Toronto Raptors: Reassessing the Jeremy Lin signing one year on

It’s been over a year since the Toronto Raptors picked up Jeremy Lin after he agreed to a buyout. How does the signing hold up one year on?

Once the face of an overnight basketball revolution in New York, Jeremy Lin found himself agreeing to a buyout with the Atlanta Hawks just one year ago as he readied himself to sign with the Toronto Raptors, who were fully in the midst of title contention.

In Atlanta, Lin was forming a small resurgence of his career after struggling with injuries while with the Brooklyn Nets, averaging 10.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game, shooting 47-percent from the field and 33-percent from deep. Lin’s role was as the veteran playmaker coming off the bench for a young team. Initially, it was a good fit, but when his play improved he was almost certainly going to be bought out by the Hawks.

Lin had many suitors, and given the Raptors history in the buyout market, it wouldn’t have been a shock to see him sign elsewhere. Instead, Jeremy Lin elected to sign with the Toronto Raptors, the site where “Linsanity” really took off. If you are into poetry, you could call it poetic – like Lin’s career had almost come full circle.

On February 13, 2019, Lin signed with the Toronto Raptors until the end of the season – an early Valentine’s treat for sure. Or, so it intended to be. Lin’s role with the Raptors would be to facilitate with the bench and take away some of the pressure off Fred VanVleet – as a ball-dominant guard, Lin wasn’t exactly able to feature as a catch-and-shoot guy, something that VanVleet could excel at.

But, pretty soon, it was evident that Lin wouldn’t feature as much as his past roles. His usage in Toronto dropped to 19-percent, the lowest of his career since his rookie season with the Golden State Warriors.

There were some pretty great moments for Lin in Toronto, though. Against the New York Knicks on March 18, Lin had 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting as the Raptors ran out comfortable winners – defeating the Knicks by 36 points. His minutes were largely subdued, though, and by virtue so was his impact.

Lin averaged just 8.2 minutes per game with the Raptors, and once it was evident that his fit with the Raptors was a bit, well, clunky, his minutes dropped even further. In the playoffs, Lin featured just seven times in 24 games, never playing more than five minutes. Nurse opted to give Jodie Meeks a few more opportunities to prove himself – and when the Raptors needed shooting, Lin wasn’t the guy.

Unfortunately, Lin’s impact, or lack thereof, with the Raptors may have just been the final nail in the coffin in his NBA career. At 31 years old, that shouldn’t be the case and it shouldn’t be held against him.

Had Lin been with a team where his style of play meshed into the gameplan, then it might have worked out a lot better. He’s currently in China playing with the Beijing Ducks, and could even be a potential buyout candidate for other teams this time around, but it likely won’t be the Raptors.

Still, Lin joined an elite list of players, becoming an NBA Champion with the Toronto Raptors. Even though his time in Toronto wasn’t necessarily a success on the court, his star power, and reputation as one of the nicest figures in basketball meant that him reaching the mountain top was still the fairy tale ending that he deserved on paper.

Maybe, just maybe, we’ll see Jeremy Lin back in the NBA soon. I sure hope so.