Jeremy Lin leaves New York Knicks to join Houston Rockets

Jeremy Lin is leaving the New York Knicks and taking Linsanity to the Houston Rockets.

The Knicks announced on Tuesday that they will not match the Houston Rockets' three-year, $25 million offer for Lin, a restricted free-agent.

New York had to make a decision by midnight, three days after Houston's official offer, and elected not to retain a player who became an international phenomenon in his brief stay with the Knicks.

The Rockets made it tough for the Knicks to keep the Harvard graduate by backloading their offer with a $15 million salary in the third season. If the Knicks agreed to that deal, they would have faced a $30-40 million luxury tax in 2014-15 because of other big contracts in the squad.

Lin now returns to Houston, where he spent about two weeks in December during training camp. The Rockets waived him because they had Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic on the roster.

The Knicks gave Lin his shot at the NBA big time, picking him up after the Rockets waived him. He finally got his chance when coach Mike D'Antoni put him in with the Knicks floundering at 8-15. Lin scored a career-high 25 points in a 99-92 win over New Jersey Nets and "Linsanity" was born.

But Lin scored 28 and 23 points in his first two NBA starts, and then scored a career-high 38 in a 92-85 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. A nationally televised comeback victory over the reigning champion Dallas Mavericks and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer over the Toronto Raptors followed. The stock price for Madison Square Garden Inc. surged on the production and popularity of the team's international star. Lin has more than 800,000 followers on Twitter.

But the Knicks dropped their first six games in March, D'Antoni resigned and Lin hurt his left knee less than two weeks later. The Knicks revealed on April 1 that Lin needed surgery to repair a meniscus tear and would miss six weeks.

The Knicks made the playoffs but were humbled by the Miami Heat in the first round. The Rockets, meanwhile, missed the postseason for the third straight year and have spent the offseason completely rebuilding their roster.

Houston has been trying to put together a package of assets and draft picks to offer Orlando in exchange for disgruntled All-Star center Dwight Howard. In the process, the Rockets lost the unrestricted free agent Dragic to the Phoenix Suns, then traded Lowry to Toronto. With no true point guard left on the roster, the Rockets turned back to Lin. Houston jumped at the chance to reacquire their popularity in Asia, where Yao Ming became a larger-than-life figure. Many Rockets landed lucrative shoe contracts with Chinese companies on Yao's coattails and Rockets' games drew massive television ratings there.

Lin may also find greater opportunities and responsibility in Houston. Linsanity came in New York when the team's biggest stars, Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire, were absent. But when they returned, his role was restricted and the team stumbled. Lin's pivotal presence could blossom in Texas.

Lin left with this message on Twitter: "‏Much love and thankfulness to the Knicks and New York for your support this past year...easily the best year of my life #ForeverGrateful".