New rule proposed after botched deal for Lin
Thanks to a proposed new rule, the Golden State Warriors can still get Jeremy Lin onto the Santa Cruz Warriors.
In possible pursuit of an NBA comeback, Lin, a Bay Area native, was rumored to have signed a contract with the Warriors’ G League affiliate on Dec. 19. But, because FIBA is closed on weekends, Golden State couldn’t obtain a clearance letter from the Beijing Ducks, Lin’s previous team in China. It’d require some flexibility on an otherwise hamstrung Warriors roster to get Lin.
The mishap inspired the NBA’s new proposed rule that would allow G League parent clubs to use one G League roster spot with an NBA veteran with at least five years of service time, according to the New York Times’ Marc Stein.
The catch: Lin would need to sign with the G League first and be allocated to Santa Cruz.
But if the Warriors and Lin are hoping for a possible reunion on the NBA state, the G League’s movement toward playing its season in a bubble could complicate that path. Similar to the NBA’s bubble to complete the suspended 201920 season, the G League is reportedly eyeing at least a partial season played at the Disney campus in Orlando with a tentative Feb. 8 tip off, according to The Athletic.
According to the Athletic’s John Hollinger, the nature of a bubble may force teams to keep mostly separate their G League and NBA rosters.
“The biggest issue from the
team side is that any assignment of a two-way or prospect must be thought through very carefully,” Hollinger says. “With quarantine rules expected to be similar to those in the Orlando bubble, calling a player up or sending him back down is a massive time sink. As a result, most teams are likely to keep their roster players out of this bubble and use it to evaluate other prospects instead. From the player side, however, this offers a tremendous showcase for those who couldn’t make a roster in training camp.”
Lin, 32, split the 201819 season between the Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors, where he averaged 9.6 points and 3.1 assists over 74 games mostly off the bench. Last year, joined the Chinese Basketball Association.