Before the season started, Jeremy Lin reached a deal with the Golden State Warriors that would have had him playing for its G-League team, a first step in working his way back to an NBA roster. But that fell apart because paperwork from his former Chinese team the Beijing Ducks (where he played last season) through FIBA (basketball’s international governing body) did not get to the NBA in time.
Lin has now signed outright to play for the Warriors’ G-League team — the Santa Cruz Warriors — in that league’s restart bubble starting next month, a story broken by Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Guard Jeremy Lin will sign a deal in the NBA G League and play with the Golden State Warriors’ affiliate, Santa Cruz, as he pursues his NBA return, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 7, 2021
Lin is worth a look by Golden State. During the 2018-19 season, Lin was a solid rotation player for Atlanta coming off the bench and averaging 10.7 points per game while shooting 34.7 percent from three. That didn’t stop the Hawks from waiving him after the trade deadline. While Toronto picked him up for the rest of the season — and helped him became the first Asian-American player to win an NBA title — he could not latch on with another NBA contract after that (so he opted to play in China).
Lin was not the only former NBA player to agree to play in the G-League bubble under a new rule allowing more of a veteran presence on the teams this season.
Veteran NBA players Lance Stephenson and Michael Beasley have signed contracts to play in the NBA G League, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Stephenson and Beasley will be in the Draft on Monday.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 7, 2021
