Jeremy Lin’s NBA dream alive as he signs for G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors
- Introduction of a new rule allows the switch following Golden State Warriors’ failure to re-sign Lin after paperwork hold-up with Fiba and China
- Lance Stephenson and Michael Beasley expected to follow Lin to G League from Chinese Basketball Association
Jeremy Lin’s on-off return to the NBA was handed a huge boost on Friday when he signed for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the NBA-affiliated G League.
Lin confirmed the news to his Chinese fans in a post on Weibo and then posted an image of him in a Santa Cruz jersey on his Facebook.
Lin’s move appeared to be back on earlier in the day after free agent Nik Stauskas signed for the Toronto Raptors’ G-League affiliate thanks to a new rule.
“NBA vet Nik Stauskas is signing with the @nbagleague and will be allocated to his hometown @Raptors905, sources say, via what some league observers are calling ‘the Jeremy Lin rule’,” wrote The New York Times NBA reporter Marc Stein on Twitter.
Stauskas, a 27-year-old Canadian, spent last season playing in Spain.
This so-called “Jeremy Lin rule” was mooted at the end of last year after the 33-year-old’s return to the Golden State Warriors fell apart in mid-December.
The team and Lin had reportedly agreed a move but failed to get clearance from the Chinese Basketball Association via the game’s global governing body Fiba, whose offices were closed on the weekend.
It led to a proposed rule where the NBA parent clubs of G League teams could allocate one of the G League roster spots to a player with five or more years of NBA action.
NBA dream over as Lin to return to Beijing Ducks next month: report
With Stauskas at the Raptors, it was reported that Lin would be able to sign for the Warriors’ G League affiliate the Santa Cruz Warriors.
NBA reporter Shams Charania reports that the contract was to be signed with the league itself, just as Stauskas has before being allocated to his hometown Raptors 905 in the G-League.
Lin is one of the first players to sign for a G League team under the “Jeremy Lin rule” as it was referred to by Stein.
The NBA’s developmental G League, which was still known as the D-League when Lin previously played in it, is expected to begin its new season in a bubble, although plans are still being confirmed.
The Warriors will be able to call up Lin from their G League team but only if they release another player to make space on the roster.
Reports from China earlier this week suggested that Lin’s NBA dream was over and he would return to the Beijing Ducks as early as next month, when the CBA breaks for Lunar New Year.
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Charania reported that Lin will not be the only player to follow Stauskas to the G League, with other veterans exploiting the new rule to return from China.
“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,” he wrote on Twitter.
Stephenson played in the CBA with the Liaoning Flying Leopards last season while Beasley last played for the Guangdong Southern Tigers. He previously played for the Shandong Golden Stars and Shanghai Sharks.
