March 6, 2012; Boston, MA, USA; Houston Rockets shooting guard Kevin Martin (12) looks to make a pass during the second quarter against the Boston Celtics at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE

10) Kevin Martin, Houston Rockets -  “The Forgotten One,” last year he was a little banged up but he is a weapon on the offensive side of the ball. He’s played for the Kings and now the Rockets in his career and has never gotten credit for his talents. If the Rockets make the playoffs this year, he will have a big say in it.

9) Eric Gordon, New Orleans Hornets - Gordon barely saw the floor last year and in his brief career has had hard times staying healthy. When healthy he has shown flashes of superstar ability. He just signed a huge max contract with the Hornets this off-season, and if he can stay healthy we will finally be able to see if he live up to the hype.

8) Monta Ellis, Milwaukee Bucks- Probably one of the best pure scores in the league. He is in his true prime right now however, I wonder if he will turn all his talent into wins for his team. He is the key to the Bucks success this season I feel.

7) Paul George, Indiana Pacers - The youngster of this group, George is only 22 years old and still a very raw talent. In his second year last year he made huge strides so I’m expected a lot from him this year. He is physically and athletically freakish; if he puts it all together, watch out for the Pacers.

6) Andre Iguodala, Denver Nuggets -  He was traded from the 76ers to the Nuggets in the blockbuster deal involving Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum and he flies under the radar when it comes to that deal. The Nuggets have a similar identity to his former team, the 76ers. He is a great fit in Denver and I feel he will have a huge year under George Karl. He averaged 12 PPG, 6 APG, 6 RPG last season which was good but I expect even more scoring out of him this season to go along with his lockdown defense.

5) Joe Johnson, Brooklyn Nets - With a change of scenery for Johnson, Atlanta to Brooklyn, I expect him to have an excellent year. With Deron Williams running the point Johnson should benefit tremendously. His success could determine the success of the Nets as a whole. Expect to see his PPG rise from 18.8 to 21 or 22 PPG with the help of Williams.

4) James Harden, Oklahoma City Thunder - Harden has been the best sixth man in the league since he was drafted. He’s only 23 years old but I think his experience with Team USA should benefit him this year. He’s part of the core of the Thunder, and his disappearing act in the playoffs should make him hungry for this next season.

October 15, 2012; Houston, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili (20) sits on the bench in the second half against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-US PRESSWIRE

3) Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs- Manu is Such an impact player and can do so many things when he’s healthy, but that has been his problem. His age and durability hurt his ranking but if can stay healthy he is one of the deadliest offensive threats in the game.

2) Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat - Wade is coming off of a championship season with the Miami Heat and offseason knee surgery. Even on one knee this past postseason, Wade was a huge part of the Heat’s championship run. He enters this season fully healthy and should be his normal 24 PPG, 5 APG and 5 RPG from last season.

1) Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers- I mean come on, did you expect any different? Even at 39 and with 16 years under his belt, he is still Kobe. Last season, The Black Mamba, averaged a staggering 28 PPG, 5 APG and 5 RPG. As for this season, with the additions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, we should expect Kobe to be his typical great self.

Feb. 19, 2012; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks guard J. R. Smith (8) and New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin (17) wait for the ball during the second half against the Dallas Mavericks at Madison Square Garden. Knicks won 104-97. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE

1) The Hawks were dealt a huge blow early on in the season when Al Horford got hurt. How has this team managed to be so successful without him?

Well, “successful” is a word I’ll use loosely. Yes, they are 12-9 since Al Horford went down, but most of those wins came against teams with losing records. Since Horford went out, they are 9-1 against teams with losing records and only 3-8 against teams with winning records. But to get back to the question, Josh Smith has really carried this Atlanta Hawks team since Al Horford went down. That’s why it bothers me so much that he’s not an All-star, because if there is one Hawks player that deserves it, it’s Josh Smith. There aren’t many forwards in the East that are doing more than him right now.

2) With Joe Johnson apparently a no-go, which player do you expect to step up against the Knicks?

Josh Smith. He’s been the player that the Hawks have been asking to carry the load since Al Horford went down, and with Joe Johnson now out for the game too, you can bet that Josh Smith is feeling that he has to step up even more now. Will he step up and carry the entire team to a win? That’s up in the air. I can’t think of many games that Josh Smith has single-handedly carry the Hawks to a win. 

 If I had to choose another player that has a possibility of having a good game, it’s Jeff Teague. Teague has shown at times, when he’s playing aggressive, that he can be a pretty a good scorer. Also, I know Jeremy Lin is pretty quick himself, but Jeff Teague should be able to get by “Super Lin-tendo” pretty easily tonight. As you and your readers know, Jeremy Lin isn’t exactly a top tier defensive player.

3) What is the biggest key to tonight’s game for the Hawks?

Ball movement. The Hawks don’t have an active go-to player on the roster right now (since Joe Johnson is out). Josh Smith can be a good scorer, but he’s not someone that I can say is a go-to player. The team needs to take the offensive approach of a Denver Nuggets or San Antonio Spurs team tonight. Neither the Spurs or Nuggets have a go-to player, but they play well offensively because they move the ball around and get contribution from many different players. There isn’t a Kobe Bryant or a Kevin Durant or a Dirk Nowitzki on this team right now….the Hawks will really hurt themselves if they try to play an offense like they have a great scorer.

Read more from William over at SoaringDownSouth.com/ or follow him @WillSevidalSDS

Also check out my portion of the Q & A by clicking here.

Did the '04-'05 Phoenix Suns prove that offense can't win championships, or just leave the question still unanswered?

The old adage is that defense wins championships, and until the last 48 hours I believed that pretty strongly.  For those who have been following my comments on various posts, I keep harping that the thing we most need is a shot-blocking defensive center because I was no moron: I know offense can only take you so far.  Eventually shots won’t fall, and that’s why you need to be able to rely on defense.  However, after watching the Knicks/Celts game and then last night the San Antonio Spurs against the Denver Nuggets, I saw reasons to believe offense could lead to a ring and question my very own beliefs that D is dee way to win.

No, no, I’m not saying I’m delusional and that after one close game against the Celtics that now I think that this New York team has a shot at winning a championship this year.  And up until just last night, I was the same acolyte as you, praying at the Holy Altar Of Defensive Stops. My hope was that coach Mike D’Antoni could get us up to that elite level of those high-octane offensive teams of the past decade (like his own Phoenix Suns, but also the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks).  At that point, we’d then follow the Mavericks blueprint to the next step, firing the old offense-only coach (in their case, Don Nelson) and bringing in a defensive-minded coach as the closer (new coach Avery Johnson did bring them to near the brink of acquiring some shiny new rings until Dwayne Wade went nuts).  And while I still believe that’s probably the best way to go, I now can’t help but feel there is another way.  What made me change so radically that I’d be willing to forgo my dearest, closest beliefs?

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With the Cavs having lost the unstoppable Delonte West (plus I think some other guy?), how bad will they be? You might be surprised by our take. (Source: Yardbarker.com)

We already examined how much teams improved/regressed during the off-season, but now we’ll talk about how they stack up against each other.  Meaning, we gave Orlando a zero for their summer and the Wizards a +2, but now we’re here to tell you that yes, of course Orlando is still gonna be far better.  For those who haven’t seen those posts on off-season grades, click the following links to see what we had to say about the Northwest, Atlantic, Central, Southeast, Pacific and Southwest Divisions.  Also, we’re only gonna be talking about the regular season here.  So even though we don’t think the Celts will be a top two team record-wise, it doesn’t mean we think they’re incapable of making it through the gauntlet again.  Lastly, some teams will be put in clusters ‘cuz they’ll likely end up with similar records and what does a victory or two here and there matter?

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Miami snagged this trio over the summer. I'd say that's a pretty good off-season, wouldn't you? But how good...? (Source: Yardbarker.com)

In part III of this series, we’ll be looking at off-season moves of the teams that make up the Southeast Division: the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Bobcats, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic & Washington Wizards. If you wanna check out the first two parts, we covered the Atlantic Division and the Central Division.  The upcoming parts will look at the Pacific Division, Southwest Division and Northwest Division.The rules, as previously stated:

1. Rather than a standard A through F grade or going for a scale of 1-10, we shall use a system that my friend Noriko loves: -5 through +5.  It helps differentiate things a bit more, ‘cuz like if a team gets a C-, it’s better than an F, but is it good?  With this scale, you can instead give the team a +1, which shows that they improved the team, but only marginally.  Or maybe they get a zero ‘cuz they didn’t hurt the team or help it.

2. These grades are not, I repeat, NOT, about how good teams will be.  It’s purely about how good their summer moves were.  For instance, the Sacramento Kings may get a higher grade than say the Orlando Magic, but that doesn’t mean I’m insane and think the Kings will be better than the Magic.  It simply means I like the Kings’ draft of DeMarcus Cousins more than the Magic’s signings of Quentin Richardson and Chris Duhon (although I haven’t fully examined those teams yet, so I dunno what grades they’ll get).

3. The grades are not just based on how good the players are, but also their contracts.  Joe Johnson is definitely a top 30 player, but with Atlanta giving him $120 million/6 yrs, the largest contract of anyone this summer, his signing turns into a negative.

4. Grades will be scaled based on what each team could have done.  Meaning the Lakers, a team over the salary cap, get major kudos for snagging Steve Blake, Matt Barnes, Theo Ratliff and bringing back Shannon Brown with their limited financial flexibility, but if say the Knicks, with all their cap space, had only made those moves, I’d pan ‘em.

5. Fit matters.  I like Kirk Hinrich a ton, and had he gone to the Pacers (a team that desperately needed a point guard before the Collison trade), I would’ve raved about the move.  However, Washington acquiring him is a bit odd considering they already have PGs in John Wall and Gilbert Arenas.

And now…

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The Memphis Grizzlies have astounded everyone by offering a near-max contract to Rudy Gay.  Since they can offer him higher raises and a longer contract, their near-max is more than any other team can offer, so it’s expected to be a done deal.  Meanwhile, Atlanta finally kicked it’s offer up to the max for Joe Johnson, so he’s now presumed to remain a Hawk.  Even New York’s Backup Plan R, getting John Salmons, is off the table with him now seeming likely to also re-up with his current team (the Milwaukee Bucks).

That’s the bad.  Here’s the possible good.

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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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Future Kings of New York?

In very odd timing, the Knicks front office revealed this summer’s major targets, and none of the names come as a surprise. Lebron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade were noted as Walsh’s biggest targets for the upcoming summer.

Two names were left off which I found surprising, Amare Stoudemire and Joe Johnson were left off Walsh’s list for whatever reason and that is actually pretty releaving because I really don’t want to see either in a Knick uniform.

So without further a do let me break down Walsh’s wish list.

Chris Bosh:

So, obviously adding Bosh would be great but not without adding Lebron or Wade. Now, a lot of people may wonder what Bosh brings to the table that David Lee doesn’t. Lee is a consistent scorer on the offensive end, but Lee’s game is very limited and really is not even close to the level Bosh is currently at. Bosh can command the post like few in this game, and can virtually score from anywhere around basket.

Bosh plays a very similar style to Pau Gasol. Gasol gets a lot of unwarranted hate for being “soft” much like Bosh. Gasol is perhaps one of the most underrated post players in the game today, but since Bosh has been surrounded by players who don’t mesh at all Bosh’s game has suffered mightily. Both players are the perfect #2 options on championship teams, so placing Bosh with either Lebron or Wade would without a doubt make us a contender.

Now comes the very difficult part; Dwyane Wade or Lebron James? Let us first dive into Wade’s World.

Dwyane Wade:

Wade is already ahead of James on my wish list for one reason and one reason only; he’s won a championship. Granted, Wade has struggled with injuries over last few seasons, but the simple fact of the matter is Wade has done something Lebron has not and that is win an NBA title. Wade’s game resembles Allen Iverson’s in a lot of ways, except Wade’s defense is miles ahead of Iverson’s and is a much better team player then Iverson ever was. Granted, I don’t think Wade would of won his championship without Shaq but that is perhaps one of the stupidest arguments in basketball.

Well, Kobe wouldn’t have won any titles without Shaq or Pau, Jordan without Pippen or Rodman, Pierce without KG, the list goes on and on. This argument is tossed around ESPN all the time and it’s beyond infuriating. Wade was the #1 option on the Heat’s championship campaign and Shaq came through as the #2 option, which propelled the Heat to become NBA champions. Kobe has been the #1 option on a championship team once, which was last season. Duncan never would have won any titles without the help of Ginobli and Parker as well.

Wade is one of the best #1 options in the league and has proven he’s capable of carrying a team on his back into the playoffs, but EVERY #1 option needs a #2 option to win a championship and Chris Bosh fills that void.

Wade would absolutely dominate in D’Antoni’s system, but playing alongside Toney Douglas might not be the best fit going forward. Wade won a championship with two of the best passers this game has ever seen in Gary Payton and Jason Williams at the point. If the Knicks can bring in Tony Parker or another veteran point to play with Wade and Bosh anything short of championship would be unacceptable.

Lebron James:

Lebron James is the greatest player in the game today, there is no argument anymore. So obviously I’d love to have him come to the Big Apple, but there are still a lot of question marks that come with Lebron. After watching Lebron take Game 5 and 6 off in this year’s NBA playoffs I lost a lot of respect for Lebron as a player. Wade may not be as talented as Lebron, but Wade would never have taken games off like Lebron did. Lebron is still a very immature player, and that’s pretty frustrating considering just how good he is.

Another big concern I have with Lebron being in New York is all the distractions and pressure he’d have. Lebron is the king of Cleveland, but I’m not sure he could handle being the king of New York. Lebron also plays the same position as 3/4 of our returning players going into next season, including our top-10 lottery pick just two years ago in Danilo Gallinari. We’re already crowded with forwards so adding Lebron would still not fill our major holes on the roster.

Final Verdict:

In closing, adding Bosh and Lebron/Wade would instantly propel the Knicks into contenders going into next season, but in regards to who would be the best fit?

The answer is quite simply, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

Evaluating players before the draft is not easy, but at least you know who you are talking about. Predicting who is going to get picked when is harder. Everyone has their own ranking system, but the big question is whether a team is going to pick the best player available or pick the player who best addresses the team’s needs.

The other question is, what on earth was that GM thinking? The most recent “what was he thinking” award goes to the Minnesota Timberwolves, for using the 5th and 6th draft picks on point guards (Jonny Flynn and Ricky Rubio), followed by having one of them (Rubio) make noises that he would never play for the Wolves, and creating a situation where the other, Flynn, felt unsure of the team’s commitment to him, and for good reason.

So for me to say who will make which pick is guesswork, because every year there are inexplicable decisions made, and there are players drafted in the top 20 whose name you hear when he is selected, but then never again. Comparing mock drafts, I have seen players’ names move twenty spots or more.

Mostly, I’m seeing mocks that describe players, not why they will be picked or what the team is thinking. I already wrote about the players likely to be drafted in the first round, so instead, lets’ discuss what the team should do, not what they will do, because many teams have a weird tendency to pick the same type of player over and over regardless of the results. (Lakers trying to find a point guard, Bulls drafting post players, Houston drafting 3’s, Warriors drafting skilled bigs, etc.) Redundancy makes sense for some teams, but for others it’s stupid. I’ll take those case by case.
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Orlando's Matt Barnes gets a good sniff of Joe Johnson in their series: yeah, JJ stunk (source: Yardbarker.com)

I really love Manu Ginobili, and I would’ve loved to see what he could do as a Knick, but I gotta say I was kinda glad when he recently signed a 3-year deal to stay with the Spurs.  That meant he wouldn’t be available as a huge risk out there tempting the Knicks.  If you look at the players with the 30 Biggest Salaries from this past season, you can pretty much lump ‘em into two categories: the best of the best and the obscenely overpaid injured types.  There’s a serious danger that Manu will fall into Group B.   As exciting as it’d be to see how good he could be as a team’s focal point (rather than Tim Duncan and Tony Parker being the first two options), it’s a bad bet.

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Big summer franchise movies are assembled much like a NBA franchise team. You’ve got the executives who care more about the bottom line (“Let’s sign Allen Iverson — he’ll put butts in the seat” or “Let’s hire Scarlett Johansson — she’ll add sex appeal!”) rather than whether they create a high quality product. They hire the actors, or ball players. The thing is, it’s then up to the coach, or director, to make something out of this collection they were force fed, with their name being on the line. When a movie sucks, how often do you hear, “Man, that studio executive did an awful job?” And days after the Chicago Bulls were eliminated from the playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers, it was coach Vinny Del Negro who got the axe, not GM John Paxson.

For the rest, click here.

Anthony has been in the league 7 years now and been out of the first round once. Now, let that sink in for a second. The best scorer in the league (yes, I went there) and arguably the second best overall player in the league has been out of the first round once. Anthony is just now hitting his prime and the way he plays the game he’ll be playing at this level for years to come.

But back to the Nuggets failures, anyone who actually thought the Nuggets had a shot at making any noise this postseason obviously did not look at this roster or how they play without George Karl. With Karl now dealing with throat and neck cancer his coaching tenure with the Nuggets is in serious jeopardy, and the Nuggets don’t have many options out there.

Billups and Martin come off the books soon, Nene is getting up there in age, Birdman has regressed in a major way, and JR Smith is one of the most selfish players in the game.

But the question that the Nuggets front office is going to have address very soon is whether or not Melo is going to re-sign next summer.

With all the talk surrounding this summer and what LeBron is going to do the media is forgetting one major component and that is Carmelo Anthony.
I can say with the utmost confidence the Knicks have a better chance of landing Melo then LeBron. If the Cavs don’t somehow win it all this summer, I don’t want any part of LeBron.

LeBron also has the luxury of being in the eastern conference, while Melo has to deal with one of the toughest divisions in the NBA every year.

As I’ve said before, Melo has been in the league 7 years and made it out of the first round once. If Melo does bolt to NY next summer, he could quite possibly have the luxury of playing with Joe Johnson, Chris Bosh, and who knows maybe David Lee.

Melo is rotting away in Denver, save him Donnie.

Would YOU want to live in Cleveland? (Source: Yardbarker.com)

1. Okay, everyone knows about this quote ‘cuz the Chicago Bulls’ Joakim Noah has been relentless in his digs at Cleveland. When given a chance to recant after Game #2, he offered this nugget (amongst others):

“I never heard anybody say I’m going to Cleveland on vacation.”

For the other two quotes, check out the end of the article here.

It doesn't matter if you hate Chicago's Derrick Rose. As a Knicks' fan you should root for him to expose Cleveland's Mo Williams so that a certain King will get frustrated and wanna leave the Cavs. (Source: Yardbarker.com)

It’s Fan Appreciation 101 to root for your team to win, but as anyone who’s taken higher classes in Team Supportation knows, that’s just the tip o’ the iceberg.  Sometimes you gotta see the larger picture, which may require you to hope your team actually loses for say a better draft position.  The Indiana Pacers finished the season playing some of their best ball, but that annoyed many true-blooded Indy fans since it destroyed their lottery chances.  Other times, you may root for your team to lose so that the owner finally wises up and sees it has to fire that crappy coach or GM (or both — hello Isiah Thomas and Mike Dunleavy Sr.).

Frequently, as a member of the faithful, you may even have to root for outcomes in games featuring other teams.  Say you’re battling for the 8th seed in the playoffs, then you gotta watch the games involving the other teams in the battle so you can root against them.  Or maybe you’re assured of being in the playoffs, but you know you match up against one team better than another.  Now you gotta cheer for the right teams to win and the wrong ones to lose all so that everything falls perfectly for your one true team.

However, with the Knicks’ eliminated from the playoffs long-ago, what’s a Knick fan to root for?  Things that will help us out in free agency.  I spent the last month of the regular season caring less about the Knicks’ wins/loss total than about the outcome of the Raptors/Bulls’ battle for the final playoff spot.  I figured that if the Raptors don’t make the playoffs, then surely Chris Bosh’s chances of remaining in Toronto drop rapidly.  Does this mean he’s a sure-fire Knick, or even that he’s my top choice?  No, but I like to improve my odds as much as possible.  Had the Pacers finished with the fifth worst record instead of the tenth, they still might not have won the lottery, but it wouldn’t have hurt.

Thus, for a true Knick fan, here are the things for which we should be rooting in order to increase our chances during the free agency period:

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Can NY afford to get David Lee, Chris Bosh AND Rudy Gay? Thanks to the new salary cap and a loophole, let's Barack the answer: Yes we can. (source: Yardbarker.com)

As ESPN reported today:

The New York Knicks and other teams hoarding salary-cap space got some good news Friday when they were told at the league’s Board of Governors meeting that the projected 2010-11 salary cap will be $56.1 million.

That figure was $2 million to $3 million more than most teams had been expecting, and for the Knicks it ensures they have enough cap space this summer to sign two maximum-salary free agents.

Just yesterday Chris Sheridan was reporting that people were expecting the salary cap to be between $52.5 and $54 million, and that anything less than that upper end would make it tough for us to sign two max free agents.  In other words, wipe away that sweat, we’re sitting pretty now.  A few other interesting things gleaned from his article:

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Why hasn't the NBA tried to make the league more female-friendly? The Laker Girls may be friendly females, but that ain't the same, now is it? (source: Yardbarker.com)

Across ESPN’s TrueHoop and a few other sites, there has been a back-and-forth about female basketball fans that I find fascinating.  The initial highly intelligent post on Hardwood Paroxysm was written by Sarah Tolcser, co-author of HornetsHype, and who’s Twitter nom de plume is ticktock6 (yes, that was just my shameless excuse to write “nom de plume” and attempt to sound smart-like).  Unfortunately, a lot of the conversation has gotten caught up in whether the current usage of cheerleaders is an evil, sexist thing, but I find that to be limiting.  The question of how (and perhaps even “whether”) to appeal to female NBA fans is a much larger, more intriguing question to me.

Tolcser cites a stat that 40% of NBA fans are female, a number which shocked me.  I mean I’d always thought instead of the slogan “Where amazing happens” that the league could’ve always used “Where sausage fest happens.”  After all, most sports reporters and writers (and by writers I mean even going all the way down to the people who choose to write comments on blogs like this) tend to be people of the testicular-persuasion.  And honestly, I tend to view males as more the type to get obsessive when they follow ANYTHING, be it sports, Lord Of The Rings, indie-rock bands, whatever.  That’s not to say that there aren’t hard-core female indie-rock followers, but when I picture the over-the-top fan who brags that he only listens to vinyl and has a collection of 6,000 vintage small-label original recordings, I can only see that dork being a guy. (more…)

(source: Yardbarker.com)

After Jordan Hill’s solid play Sunday against the Knicks, Tom Ziller of NBA Fanhouse examined the issue of whether Coach Mike D’Antoni plays rookies:

Hill [...] hardly played for Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni, despite the fact that N.Y. remains one of the worst teams in the league and that the franchise needed all the boosted assets it could manage.  [Hill returned as] a legit rotation player with Houston, mind you.

Hill had tantalized at various times while playing for the Knicks, but he was never given much room to learn and grow and well… time to play.  Many fans rightly felt Coach Mike D’Antoni should’ve given Hill more burn, particularly since it’s been clear for a long, long while that we ain’t making it to the playoffs.  In his return the other day, Hill himself stated that D’Antoni doesn’t like to play rookies.  As we mentioned yesterday, unfortunately D’Antoni responded with his comment that he just doesn’t like to play “bad rookies.”  Other players & fans have also leveled the accusation that Coach D doesn’t play rooks (& truth be told, many coaches prefer to rely on the consistency of vets), but Ziller has D’s back:

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Let's start a rumor that this Team USA moment (where Wade jealously catches LeBron and Kobe laughingly bond) caused a rift. As a defense mechanism, Wade will now pursue Amar'e, while LeBron's goes for Joe. Can't they see true love is right there next to them? --No, not Kobe! I'm talking about each other! (source: Yardbarker.com)

In an ESPN.com article, Mark Stein writes:

It is widely assumed that LeBron James and Chris Bosh are the two marquee free agents Dwyane Wade wants the Heat to pursue starting July 1.

The reality, though, is that Amare Stoudemire should be regarded as no less than an equal in this conversation.

Given all the options and potential outcomes of LeBron’s foray into free agency — and Bosh’s recent insistence during All-Star Weekend that he’s in no rush to relocate just to be regarded as someone else’s sidekick — Stoudemire would appear to be the most signable of the three.

One source close to the situation insisted this week that Wade and Stoudemire are closer than advertised as pals even though they haven’t played together on Team USA since 2004.

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Joe Johnson – Atlanta Hawks

As we discussed after the recent Knicks/Hawks game, JJ has a nice relationship with Coach Mike D’Antoni from their time together in Phoenix, plus the Knicks have somehow managed to look competitive this year in the three games he played against us.  When JJ was on those D’Antoni Suns teams, although he was huge for them, at the time he was considered to be at best their fourth most important player (after Steve Nash, Amar’e Stoudamire & Shawn Marion).  Joe rightly felt he could be more, a centerpiece, and he wanted to be paid accordingly.  Having achieved all that with the Hawks, he now has reached the point most vets get to: the main thing he wants now is the chance to play for a championship.  He is even one of the few stars who has literally put his money where his mouth is and has stated he’d be willing to take a bunch less money to be on such a team.

Now don’t misunderstand: he knows he has a very good thing going with the Hawks and that they are a really, really good team.  He’s not gonna just leave them to play on a mid-level Knick team.  So ignore this quote in the NY Daily News:

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After playing so well, Gallo felt like he was sitting on air. (source: yardbarker)

This year the Atlanta Hawks picked up former Knick Jamal Crawford, who is second on the team in scoring and is the likely winner of the Sixth Man Of The Year Award for the most valuable player off the bench.  In addition, their should-be-All-Star power forward, Josh Smith, aka JSmoove, has taken his game to the next level by no longer settling for hoisting up three-pointers, thus greatly improving his field goal percentage (& shot selection).  As a result, the Hawks have taken that next step to where they’re almost up there with the big boys in the league.  No one would likely pick them to beat Cleveland or Orlando in a seven game series, but they’re no longer the gimmes they used to be.  And if the Cavs or Magic came out with less than their A game, the Hawks could easily come out as victors. All of which makes it more amazing that the Knicks beat the Hawks yet again last night.  Particularly right after losing to one of the historically worst teams ever in the Nets.

To further highlight the difference, in the Nets game the Knicks made negative NBA history by attempting the most threes (18) without hitting one (aka 0).  Against the Hawks, the Knicks came out and went four-for-four from out deep to start the game.  Of course they didn’t keep up that insane pace, but they still finished off hitting 10 of 15, for a whopping 66.6%.  Teams would kill to shoot that well from two-point range, so to do that from beyond the arc is just downright amazing.  And don’t kid yourself into thinking that it has anything to do with the other team’s defense — the Nets are one of the worst teams at defending from the three-point line.

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Bosh revealed that he’s not necessarily interested in playing anywhere that he’s not the clear-cut franchise player.

“That’s a good question,” Bosh said when asked by ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher if he’s bothered by the widespread perception that he’s determined to follow either LeBron James or Dwyane Wade by signing on with one of the teams they choose starting July 1.

“It’s funny you say that, because I was thinking about it. I was just looking at what people say and it’s like, ‘Chris is going to go here and play with him or this, this and that.’ I’m like, ‘Wait a minute.’ I feel like I should be built around. And maybe that’s just my ego talking, but I feel that I’m a very good player in this league and I’m only going to get better. So … maybe we should be getting somebody [in Toronto].”

Bosh would probably be outta Toronto in a sec if one of the three teams in home state Texas were in the running

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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.

[Donnie] Walsh may have found a taker for [Jared] Jeffries, and it also appears that the price he has to pay to get Jeffries off the books is Jordan Hill. The trade, as reported by Yahoo, would send Jeffries, Hill and either Al Harrington or Larry Hughes to Houston for Tracy McGrady, Brian Cook and Joey Dorsey. Draft picks would also exchange hands, in the Rockets’ favor.

With an estimated $53 million cap next summer, the Knicks would stand to have as much as $31.5 million with which to pursue free agents [if this trade goes through]. The cream of the crop — LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh — can each sign for $16.57 million, so the Knicks can almost afford two of them. They would still be about $1.7 million short of making a maximum offer to two of these players.

But they would have options. One scheme would be to sign one of these players for the full $16.57 million and then pursue a player on the next rung down, like Atlanta’s Joe Johnson, who might sign for slightly less.

[...] they would also enter the 2010-11 season with Curry as an ending contract, and therefore as a more valuable trade commodity.

While it’s tough to trade a young player like Jordan Hill before you can fully determine his potential, it’s probably worth it for the added flexibility this summer.  However, word was that the Knicks partly wanted to get rid of Al Harrington so they could free some time up at the power forward spot for Jordan.  Trading them both would likely mean that either Gallo or, yikes, newcomer Brian Cook would split time at the PF slot.  While losing Jordan would be a bummer, the draft picks that Larry Coon briefly mentions sound like we’d be giving up a lot according to Brian Cronin at KnickerBlogger.com who says the trade would also include:

(and here’s the kicker) the right to swap 2011 first round picks, an unprotected 2012 first round pick and possibly a 2010 second round pick.

Due to the Eddy Curry trade/signing, we already lost a draft pick that turned into LaMarcus Aldridge, plus we’re gonna lose this year’s pick (which after we tear the team apart should make us rack up even more losses & guarantee us a top 5 pick). Cronin goes on to say:

Morey deserves a lot of credit for driving an extremely hard bargain, knowing that the Knicks are so desperate for that cap room that they’d give him pretty much anything he wanted.

If the Knicks go out and sign Lebron James and another MAX player like Wade or Bosh (or hell, just Lebron James and other good free agents like David Lee and, I dunno, Marcus Camby), then this trade is clearly a winner. But what are the odds of the Knicks getting the top free agents out there?

The local sportswriters are showering Walsh with praise over the possible deal, suggesting he should get Executive of the Year if the trade goes through, but be sure to ignore those fellows.

I’m with him, partly ‘cuz honestly Jared Jeffries has played rather well this year.  His defense has been great, and his three-point shooting has steadily improved.  Yes, he’s not quite a $7 million player, but for one year?  Particularly for the Rockets who appreciate glue guys like their own Shane Battier.

Personally, like Cronin, I think it’s highly unlikely we get Wade or LeBron, who are really the only game-changers out there.  Maybe we get a Bosh or Joe Johnson or A’m'a’r'e Stoudamire, but they only improve your team a bit, they don’t turn it into a potential title contender.  However, what could help make the trade worth it is the one thing that neither of these articles mentions: maybe McGrady can still be a good player.  Both of those treat him just as an expiring contract to be gotten rid of, but maybe the guy still has something left in the tank.  I believe he’s still only like 30, so he ain’t dead yet.  Sure, he ain’t gonna be the T-Mac of a few years ago who lead the league in scoring & legitimately was thought of as being in the same category as Kobe Bryant.  But what if he’s still solid?  Maybe a collection of Bosh, Joe Johnson, TMac, Wilson Chandler & Danilo Gallinari could be dangerous.  Let’s see if we get a chance to find out.