If staying with the Knicks is a higher priority

Than the money issue for Lin, ie he was willing to play for the Max MLE the Knicks could offer, he could simply had his agent send that message to the Knicks, the Knick would grabbed it and no more drama.
Why the Knick had to take the first move? Why can't Lin camp take the first move? Don't tell me Lin camp didn't want to get paid more.
The perfect world the Lin camp thought was to get as much as possible and the Knick matched, but he had never make his attempt to remain a Knick. He could have communicated with the Knick better if playing for the Knicks is that important to him. So obviously it is not that case. My 2 cents.