Jeremy Lin’s stay with the Charlotte Hornets may only end up lasting one season.
Though the team would like to keep the free-agent point guard around beyond this summer, ESPN.com’s Chris Broussard is hearing that they basically expect to lose him:
The Charlotte Hornets would like to re-sign free agent Jeremy Lin but are fearful of losing the point guard, according to league sources.
The Hornets’ top priority is bringing back Nicolas Batum, their free-agent swingman who had a breakout season, and they also want to re-sign Marvin Williams, who is a strong presence in the locker room, sources said.
Because Charlotte doesn’t own Lin’s Larry Bird Rights, those deals are likely to eat up the cap space the team would need to retain Lin.
This dilemma was inevitable for the Hornets. They don’t even own Early Bird rights on Lin, so any contract they sign him too will eat into their cap space. And that flexibility will be hard to come by for them. They have a host of other free agents in Nicolas Batum, Courtney Lee, Al Jefferson and Marvin Williams.
Keeping Lin would essentially take renouncing everyone not named Nicolas Batum. The Hornets’ books are further complicated by their draft-day acquisition of Marco Belinelli as well, who will eventually eat into their cap space.
Now, Jefferson and Lee are both expendable. The Hornets have Frank Kaminsky and Cody Zeller to eat up time at center in Jefferson’s absence, and everything Lee does gets replaced by Belinelli (shooting) and a healthy Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (all the defense).
Cutting bait with Williams is a tougher sell. He was phenomenal during the regular season, serving as a floor spacer and rim protector. Charlotte only owns his Early Bird rights, so any deal he signs will take up cap space as well.
That leaves Lin as the odd man out—especially when you consider that he could, in this salary cap climate, end up making as much as Kemba Walker.
