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Sports InsiderKnicks Join Lebron James Sweepstakes and More!
November 24th 2008 06:37
There has been a lot of noise going on lately about the possibility that Lebron James will be a Knickerbocker in 2010. Teasers such as Lebron's presence in a New York Yankees game to a future Nike sneaker named "Lebron Yankees" are just some of the ongoing hints that James will be playing in the Big Apple two years from now.
But hints are hints. We will all never know until the fat lady sings on the matter as far as James is concerned.
The Detroit Pistons were the first ones to boldly make a trade for salary cap spacing towards getting James in the future by shipping their long-time championship point guard Chauncey Billups, veteran Antonio McDyess and Cheik Samb to the Denver Nuggets and receiving Allen Iverson who will soon be a free agent thus opening the necessary gap to compete in free agency for James.
New York followed suit. New Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni is looking to take the Knicks to a new direction going forward to achieve, once again, the winning tradition that was long been lost lots of seasons ago. D'Antoni and boss Donnie Walsh decided to trade their top two scorers so far in the current season in order to create the cap space.
Forward Zach Randolph and guard Jamal Crawford were both traded in separate deals thus creating a $27.4 million salary cap room in 2010. Randolph, along with seldom-used Mardy Collins, went to the Los Angeles Clippers and Crawford was sent to the Golden State Warriors. Randolph is averaging 20.5ppg and 12.5rpg while Crawford is not far behind with a 19.6ppg average.
Objective one has been achieved. With that trade, the necessary cap space has been secured for the Knicks joining Detroit as one of the more vocal Lebron James pursuers.
But 2010 is still a long ways from now. Did they compromised their present competitiveness because of that move?
After the dust has settled in the rigodon, the Knicks got three new players. Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley are coming in from the Clippers and Al Harrington from the Warriors.
D'Antoni is definitely familiar with a player like Thomas who he coached when he was still with the Phoenix Suns. Thomas will surely be a perfect fit considering that he enjoyed a lot of success under D'Antoni's system especially in the Western Conference championship run playing in lieu of the then-injured Amare Stoudemire. The Knicks head coach is also perfectly aware of Mobley's ability to spread the floor with his adept outside shooting which is one of the keys in the D'Antoni system that produced such a dead shot like Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks.
Harrington is the disgruntled forward who angered Warriors coach Don Nelson by publicly demanding to be traded. His disenchantment in Golden State stemmed from his expectations of getting more minutes for greater productivity. Now that he's got his wish, let's all see what he can do in New York in replacing at least one of the teams leading scorers. Walsh drafted Harrington back in the days at Indiana and seeing that Al has multi-positional skills will definitely be a fit in the D'Antoni system that employs players to play in two different positions during a game for situational purposes.
Walsh and D'Antoni feels that they never compromised anything about this current season saying that all the players that they obtained in their recent dealings will fit just right. In fact, they're not just talking about being competitive this year. They are actuall talking about making the playoffs!
It is true that the fast-paced Mike D'Antoni style has yet to win a championship all its own but it can never be denied that it can create a playoff contender other than a continual barrage type of basketball team.
This season though will be much more difficult for New York. The balace of power in the league is now swinging to the East with nine of the teams there being over the .500 mark including the Knicks who are sporting a 7-6 record. It's still early though, the West is always capable of turning the tide if the other Western powers get down with winning and staying away from costly injuries.
The Knick in the Playoffs.... Never heard of that in a long while.
We doubt that New York will get to the playoffs with ease. However... they have to!
All that salary cap space that they had created will go for naught if they cannot establish a winning team in time for 2010. Even with New York as one of the biggest markets in the NBA, James will shy away from them if they don't come up with a solid core that James wants to be a part of.
Lebron James wants to be a "basketball immortal" in any way possible. The first thing that he said when it comes to choosing an organization was not about the money or the city. He wants to be part of a team that will be capable of winning "consecutive championships".
From this point on, good luck to the New York Knicks because...
They've got to prove themselves first and be a winning team if ever Lebron James will be a Knickerbocker in 2010.
Photo courtesy of Reuters.
But hints are hints. We will all never know until the fat lady sings on the matter as far as James is concerned.
The Detroit Pistons were the first ones to boldly make a trade for salary cap spacing towards getting James in the future by shipping their long-time championship point guard Chauncey Billups, veteran Antonio McDyess and Cheik Samb to the Denver Nuggets and receiving Allen Iverson who will soon be a free agent thus opening the necessary gap to compete in free agency for James.
Mike D'Antoni tells the Knicks to slow it down in this instance. But they are really in hot pursuit of the top prize: Lebron James
New York followed suit. New Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni is looking to take the Knicks to a new direction going forward to achieve, once again, the winning tradition that was long been lost lots of seasons ago. D'Antoni and boss Donnie Walsh decided to trade their top two scorers so far in the current season in order to create the cap space.
Forward Zach Randolph and guard Jamal Crawford were both traded in separate deals thus creating a $27.4 million salary cap room in 2010. Randolph, along with seldom-used Mardy Collins, went to the Los Angeles Clippers and Crawford was sent to the Golden State Warriors. Randolph is averaging 20.5ppg and 12.5rpg while Crawford is not far behind with a 19.6ppg average.
Objective one has been achieved. With that trade, the necessary cap space has been secured for the Knicks joining Detroit as one of the more vocal Lebron James pursuers.
But 2010 is still a long ways from now. Did they compromised their present competitiveness because of that move?
After the dust has settled in the rigodon, the Knicks got three new players. Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley are coming in from the Clippers and Al Harrington from the Warriors.
D'Antoni is definitely familiar with a player like Thomas who he coached when he was still with the Phoenix Suns. Thomas will surely be a perfect fit considering that he enjoyed a lot of success under D'Antoni's system especially in the Western Conference championship run playing in lieu of the then-injured Amare Stoudemire. The Knicks head coach is also perfectly aware of Mobley's ability to spread the floor with his adept outside shooting which is one of the keys in the D'Antoni system that produced such a dead shot like Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks.
Harrington is the disgruntled forward who angered Warriors coach Don Nelson by publicly demanding to be traded. His disenchantment in Golden State stemmed from his expectations of getting more minutes for greater productivity. Now that he's got his wish, let's all see what he can do in New York in replacing at least one of the teams leading scorers. Walsh drafted Harrington back in the days at Indiana and seeing that Al has multi-positional skills will definitely be a fit in the D'Antoni system that employs players to play in two different positions during a game for situational purposes.
Walsh and D'Antoni feels that they never compromised anything about this current season saying that all the players that they obtained in their recent dealings will fit just right. In fact, they're not just talking about being competitive this year. They are actuall talking about making the playoffs!
It is true that the fast-paced Mike D'Antoni style has yet to win a championship all its own but it can never be denied that it can create a playoff contender other than a continual barrage type of basketball team.
This season though will be much more difficult for New York. The balace of power in the league is now swinging to the East with nine of the teams there being over the .500 mark including the Knicks who are sporting a 7-6 record. It's still early though, the West is always capable of turning the tide if the other Western powers get down with winning and staying away from costly injuries.
The Knick in the Playoffs.... Never heard of that in a long while.
We doubt that New York will get to the playoffs with ease. However... they have to!
All that salary cap space that they had created will go for naught if they cannot establish a winning team in time for 2010. Even with New York as one of the biggest markets in the NBA, James will shy away from them if they don't come up with a solid core that James wants to be a part of.
Lebron James wants to be a "basketball immortal" in any way possible. The first thing that he said when it comes to choosing an organization was not about the money or the city. He wants to be part of a team that will be capable of winning "consecutive championships".
From this point on, good luck to the New York Knicks because...
They've got to prove themselves first and be a winning team if ever Lebron James will be a Knickerbocker in 2010.
Photo courtesy of Reuters.
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