Knicks to keep Lin, Spurs re-sign Diaw

NEW YORK (AFP) –

Jeremy Lin accepts the Best Breakthrough Athlete award onstage during the 2012 ESPY Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on July 11 in Los Angeles, California. Lin will be returning to the New York Knicks, according to coach Mike Woodson, the San Antonio Spurs will be hanging onto Boris Diaw and Joe Johnson is leaving Atlanta for the Brooklyn Nets.

Jeremy Lin will be returning to the New York Knicks, according to coach Mike Woodson, the San Antonio Spurs will be hanging onto Boris Diaw and Joe Johnson is leaving Atlanta for the Brooklyn Nets.

NBA player moves continued on Thursday, a day after a moratorium on such signings was ended, with Woodson making it clear that the Knicks would keep Lin despite the four-year offer worth $28.8 million from the Houston Rockets.

“Absolutely,” Woodson said, hinting that the Asian-American star, the first US NBA player of Taiwan or Chinese heritage, was likely to return to the starting spot he held until being injured late last season.

Lin, cut by two other teams and at the end of the Knicks’ bench, sparked “Lin-sanity” from Knicks fans last February when he was called upon after injuries to two starters and led New York to seven triumphs in a row with clutch shooting and spectacular precision passes.

The Rockets, the former club of Chinese star center Yao Ming, were one of the teams that hard earlier dropped Lin.

The Spurs announced on Thursday they were bringing back Frenchman Diaw, who was cut by Charlotte last March and signed quickly by San Antonio.

“Boris was a key addition to our team late last season and we are happy to have him back,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said. “The depth of his game and his basketball IQ make him a special player.”

Diaw has averaged 9.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 680 NBA games with Atlanta, Phoenix, Charlotte and San Antonio.

A day after announcing that plans for a deal with Orlando for Dwight Howard had fallen through, the Nets swung a six-player deal with Atlanta that brought six-time All-Star guard Joe Johnson to Brooklyn.

The Nets re-signed star point guard Deron Williams and forward Gerald Wallace and agreed upon a contract extension with center Brook Lopez, likely scuttling any deal for Howard. Lopez could not be traded until January 15.