Carmelo Anthony calls Jeremy Lin's contract "ridiculous"

Carmelo Anthony called the contract Jeremy Lin received from Houston “ridiculous,” and sounded as if he understood if the Knicks don’t match it.

Anthony is the Knicks most influential player, but he said he has no knowledge of what the Knicks will do. After they acquired Raymond Felton from Portland in a sign-and-trade it is appearing less likely that the Knicks will match Lin’s three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet with Houston that will pay him $14.9 million in year 3.

“It’s not up to me,” Anthony said at U.S. Olympic team practice in Washington, D.C. “It’s up to the organization to say that they want to match that ridiculous contract that’s out there.”

Knicks coach Mike Woodson said several times during the process that he “absolutely” expected Lin to be back with the Knicks. On Wednesday, he said they “absolutely” would match the offer. But the Rockets changed the terms to include the “poison pill” in Year 3.

But Anthony believes it was premature to say the Knicks would match Lin’s contract regardless.

“I think a lot of people kind of jumped the gun with that, that he’s going to be back no matter what,” Anthony said. “At the end of the day, he was a free agent so he was testing the market. Houston threw a big deal out there on the table and I haven’t talked with anyone in the Knicks organization as far as what’s going to happen, what’s the next step.”

The Knicks have until Tuesday to match it. But they already have three point guards in Felton, Jason Kidd and Pablo Prigioni, who agreed to terms but hasn’t signed his deal yet.

- With Rod Boone