NBA Free Agent Jeremy Lin Reportedly In ‘Advanced’ Talks With CBA’s Beijing Ducks
Veteran NBA point guard Jeremy Lin, who remains a free agent with slightly more than two months remaining before the start of the 2019-20 NBA season, is reportedly close to signing with a team in the Chinese Basketball Association.
On Monday, Sportando provided a quick update on Lin, citing Chinese journalist Song Xiang and writing that the journeyman NBA guard is in “advanced” talks with the CBA’s Beijing Ducks. It wasn’t long, however, before he clarified to reporters during an event in Beijing that “nothing is official until I say something,” as reported by Slam.
Lin, who turns 31-years-old later this week, last played for the Toronto Raptors, where he won his first NBA championship in nine seasons after joining the team midway through the 2018-19 campaign. He was, however, very seldom utilized during the Raptors’ playoff run, as he saw only 51 seconds of action in this year’s NBA Finals, where the Raptors defeated the Golden State Warriors in six games.
As noted in a separate report from Yahoo! Sports, Lin had recently turned down a number of offers to play in Europe and has remained hopeful about the possibility of signing with a new NBA team this summer. However, the publication pointed out that Lin has long expressed a desire to play in Asia at some point in his career.
“About five years ago, I began to consider whether I should play basketball in Asia, because every year when I visit the region, I see so many fans, and they make me want to play a few seasons in the region,” Lin said in an interview last month.
"Nothing is official until I say something."
Jeremy Lin responds to reports that he's received an offer from the Beijing Ducks.
@NBACrouse has rounded up the details: https://t.co/YTu2lJbV3D pic.twitter.com/0mYBDWgfAM
— SLAM Newswire (@SLAMnewswire) August 20, 2019
Should Jeremy Lin sign a deal with the Beijing Ducks, it would allow him to join the same team that former All-Star point guard Stephon Marbury played seven seasons for during a successful post-NBA run in China that started in 2010. Marbury, who was one of the first of several former NBA players to enjoy success in the CBA, will be coaching the league’s Beijing Royal Fighters in its coming season, per a separate report from Yahoo! Sports.
Aside from the CBA and a possible NBA role as a second-string or third-string guard, Lin’s options reportedly include the Fubon Braves in Taiwan’s Super Basketball League, where he could team up with his brother, Joseph. Yahoo! Sports explained that the SBL is generally considered weaker than the CBA, though the Braves could be an “intriguing” option as they are the former league’s defending champions, having won an SBL title one month before Lin’s NBA championship win with the Raptors.
In a nine-year NBA career that has seen him play for eight teams, Lin has averaged 11.6 points and 4.3 assists and shot 43.3 percent from the field and 34.2 percent from three-point range, per his Basketball-Reference player page.
