WASHINGTON - Carmelo Anthony said Sunday it's up to the New York Knicks to decide if they want to match the "ridiculous contract" that the Houston Rockets have offered Jeremy Lin.
It's uncertain if they will now after agreeing to a sign-and-trade deal with Portland to bring point guard Raymond Felton back to New York, after already signing Jason Kidd.
The Knicks have repeatedly said they would match any offer for Lin, but the Rockets made it difficult with a three-year, $25 million deal that's worth about $15 million in the third year. New York has until Tuesday to match the offer sheet for the restricted free agent.
Asked if he could envision Lin being with the Knicks next season, Anthony said: "At this point there's a lot going on. I stay away from that part right now. I would love to see him back, but I think he has to do what's best for him right now."
Anthony, speaking before practice with the U.S. Olympic team, was then reminded it's up to the Knicks, not Lin, to decide whether he stays or goes.
"It's not up to me," Anthony said. "It's up to the organization to say they want to match that ridiculous contract that's out there."
Lin had a sensational run after becoming the Knicks' starter in February, but his season ended after just 35 games, 25 starts, when he needed surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee.
Based on the potential he showed while averaging 17.9 points in his final 27 games, and the marketing appeal he had as the NBA's first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent, it was long expected the Knicks wouldn't let Lin leave.
Kidd arrested on DWI charge after SUV crash
NEW YORK - Point guard Jason Kidd was arrested on a drunken-driving charge after police said he crashed his SUV into a telephone pole in the Hamptons on Sunday, days after signing with the Knicks.
Treated at a hospital for minor injuries after the crash, Kidd was arraigned on a misdemeanor driving-while-intoxicated charge and released without bail, Southampton Town police said.
Kidd, 39, was alone in the 2010 Cadillac Escalade when it hit a pole and veered into the woods around 2 a.m. in Water Mill, police said.
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