 At the Portsmouth Invitational , Lin first met sports agent Roger Montgomery and later gave him a commitment . To their disappointment , no team chose Lin in the 2010 NBA draft . The NBA had not drafted an Ivy League player since Jerome Allen of Penn in the second round in 1995 . The last Ivy League player to play in the NBA was Yale 's Chris Dudley in 2003 , while the last Harvard player was Ed Smith in 1954 . Eight teams had invited Lin to predraft workouts . Diepenbrock said that NBA tryouts do not play five on five . Lin acknowledged that the workouts were " one on one or two on two or three on three , and that 's not where I excel . I 've never played basketball like that . " Scouts saw what The New York Times later described as " a smart passer with a flawed jump shot and a thin frame , who might not have the strength and athleticism to defend , create his own shot or finish at the rim in the N.B.A. " Lin joined the Dallas Mavericks for mini @-@ camp as well as their NBA Summer League team in Las Vegas . Donnie Nelson of the Mavericks was the only General Manager who offered him an invitation to play in the Summer League . " Donnie took care of me , " said Lin . " He has a different type of vision than most people do . " 
