Which is why the New York Knicks made the wise (and somewhat uncharacteristic) decision to step away from the sweepstakes and throw the kitchen sink at Amar'e Stoudemire. They weren't going to suddenly convince LeBron that the bright lights of New York are for him, mostly because the superstar is more concerned with winning a championship — and fast. The Knicks' current roster doesn't offer that.
Speaking of New York's roster, to say it's in disarray is an understatement. Only five players are under contract at the moment, with leading scorer David Lee likely to head elsewhere. Plus, one of those five players is Eddy Curry, who has played in 10 games in the last two seasons and has proven to be anything but reliable.
Enter the possibility of Stoudemire, who the Knicks threw the maximum five-year, $100 million offer at, prompting the big man to say things like, "The organization of Phoenix has been great my whole career. I left my stamp on that organization as far as what we were able
to accomplish. It was a great ride. So on to the next one."
Although it's not official yet, Stoudemire to the Knicks is highly likely given that he has stopped talks with the Suns, finally giving the Knicks a legitimate threat down low. He averaged 23.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game in 2009 — good for 10th in the NBA. The 27-year-old also averaged more points (25.2) and rebounds (9.1) under former Suns coach and current Knicks sheriff Mike D'Antoni, meaning not only can Stoudemire perform in his fast-paced system, he can do it well.
OK, it's fair to raise your eyebrows at the incredible amount of money the Knicks are willing to spend to get Stoudemire. The guy can score and run the floor with the best of the NBA's power forwards, but is he really worth $20 million a year? Probably not. But when the free agent pool is full of the talented names like this one, guys are going to be expensive. And when Phoenix can offer more to retain their own guy, it's necessary to make a big splash with an offer. The Knicks did that, and that's why Stoudemire is likely to leave Arizona for the Big Apple.
The 2010 salary cap is projected to fall between a surprisingly low $50.4-53.6 million, lower than the 2009-10 season, with a $61.2 million luxury tax line. The Knicks are currently almost $33.5 million under the cap (if a $52 million cap is assumed), but as the recent past has shown, the luxury tax line is merely a guideline for Knicks ownership: In 2005-06, their payroll was $124 million,
putting them $74.5 million above the salary cap, and $62.3 million above
the tax line. Even if Stoudemire's contract places $20 million on this year's cap, the Knicks will still be $13.5 million under the cap and a big-free-agent-able $22.7 million under the luxury tax line.
With that $22.7 million, New York could add someone like Carmelo Anthony or Tony Parker, both of whom Stoudemire is already courting. "I've talked to Tony Parker. Both guys are ready to join me if I decide to come here. So
we'll see if we can work it out."
Of course, both require a trade, but a sign-and-trade with either the Spurs or Nuggets is entirely possible, with high-scoring forward David Lee as great bait. The flashier Anthony is set to make just over $17 million this season, while Parker, able to fill in at the vacant guard spots (currently manned by young but promising Toney Douglas and Bill Walker with sharp-shooting Andy Rautins coming in), will haul in $13.5 million. At least one of these guys could come in and leave a little room for the Knicks to fill their bench with a few inexpensive contributors.
Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony isn't exactly the Lebron-DWade dream tandem pundits have been salivating over for weeks.
But it's better than the dream tandem. It's real.
