Mar 25, 2012; Cleveland, OH, USA; Phoenix Suns small forward Grant Hill (33) during a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. The Suns defeated the Cavaliers 108-83. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-US PRESSWIRE

That’s especially true with the New York Knicks, who despite having very little money to spend in the offseason, have already been linked to the likes of Steve Nash, Marcus Camby, Raymond Felton, Brandon Bass, Rashar Lewis and now Grant Hill in the first two days of the offseason.

Hill is a guy I would like to look at. A veteran presence on a team that for the most part in 2012 was dysfunctional could be a blessing.

ESPN’s Ric Bucher reports that the Hill, who will be 40 in October is still interested in playing in the NBA and lists the Lakers, Knicks, Raptors and suns are among the teams on his wish list.

Hill averaged 10.2 points per game in 2012, starting 46-of-49 games.

While Hill’s leadership would be nice on any roster, the Knicks need to pass on him.

With limited funds to spend, there are more pressing needs on this club than a 40-year old who has seen his numbers decline over the years, plus has been an injury risk throughout his career. Hill missed 17 games last season and it’s simply just too big of a risk to take for the Knicks.

General manager Glen Grunwald has to be smart on who he spends his money on and even thinking about Hill is a roll of the dice.

There are signings that turn out to be low-risk, high-reward moves and then there are the high-risk, low-reward type of moves. Hill would be taking a huge risk, even for the league minimum.

The Knicks can get that type of production somewhere else.

I have always been a fan of Hill’s and there was a time I had wanted to see him in a Knicks uniform. But that ship has sailed and Hill shouldn’t be an option for the Knicks at this point in his career.

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Did the "injured" Chris Bosh sit out SIX more games after he was cleared to play? At least he looked engaged, cheering his team on from the bench. Oh wait... (Source: Yardbarker.com)

Some pretty damning comments from Raptors’ GM Bryan Colangelo about how Chris Bosh was healthy enough to play for the team during the final push for a playoff spot, but he bailed on them.  ESPN reports:

“Despite limited swelling and any excessive damage on an MRI, he felt like he needed to sit for six more games,” Colangelo said on 590 The Fan on Monday.

“I’m not even questioning Chris’ injury. I’m telling you he was cleared to play subject to tolerance on his part, and the tolerance just apparently wasn’t there and he chose not to play.”

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Kobe's so darn good, Alvin Gentry's fine with losing to him. Elsewhere, Stan Van Gundy and Mike Brown still can't sleep, wondering what they did "wrong" to lose to the Celts. (source: Yardbarker.com)

Many have already talked about how the Lakers and Celtics have taken two different paths to the Big Show. It’s more than just a West Coast/East Coast thang, or offense versus defense. It’s also about the psychological effects they’ve left on those in their wake. Kobe, the self-proclaimed Black Mamba, has been an unstoppable force since Game 5 in the first round against the Thunder (by the way, I kinda love self-proclaimed nicknames. They should be totally illegal, but I find it so humorous that someone would decide to make up their own nickname that I loooove to ironically call them that. Thus I’m thrilled that Sasha Vujacic’s started getting playing time so I can yell out “The Machiiiiiiine” every time he touches the ball. Of course the true irony is that I’ve now used the Black Mamba tag so much that it no longer seems ironic to me when it comes out of my mouth. …Wait, what am I talking about? Oh yeah, Celts/Lakes.)

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Shhh, LeBron and Wade are on their way to the mythical Superstar Free Agency Summit. There's even a secret handshake to get in the door. (source: Yardbarker.com)

With LeBron-frenzy-ation reaching new heights as we approach hunting seasonfree agency’s opening day, lots of incorrect info is being bandied about.  And I won’t stand for poor bandying.  Thus I sit here writing about what’s a Myth or Irrelevant.

1. Bosh’s List Of 5 Teams – Myth

Yes, yes, I know even I reported it, but it turns out it’s bogus.  The claim was that his agent submitted the list of the 5 teams Bosh was interested in playing for next season.  Now it’s come out that his agent has debunked this story.  Which makes sense.  Would someone really wanna limit their options like that this early on?  Shouldn’t you wait and hear what offers you get?  Maybe say Orlando pops out of the woodwork, with the ability to do a sign-and-trade involving Rashard Lewis?  Bosh and Dwight Howard are supposedly somewhat close, and after playing with the defensively inept Bargnani, it’s gotta look pretty appealing to team-up with Superman.  I mean, yes, I completely made this up, but the point is it’s just good business to wait and see what options are out there before you start closing any doors.

2. Free-Agent Powerhouse Summit With Dwayne Wade, LeBron, Bosh, Joe Johnson, A’m'a’r'e, and Matt Barnes – Myth

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New Yorkers, rightfully, are worried that this is an all-or-nothing proposition.  Basically, unless we get LeBron James or Dwayne Wade, we’ll just be a slightly above average team.  Kinda like how we looked with Crawford & Randolph.  While there are other studs available this summer like A’mare Stoudamire, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Carlos Boozer, none of ‘em are mega-stars who ensure you’ll have a legit shot at winning a championship.  Those second-tier guys just assure that you’ll make the playoffs.  Even if you do get two of ‘em.

So if we don’t get Plan A, does that mean Plan B is doomed to fail?  Not necessarily.  Most Knicks fans are worried about Plan B, but that’s ‘cuz they assume it means not just that we sign two lesser talents, but that we sign them to more than they’re worth.  The fear is that we do something like the Pistons did this summer, when they had a bunch of cash and felt compelled to spend it, thus overpaying for Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, both of whom are currently coming off the bench for Detroit.  Likewise, several years ago a few teams cleared cap space to sign Tim Duncan and Grant Hill.  After Duncan stayed with the Spurs and Hill went with Tracy McGrady to Orlando, Chicago paid a bunch of money to some scrubs just to say they got someone.

Now if Isiah was still in charge, sure, we all know he would definitely follow that path, but doesn’t Donnie Walsh deserve the benefit of the doubt?  Besides the remarkable salary dumping job he did for us, he had quite a run with the Indiana Pacers.  Not only did he assemble enough talent for them to constantly be in the top of the east during the late 1990s, but he even got that team to Finals against the Lakers in… what was it, 2000?  And after that within a year or two he had completely rejuvenated that team, getting rid of Rick Smits, Mark Jackson, Dale Davis, Antonio Davis, Jalen Rose, and turning them into a young Eastern Conference contender around Jermaine O’Neal, Brad Miller, Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley, and the still effective Grandpa Reggie Miller.  This was a team that seemed poised to make it to the finals for the next few years until the unfortunate Malice At The Palace, players-and-fans-scuffle.  Has a team ever been turned around that quickly with a completely new cast?  The Lakers new team is still built around Kobe, one of their two supernova stars from their earlier three-peat.  The old-time Celtics won like 11 championships with various supporting stars, but they all centered around Bill Russell.

Fine, you say, we’ll give Walsh a chance.  But if he doesn’t get LeBron or Wade, what can he reasonably do to get the rest of the cream of the crop?  The key is getting some supporting parts at reasonable prices.  Houston has been excellent at that, getting solid unflashy guys like Shane Battier, Trevor Ariza, Luis Scola, and Carl Landry on the (relative) cheap.  Get Chris Bosh and Joe Johnson to agree to slightly less than the max, and then try to snag Ray Felton, Brendan Haywood, Josh Childress, Shannon Brown, Rudy Gay, Manu Ginobili, Kyle Korver, or Mike Miller on the cheap.  Maybe David Lee or TMac will agree to a lesser deal.  It would be pretty solid to have a line-up of Bosh, Lee, Gallo, Chandler, and Felton with Childress, Brown, Miller & TMac coming off the bench.

Yes, that’d still probably only get us to 4th or 5th in the East, but here’s the thing: it also would keep us out of the tax.  Since you personally don’t have to pay the tax as a fan, you probably don’t care, but it matters a bunch.  Why?  It means that the following summer, 2011, when Eddy Curry’s $11.3 million salary comes off the books, we can use that full amount to sign someone else.  If we give out excessive contracts this summer, we’ll go over the cap and won’t be able to add anyone new after we get rid of Curry.

With that $11+ mill, we could have a real shot at such 2011 free agents as Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Greg Oden, Jason Richardson, Samuel Dalembert, Jeff Green, David West, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Shane Battier, Aaron Brooks, Tayshaun Prince, Rodney Stuckey, J.R.Smith, Nene, Caron Butler, Joakim Noah, Boris Diaw, Kendrick Perkins, Jamal Crawford, Al Horford, and some guy named Carmelo Anthony.  Adding just one of those guys to the above roster would probably elevate the team to one of the East’s elite.  Adding Melo would bring a very real possibility of winning multiple championships.

By having a few reasonable, desirable smaller contracts, we could also trade Curry’s expiring contract in the middle of next season, so we wouldn’t even have to wait for 2011.  Like by next year the Celtics will finally have to accept that Kevin Garnett is so half-dead he’s practically a zombie.  They realize they need to blow up the team, so they decide to get rid of Paul Pierce for an expiring contract.  He makes more than Curry, but we throw in Mike Miller to make things work.  Using those contracts would also help if say someone like Melo wants more than that $11 mill.  We basically give a Mike Miller to a team for free (like only getting a second round pick in return), and then we have like another $3 mill available to pay Anthony.

The point is that it’s not LeBron/Wade or mediocrity.  It’s about not returning to the ways of Scott Layden & Isiah Thomas (& honestly lots of other GMs), and overpaying mid-level players.

What could have been..

Now I don’t really know how to take this deal other then Hill will likely not take the offer. I’d be thrilled to have him here next season, and his tremendous work ethic and leadership would be very nice to have, but unfortunately Hill is a class act and is likely just radiating that in his comments.

“I’ve always been a fan of the Knicks and the city,” Hill said. “Obviously, they’ve gone through a lot the last few years, but I’m a big fan of Donnie Walsh and Mike D’Antoni, so I’m definitely interested. I’m just taking it all in.”

I appreciate it Hill, but you are 37 years old and need to get a ring and you won’t find one at MSG this season. New York won’t be upset with you if you chose Boston because you deserve a ring and really are great for the game. I’d like for you to chose New York, but I understand if you don’t.