MIAMI — Over the past five years, Jeremy Lin has felt multiple disparate identities foisted upon him: undrafted underdog, franchise savior, overpaid mercenary. None quite fit.

But over these past six months, a fresh calibration seems to have occurred. A half-step away from the spotlight, Lin has nurtured an existence that now comfortably rests somewhere between the short-burst ecstasy of his time with the Knicks and the protracted bewilderment of his stints with the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Meet Jeremy Lin, solid basketball player.

As a reserve this season for the Charlotte Hornets, Lin contributed steadily to a group that enjoyed an exciting run to the playoffs. He reasserted himself as a deft scorer, capable of catching fire in the right conditions. After finishing seventh in the N.B.A.’s sixth man of the year voting, he reset his value as an attractive target for teams this summer, should he, as expected, decide to become a free agent.

In an interview this week, Lin said that he felt liberated by a firmer sense of who he is.

“I think I’m just in a different place, mentally, spiritually, where I’m able to enjoy this job more and more,” Lin said. “The lows don’t affect me the way they used to anymore.”