Jeremy Lin officially became a member of the Houston Rockets Tuesday night after the New York Knicks decided to not match their offer and keep Lin in the Big Apple. In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, the newest member of the Rockets organization opened up about his free agency situation and shared details about conversations he had with officials from the Knicks organization.

Lin stated that he was contacted by Knicks general manager Glen Grunwald and in a phone call that lasted less than 30 seconds, he told Lin "We wanted to keep you, but it couldn't work out. Tell your family I said hello, and good luck the rest of the way." Lin says he responded with a evenly brief remark as well, saying "I just want to thank you. Best of luck in the future."

Lin then went into more detail about his free agency experience, revealing that he wanted to remain in a Knicks uniform, but understands the business of the league.

"Honestly, I preferred New York. But my main goal in free agency was to go to a team that had plans for me and wanted me. I wanted to have fun playing basketball. Now I'm definitely relieved."

Knicks head coach Mike Woodson also led Lin to believe that he was a lock to come back to the Knicks organization. During a dinner meeting in Beverly Hills, Lin says his former head coach told him he was on his way back. "Woodson was saying, 'You're going to be a starter, you're going to be a big part of the team,'" Lin said. "I came away really excited."

But the next week, Lin was told that the team was looking for point guards to back him up and eventually they signed Raymond Felton and ultimately chose not to match the Rockets' offer.