Nearly a month after the free agency period began, Jeremy Lin remains unsigned.
An emotional Lin, who signed with the Raptors in Feb. after a buyout agreement with the Hawks, recently spoke at an event in Taiwan, where he elaborated on the increasing difficulty of his NBA journey in recent years.
"I've given more of myself to God every single year," Lin said. "And every year it gets harder. In English, there's a saying and it says: Once you hit rock bottom, the only way is up, but rock bottom just seems to keep getting more and more rock bottom for me."
The 30-year-old closed by saying that "free agency has been tough, cause I feel like in some ways the NBA's kind of given up on me."
The past few years have been tumultuous for Lin, to say the least. After a career resurgence in the 2015-16 season with the Charlotte Hornets, Lin signed a multiyear deal to join the Brooklyn Nets as a free agent.
Injuries caused Lin to appear in just 37 games over two seasons with the Nets, as he suffered a season-ending injury on opening night in 2017.
Last offseason, Lin was traded to Atlanta, where he found his footing as a veteran presence in a young locker room and contributed as a double-figure scorer, averaging 10.7 points over 51 games. The buyout agreement allowed Lin to join a contender in Toronto, but he struggled to carve a role for himself as a reserve guard with the Raptors.
Lin appeared in 23 regular-season games with the Raptors, posting averages of 7.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists and saw action in just eight of a possible 24 postseason games as the Raptors would go on to win their first NBA title.
With the Raptors roster standing at 20 ahead of training camp, a return to Toronto seems unlikely for Lin.
The nine-year veteran could land with a team in need of a reserve guard this upcoming season; if not, he has also expressed that he would consider playing in Taiwan and per Sportando's Emiliano Carchia, is said to be a top target of Euroleague's CSKA Moscow.
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