Part of it is that they needed the money to get Dalambert. Lin always had skills, it's just that most GM's are looking for those skills to stand out in someway, like be accompanied with a 40 inch vertical, or lightning fast. Guys like Steve Nash and JJ Barea have shown that there is a place in the NBA where guys can thrown a perfect bounce pass into the lane, or shoot from distance with accuracy. It's just that the 4-letter never bothered to cover it until the guys that did it played in New York.
http://hoopsanalyst.com/blog/?p=487
Maybe they should have seen this set of stats with regards to College PG's ready for the NBA.
This guy's take the year Lin was available for the draft had him as the #2 most NBA ready PG coming out of College.