Tag: New York Knicks (Page 19 of 36)

      Who will LeBron play for next season?

      May 31, 2010 /

      Over the past couple of weeks, our poll has asked this very question and 1,094 of our readers have responded. Here are the results:

      (Click on the chart for a bigger version.)

      It seems our readers believe that the Bulls are the odds on favorites to sign LeBron, with the Cavs close behind. The Knicks finished third by a pretty wide margin, with the Heat, “other” and the Nets getting a decent amount of the vote. The Clippers appear to be the biggest longshot of this group.

      World Sports Exchange has set up a long-term market so that gamblers can buy and sell shares in certain teams. Here is a snapshot of the market as of 5/31/10:

      A share in the team that signs LeBron is worth $100, while all other shares aren’t worth anything. So someone can buy a share of the Cavs for $33 and if Cleveland signs LeBron, the buyer would make $67 on the transaction. This market essentially says that the Cavs are a 2:1 favorite to sign LeBron, the Bulls are 7:3, the Knicks are 3:1 and the Heat are 8:1.

      What’s not clear is what happens if Cleveland executes a sign-and-trade with LeBron. In that scenario, the Cavs would technically “sign” him, but his rights would be traded to his new team. The site should make the market more clear by saying “Who will LeBron play for next season?” instead of “Who will sign LeBron?”

      Regardless, this market is something to keep your eye on because it quantifies the pulse of the public’s opinion of the LeBron courtship. Also, be sure to check out my attempt to handicap the major players in the LeBron sweepstakes.

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      D-Wade’s “free agent summit” good for the Knicks?

      May 28, 2010 /

      Marc Berman of the New York Post thinks Dwyane Wade’s upcoming meeting with LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Joe Johnson is a good thing for the Knicks.

      The Knicks’ only shot at James is if he can convince Bosh — or Wade or Johnson — to come along for the ride. The Knicks are the only club that has cap room to sign two maximum contracts — with $34M in space.

      Even if James stays in Cleveland or heads to Chicago, the Knicks would take any pair — Wade and Bosh, Johnson and Bosh, even Johnson and Wade.

      I tend to agree. The only way the Knicks land two big-name free agents is if there is communication amongst the group and two players commit at the same time. The more communication, the better the chances of this happening.

      That said, the Knicks are not the only team in position to sign two big-name free agents. If they can dump Michael Beasley’s salary, the Heat will have room to sign two big names and re-sign Dwyane Wade. It wouldn’t be as easy, but if the Bulls can use Luol Deng or Kirk Hinrich in a sign-and-trade for a max free agent, they could add two big names as well.

      In other words, if a treaty agreement is reached at the summit, and two or more players agree to go to a certain team, then they can probably make it happen. For example, the Bulls could sign LeBron outright and work out a sign-and-trade with Toronto for Bosh. Why would the Raptors agree to this? Well, if Bosh decides that’s who he wants to sign with, then the Raptors are in a tough spot — either work out a trade with the Bulls and get something in return, or Bosh walks (to another team) via free agency.

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      Handicapping the players in the LeBron sweepstakes

      May 27, 2010 /

      Anyone outside of his entourage who claims to know what LeBron is going to do is being disingenuous. He loves the fact that he’s the center of attention even though the playoffs are still in full swing. He often speaks of July 1 in grandiose terms and that’s because, like most superstars, he has a very high opinion of himself.

      That said, I found myself rooting for the Celtics in their series with the Cavs because as a writer, Cleveland’s early exit throws LeBron’s future to the wind. He could land any number of places.

      Though the LeBron Tracker makes me a little nauseous, I thought I’d take a stab at handicapping where King James might end up. I’ll include the six teams that ESPN deemed worthy of making the top banner and add the Mavs for good measure. For each team, I’ll outline why he’d sign and why he wouldn’t. I’ll also rank (on a scale of 1-10) how he fits from a personnel standpoint.

      In terms of fit, I look to the last few premier wings who have broken through and won at least one title as the best player on their team. I’m talking about Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce, Dwyane Wade and Michael Jordan. What do they have in common? Kobe, Pierce and Wade all played with top notch big men — Gasol, Garnett and Shaq, respectively — while Jordan had Scottie Pippen. In other words, they all got to play with another All-NBA (Top 15) caliber player when they won their title.

      They also enjoyed good coaching. Jordan and Kobe had Phil Jackson, Wade had Pat Riley and Doc Rivers did a great job of coaching the ’08 Celtics. They were also all surrounded by good shooters who could make teams pay for double-teaming their respective superstar.

      Without further ado, let’s take a look at the major players in line for LeBron’s services and try to handicap their chances of signing the league’s most valuable player.

      CAVS (25%)
      Why he’ll sign: Loyalty, comfort, familiarity. He’s from the area and he doesn’t want to leave town after an early postseason exit, as it would effectively destroy basketball in the city of Cleveland. Shaq will be gone and there’s an opportunity for an upgrade at head coach.
      Why he won’t sign: Too much baggage. The franchise has had seven years to build around him and they’ve made just one Finals appearance. Suspect flexibility with the roster.
      Fit: 5/10 The Cavs have a pretty good shooter at power forward (Antawn Jamison) and a good shooter at point guard (Mo Williams), but neither player is even average on defense. There are a lot of solid-to-good players on the roster, but no one approaches the Top 15 sidekick that helped the aforementioned wings win their titles. It’s tough to find that kind of player via trade, but that’s how Gasol, Garnett and Shaq came to play for the Lakers, Celtics and Heat. Cap-wise, if they re-sign LeBron, they won’t have any cap space to speak of until the summer of 2012 when Jamison’s salary is off the books.

      Continue reading »

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      The Knicks’ plan to woo LeBron

      May 25, 2010 /

      Chad Ford wrote an interesting article with a look at the Knicks’ plan for this summer. An Insider subscription is required, so I’ll refrain from excerpting, but here’s how the plan goes…

      The first angle is that LeBron (or Dwyane Wade) will get to play alongside another superstar. According to Ford’s sources, Plan A is LeBron and Chris Bosh, Plan B is Wade and Bosh and Plan C is LeBron and Wade. The Knicks see Bosh as an ideal fit along either wing player due to his ability to stretch the floor with his jumper. If they can’t get Bosh? Look for the Knicks to make a run at a certain seven-foot German who plans to opt out of his contract in Dallas.

      The next pitch is that the Knicks’ supporting cast is not as bad as it seems. Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Bill Walker and Toney Douglas can all shoot, and the Knicks think that once a couple of big names are on board, there will be a few solid vets (like Grant Hill?) who will be willing to play on the cheap in order to have a chance at a ring.

      Thirdly, the Knicks will use Mike D’Antoni, who is familiar with LeBron, Bosh and Wade from his time as Team USA assistant, as their leading pitchman. They think that once he starts diagramming plays, he’ll convince these stars that he can make best use of their respective talents.

      Lastly, the Knicks will talk about what a championship would mean to the city of New York. No one can usurp Michael Jordan in Chicago, and Miami’s fans aren’t die-hard like Knicks fans. If you win a title, you will own the world’s greatest city. That’s a pretty strong pitch.

      Needless to say, it’s going to be a pretty interesting summer. One thing that might make the dominoes fall a little faster is the fact that most of the top free agents — LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Nowitzki, Joe Johnson, Rudy Gay, etc. — are sitting at home right now watching the playoffs. They have time to consider their options, recruit each other, talk to teams through back channels and form some sort of plan for July 1. The #1 domino is LeBron, and he’s going to have plenty of time to figure out where he’s headed. Once he decides, the pieces may fall into place pretty quickly.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

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      Wizards already trying to move Arenas?

      May 25, 2010 /

      Former Washington Times reporter John Mitchell thinks so…

      The Washington Wizards are going to use their number one draft pick to select John Wall, the freshman point guard out of the University of Kentucky. They see Wall as the cornerstone of the franchise for at least “the next decade”, which is why they are going to do everything in their power to prevent the player from ever sharing a locker room with controversial guard Gilbert Arenas, according to two league sources with knowledge of the team’s future plans.

      According to one source with intimate knowledge of the team’s plans, the Wizards front office, headed up by President Ernie Grunfeld, doesn’t want Arenas – released earlier this month from a Washington DC halfway house after serving 30 days for a felony gun conviction – anywhere near Wall, whom the team has already decided it will select with the top pick in the June draft. After Arenas was convicted Grunfeld traded away four starters.

      One source tagged Arenas as “the reason why a core of players that reached the playoffs” on multiple occasions had to be broken up, “and it was entirely due to what he did. He poisoned the team. He is a cancer.”

      The Wizards’ options include trying to trade Arenas, who has four years and more than $80 million in salary remaining on his contract. But that is not the only option. According to a source the team will “definitely consider buying out” Arenas’ contract. This flies in the face of the public position the Wizards have taken with Arenas.

      Trading Arenas before next season is not going to be easy. We’re talking about a 28-year-old, shoot-first point guard with knee problems, a contract that still has four years and $80 million remaining, and a propensity to bring loaded firearms into work. Needless to say, in this economy, it’s going to be very tough to move him.

      How much would it take to buy him out? And if the Wizards have to resort to that, why are they keeping the man that signed him to this ridiculous contract, general manager Ernie Grunfeld, on board? Instead of taking a cautious approach with Arenas, who was coming off of knee surgery two seasons ago, Grunfeld panicked swung for the fences and offered him a contract that no other team would even dream of.

      One team that could potentially use Arenas’s services are the Knicks. Once they sign their two “big-name” free agents — whether it’s LeBron James and Chris Bosh or Rudy Gay and David Lee — they could trade Eddy Curry’s expiring contract for Arenas. Once the Knicks have their two stars locked up, they’re probably not going to care how far over the cap they go. Owner James Dolan will do what it takes to build a winner, and if Arenas looks like he’s still All-Star caliber, they may pull the trigger.

      (Note to Knicks fans: I don’t think acquiring Arenas is a good idea.)

      But that raises the question — how long will the Wizards wait? Arenas missed the last few months of last season and teams will want to see how he plays before taking on his monstrous contract and adding his quirky personality to their locker room. How does this happen if the Wizards are intent on keeping Arenas and Wall apart?


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

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