HOUSTON - The Houston Rockets signed a three-year, $25.1 million offer sheet with Knicks restricted free agent guard Jeremy Lin on Friday, US media reported.

The Rockets improved their offer to Lin by fully guaranteeing all three years on the contract, worth 25.1 million dollars, newspaper The Houston Chronicle quoted a person with knowledge of the deal as reporting.

The Rockets will pay Lin 5 million in the first year, 5.2 million in the second year, and then 14.9 million in the third and final year of the contract, according to media reports.

Previous reports said that the Rockets offered a four-year-deal in the $28 million range.

The Rockets backloaded the deal with 14.9 million due to Lin is in the third season, making it a much greater luxury tax hit for the Knicks if they match, according to The Houston Chronicle.

The Rockets improved Lin's offer in part because of the need at point guard after Goran Dragic's return to Phoenix and the trade of Kyle Lowry to Toronto.

Knicks coach Mike Woodson has said that the Knicks "absolutely" want to match any offer and that Lin would be his starting point guard.

But the Rockets offer was much tougher than the Knicks had expected to match.

Since earlier this year, Lin, a Harvard-educated guard and the first American-born NBA player of Chinese heritage, has become an international sensation, with his skills, humor and work ethic.

Lin averaged 22.1 points and 9.2 assists, making 47 percent of his shots, in his first 12 starts, keying a seven-game winning streak.