LAS VEGAS – Jeremy Lin beat the odds last season and he’s already beaten out Jason Kidd for next season’s starting point guard job three months before training camp even begins.
Knicks coach Mike Woodson confirmed on Wednesday that Lin, who has just 25 career starts under his belt, will start ahead of Kidd, the future Hall of Fame point guard. Woodson’s announcement also confirms what everyone has known for weeks; the Knicks will match the offer sheet Lin signed with the Houston Rockets.
Both decisions are not surprising. However, just because Lin is the starter doesn’t mean he’ll be the closer. Kidd, who turns 40 in March, can’t average 30-plus minutes a night, but his experience and leadership could make him too valuable not to play in the final minutes of close games.
“Jason’s a veteran guy that brings leadership, and I thought it would be a perfect fit for Jeremy Lin in terms of being able to tutor him as he grows as a point guard for our franchise,” Woodson said before the Knicks’ summer-league practice in Vegas. “Jason can still play and run a ballclub.”
Lin signed a four-year, $28.8 million offer sheet with the Rockets last week. The Knicks have two more days to formally match it. Kidd’s deal could be announced as early as Thursday, and the same is true of Pablo Prigioni, a 35-year-old point guard from Argentina who plays professionally in Spain. Prigioni, who is on Argentina’s Olympic roster, will be available for training camp in October.
Prigioni will begin the season as the third point guard and provides added insurance in case Lin is injured or fails to replicate what he did last season, going from being cut twice to cultural phenomenon. Either way, the job is Lin’s to lose.
“I’ve said this from day one, you can’t lose your starting job based on injuries,” Woodson said, referring to Lin being sidelined since late March with a knee injury. “Jeremy was our starter before he got hurt. Unfortunately he went down with the injury and he’s not going to be punished for that. He has a lot to do this summer. But when he comes back to veterans, he’ll have the first nod. He’ll be our starter, and Jason will back him up in terms of helping him develop and developing this young man into a great point guard.”
On Wednesday, the Knicks announced the signings of free agents Marcus Camby, J.R. Smith and James White. Steve Novak’s extension could be announced on Thursday.
The Knicks have two more days to make decisions on the futures of Lin and Landry Fields, the latter of whom signed a three-year, $19 million offer with the Toronto Raptors. It is a significant contract for a role player, but the Knicks, a team never in fear of paying the luxury tax, may just match.
The team needs to add a shooting guard, and Woodson is more inclined to keep Smith as a backup.
Fields would also add some youth to a roster that would feature Kidd, Camby and Prigioni, whose combined age is 112.
“You can say that about Miami. You can say that about Boston,” Woodson said of having an old roster. “But I haven’t seen a young team win an NBA title in the last 10 to 15 years. If you can tell me one, so be it. I haven’t seen one. It’s veteran guys that are winning titles.”
