Less than 12 hours after the NBA’s free agency bell rang this past summer, Jeremy Lin announced he would be signing with the Brooklyn Nets. It was a move lauded for both sides. The Nets needed a point guard, and syncing up with Brooklyn reunited Lin with Kenny Atkinson, who was an assistant with the New York Knicks during the height of “Linsanity.”
Still, the announcement came so soon, so early into free agency, it’s easy to look back and wonder how many, if any, other teams showed legitimate, competitive interest in courting Lin.
Now we know there was at least one, in the New Orleans Pelicans, according to ESPN.com’s Mike Mazzeo:
Lin was highly intrigued about the possibility of teaming up with Pelicans star Anthony Davis and playing for Alvin Gentry in New Orleans’ D’Antoni-inspired offense, sources said. But the Pelicans weren’t willing to pay what the Nets were, paving the way for Lin’s return to New York.
Brooklyn also made sure Lin knew he was their top priority, and they treated him that way, sources said. Lopez said Lin texted the center before making the move public.
Mazzeo also notes that the Houston Rockets showed preliminary interest in Jeremy Lin, though that was always a long shot. Houston employed Mike D’Antoni, sure, but Lin never meshed well with James Harden during his last stay with the Rockets.
Other squads, of course, likely showed interest. But it’s the Pelicans who loom as the most intriguing what-if scenario—especially now that Jrue Holiday is out indefinitely, as he tends to his wife, Lauren, who has a brain tumor that must be operated on, but only after the couple’s child is born.
Watching pick-and-rolls between Anthony Davis and Lin would have been fantastic. Drive-and-kicks to rookie Buddy Hield would have been fun, too.
Alas, Jeremy Lin chose Brooklyn and the promise of a higher-profile long-term role, while the Pelicans signed guards Langston Galloway and E’Twaun Moore. Lament not, though, because Brook Lopez-Lin pick-and-pops should be pretty fun, too—one of the only fun things about watching the Nets this season.
