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Phoenix Suns: Should They Give Jeremy Lin Some Thought?

By Michael Dunlap

Nov 12, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Jeremy Lin (17) against the New Orleans Pelicans during a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Lakers 109-102. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 12, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Jeremy Lin (17) against the New Orleans Pelicans during a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Lakers 109-102. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jeremy Lin‘s career rollercoaster continues this offseason, as he’ll hit the market as a free agent and will likely play for his fifth team in just six NBA seasons. He’s been overlooked (Golden State), then exploded onto the NBA’s landscape (New York), then was undervalued (Houston) before being misused (Los Angeles). He could use a career resurrection.

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The Phoenix Suns have gone through quite the point guard rollercoaster themselves over the last 11 months. They went from a major surplus headlined by Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas (not to mention Tyler Ennis) to an injury-riddled group that had to rely on Bledsoe and 10-day’ers like Seth Curry and Jerel McNeal just to get through the end of the season.

Heading into the NBA Draft and free agency, the Suns have some choices to make. Brandon Knight is a restricted free agent that will command a hefty price. Even if the Suns decide to keep him, they’re still in need of another point guard. Why not consider the 6-foot-3 former phenom from California?

LIN’S ROLE

If there’s a flaw in this plan, it’s that Lin wants to be a starter. He’s not bumping Bledsoe out of the lineup. The Suns aren’t going to throw $12 million a year (or more) at Knight to come off the bench. Essentially, Lin would have to assume the Thomas role from last year, as scoring punch off the bench. While Lin still has plenty of ability, the Suns can’t rely on him to thrive as a scorer.

Lin has scored more than 20 points just three times in 2015, but there’s a bonus — all three of those games were off the bench. For the 2014-15 season, Lin fared better coming off the bench (normalized to per-36 minutes), with a better FG and 3PT percentage, more rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and fouls drawn. He was a minus-9.7 with the starters and a minus-.6 with the bench (also per-36 minutes).

If coming off the bench is what the team needs, I’ve shown I’ll make sacrifices. — Lin to SI.com

There’s plenty of minutes for a player who can play both backcourt positions, as he could spell either Bledsoe or Knight. Coach Jeff Hornacek showed he’s willing to go with the hot hand late in games, so if Lin is feeling it, he could find himself out there during crunch time. It’s really not that bad of a spot.

LIN’S STRENGTHS

It would be foolish to say Lin is running out of time in the NBA, but he is running out of his prime years. He’d love nothing more than to find a home where the team can take advantage of his strengths. He’s not a prototypical facilitating guard and he’s not an electric scorer, either. He’s more of a player that needs some freedom and needs the ball in his hands — the Suns run that kind of less-structured offense.

One thing the team loves to do is shoot the three. Lin has improved every season from outside the arc, setting a career high of 36.9 percent in 2014-15. He’s far from a Kyle Korver-type spot-up shooter, but that percentage would have led the Suns end-of-year roster.

Coach Hornacek would also like to improve the pick-and-roll offense, which Lin can do. He’s in the 72nd percentile among pick-and-roll ball handlers last season, recording .83 points per possession. That’s better than Kyle Lowry, Russell Westbrook and John Wall.

On the defensive side, Lin held his own inside the arc with the Lakers but struggled badly at the 3-point line. We can excuse the fact that he allowed opponents to shoot 5.8 percent better than their season average as being on a bad defensive team, since in 2013-14 when he had Dwight Howard protecting him, he held opponents to 2.1 percent worse than their average.

HOW MUCH?

If the Suns and Lin can agree that they’ll be a good fit for each other, what kind of contract would be fair for both sides? Jeremy is coming off of a three-year deal worth $25 million, which he didn’t outperform (or underperform, for that matter).

At that amount — roughly $8 million per year — the Suns would be hamstrung. The only way they could offer a contract in that realm is if they passed on Knight, which means Lin would then start next to Bledsoe. If the Suns do keep Knight (we’ll use the $12 million figure), the Suns would be at $55 million in contracts without Lin. He’d essentially soak up their entire remaining cap space.

The market would play a role here as well, as options for point guards are quite limited. The Suns aren’t going to overspend on a guy like Reggie Jackson or Patrick Beverley, so it seems it might be the right time for Lin to call Phoenix his home.

Next: The 30 Best Point Guards of All-Time

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