine and after quarantine,” Lin said, “and honestly, anywhere you go any time, every restaurant, every mall, everything everywhere, every time I enter my apartment, I get my temperature checked, too. They’re constantly monitoring.”
LeBron James has the most to lose if the season can’t be completed, writes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. James has the Lakers on top of the Western Conference with a 49-14 record, and at age 35 he may not have a better chance to win another ring. Woike lists the Bucks, Clippers, Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni and the fans as other potential losers.
In case you missed it, some practice facilities can reopen Friday, but at least half of the league’s teams are in states where stay-at-home orders are still in effect.