All season long, the Empire State faithful couldn’t wait for the ’09-’10 NBA basketball season to end. It was bad, really bad. It was so bad that we recently showed you the Knicks worst plays of the season. Even though one could argue that the team that GM Donnie Walsh and Coach Mike D’Antoni constructed and babysat coached this season, actually exceeded expectations with a 29-53 mark, and 3rd place Atlantic division finish, fans are getting restless and yearn for a contending team once again. And now that the moment that everyone has been in anticipating is here. Of course what I’m referring to is the big Summer of 2010, where the Knicks would finally begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel by possibly signing the game’s best player, Lebron James, and others to max free agent deals, and once again regain their place among the NBA elite.
If it sounds like a fairy tale, it was, at least until the NBA released their figures on where exactly the salary cap would end up for next season. With news that the cap will be much higher than expected($56.1 mil vs the $50.4 mil projected last Summer), the Knicks will now have more than $34 million in cap room. The news should excite one of the most rabid fan bases in any sport since they now can afford to sign “King James” with about another $18+ mil left over for another free agent like Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh, or Joe Johnson.
Here’s a few scenarios and their details:
1) If they sign 2 max free agents(ie, Lebron and Bosh), they probably would still struggle next season since they would have little more than $2+ million to spend on the rest of the roster. They would need to sign 7 players to get to the mandated 13, and would lose all Bird rights to their free agents and any mid-level exceptions.
2) Sign Lebron + if they could finally find a taker for Eddy Curry and his albatross of a contract, they could swap him for another, at least productive, player with a long term contract like the Clippers’ Baron Davis or Pistons’ Rip Hamilton, and get a little more cap room for some supporting players. They would also still have the option to resign some of their own free agents like the undervalued David Lee($12.5 mil) and Sergio Rodriquez($2.34 mil qualifying offer).
3) If Lebron, Wade, and Bosh decide to stick around with their current club by either not opting out or resigning for 1 year, the Knicks could decide to spend lightly and stockpile on some supporting players and cash for the even richer 2011 free agent sweepstakes which could also include Carmelo Anthony and Dirk Nowitzki, and also resigning fan favorite David Lee to a mid-level multi year deal. Not exactly what Knicks fans want to hear, but makes sense if Lebron and Co. stay put for another season.
To make a long story short, all three scenarios are viable options. Casual fans will of course like Option #1 because it immediately brings star power back to the Big Apple, but little else. The club would be hamstrung by two monster long term contracts and not much help or chance of winning in the immediate future.
Option #2 makes the most sense since it both brings Lebron to NY, giving them their first legit franchise player since Patrick Ewing, plus it allows them flexibility to add additional supporting pieces each season there-after.
Option #3 will probably get on the fans’ bad side since NY would be in for another horrific season waiting for the free fall to end. How much longer should they have to wait for a competitive team on the floor. A lot depends on what Lebron decides to do this off-season. Whether or not the Cavs win a Championship will ultimately determine when and where Lebron winds up.
In addition, a number of NBA teams are in financial crisis and may be willing to deal for expiring contracts, even one’s with absolutely zero upside like upside like Curry, who has played in only 10 games in the past two seasons. A few interesting scenarios could accelerate the Knicks resurgence.
Even though the Knicks lost their first round draft pick(#9) to the Utah Jazz, they will definitely be watching with anticipation on how the first 10 picks of the NBA Draft plays out since how two teams draft picks will have a profound effect on the Knicks possible destinations for Eddy Curry and their chances of bringing back serviceable supporting players for their new franchise player.
They should hope that the LA Clippers or Golden State Warriors win the draft lottery, since drafting John Wall would make both Baron Davis or Monta Ellis expendable, giving Option #2 above a jump-start. If Minnesota wins the #1 pick, and they select Wall, either Ricky Rubio’s rights in 2011, or a trade for point guard Jonny Flynn could become a possibility.
At least when one of the myriad of options eventually comes true, Knicks fans can finally start to forget about the now horrific trade that got them in this mess to begin with: The Knicks passing on Amare Stoudemire and selecting Hilario Nene at #7 in the ’02 Draft and trading he, Marcus Camby, and Marc Jackson for Antonio McDyess and Frank Williams nearly a decade ago.
Allen Moll is an avid NBA and College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen is a regular columnist for thehoopdoctors.com, Bleacherreport.com, UpperDeckblog.com, and his own site, Hoops Haven.
