[Note by Scott Schroeder, 07/22/10 2:43 AM CDT ] Edited for clarity. Sorry to offend anyone.
Jeremy Lin, now forever to be known as a Summer League standout (and hopefully not in the Marco Belinelli mold), will be taking his talents to the Golden State Warriors according to a report from ESPN's Marc Stein.
Lin averaged 9.3 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists in just over 18 minutes per game while shooting 52% from the field while playing point guard for the Dallas Mavericks in last week's Vegas Summer League.
While those numbers probably aren't going to jump out at you, they apparently jumped out at the new Golden State ownership as Stein reports that the Warriors will guarantee more than half of Lin's first-year salary - quite a coup for the undrafted 6-foot-3 guard out of Harvard.
Lin is a lifelong Warriors fan and his signing, sources said, was fully endorsed by Golden State's incoming new ownership tandem of Boston Celtics minority partner Joe Lacob and Mandalay Entertainment CEO Peter Guber, whose purchase of the Warriors from longtime owner Chris Cohan won't be finalized for 60 to 90 days.
Jon L also ended up being pretty high on Lin:
Lin was fantastic in this game; by the end, the crowd who had come to watch John Wall was cheering for him just as much, if not more. He didn't shoot the best to start out, but he finished with 13 points on 12 shots, so okay overall, along with four rebounds. He also played fantastic defense. He did get called for six fouls, but he played tight, smothering D on both John Wall and Cartier Martin. He also showed off his quick first step and creative finishes at the rim on multiple occasions. Lin has really made a good case for himself this week.
I went back and watched everyone of Lin's offensive possessions - right around 85 by my count - and he's a pretty solid player (might be better on defense with his size and instincts, honestly), but not one that I wouldn't make earn his job in training camp by all but guaranteeing he'll be on an NBA roster at least until all contracts become fully-guaranteed on January 5, 2011.
Regardless, if the public relations boom goes as expected (and it seems like the Golden State fans are in high spirits already), this might pay off in a Sun-Yue-with-the-Lakers sort of way. Lin could end up being a good player who was in the right place at the right time with the right opportunity.
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