Montgomery chuckled softly. “Jeremy can hoop,” he said. “But he’s got to prove it.”

Lin may get that chance with the Knicks, who claimed him off waivers Tuesday, two days after he was cut by the Houston Rockets. The Knicks badly needed point-guard depth, and they had been intrigued with Lin for some time.

A 6-foot-3, 200-pound point guard, Lin is deft in the pick-and-roll — a staple of Coach Mike D’Antoni’s offense — with excellent court vision and more athleticism than he is generally given credit for. He was an excellent shooter in college, although he had difficulty in his limited minutes with the Warriors. He appeared in only 29 games, averaging 2.6 points in 9.8 minutes with a .389 field-goal percentage.

The Knicks opened the season with only one proven point guard, the veteran Mike Bibby, and a young starter, Toney Douglas, whose playmaking skills and decision-making are suspect. Baron Davis will join the starting lineup once his herniated disk heals, but that may be months away. Iman Shumpert — whose injury prompted the Knicks to sign Lin — is a rookie who is better suited to play shooting guard for now.

So while Lin may start his Knicks career as an emergency backup, he should get a solid chance to prove his value. The Knicks need a steady playmaker, someone who can get Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire the ball at the right spot, at the right time, and relieve them from having to create too much on their own or force the action.

Is Lin that player? Knicks officials, who worked him out before the 2010 draft, hope so.

“We liked his speed, we liked his aggressiveness, we liked his size, we liked him being able to penetrate,” D’Antoni said. Lin’s $788,000 contract will not become fully guaranteed until Feb. 10, so the Knicks have time to evaluate him with little risk.