Los Angeles Lakers point guard Jeremy Lin will hit the free-agency market at the end of this season.
Barring another Linsanity liked performance over the coming weeks, Lin's free-agent value has been pretty much set, and it's nothing near to a career-high three-year, $25 million deal he signed with the Houston Rockets in 2012.
According to Bleacher Report's David Murphy, Lin would likely net a contract that pays him more than the average salary in the NBA, but a little below its inflated-rate. A contract worth $4.5MM to $5.5 MM per year would be a safe bet when it comes to Lin's next deal.
"Theoretically, Lin's value is more than the current NBA average salary of $3,983,567 and significantly less than his now-inflated rate. The crystal ball says Jeremy Lin will earn between $4.5 and $5.5 million per year for his next contract," Murphy stated.
Murphy's 'crystal ball estimation' on Lin's next contract is based on several metrics. Lin's statistics, which is not really good at 11 points and 5 assists per game according to ESPN, will be a factor but the Bleacher Report analyst also took into consideration this summer's market at the point guard spot and the player's upside as well.
With elite point guards like Rajon Rondo and Goran Dragic also becoming free-agents, this summer's free-agency will be beneficial to second-tier free-agents, whose value could be inflated because the fact there are going to be teams willing to gamble big money ,especially if they missed on the big names. Lin may be one of those fortunate players; but at 26-years old, investing on the former Harvard standout isn't a big gamble at all in the eyes of Murphy.
The Houston Rockets, who traded Lin to Lakers in a salary-dump move last summer, have emerged as the leading suitors for Lin at this point. However, there are teams sure to take a closer look at him, even more so if they feel he has something good to offer to them.