Apr 22, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Randy Foye (4) shoots over Atlanta Hawks guard Kirk Hinrich (6) during the first half at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Paul Abell-US PRESSWIRE

The sign-and-trade – which would likely involve a combination Dan Gadzuric, and perhaps Josh Harrellson, Jerome Jordan, or Toney Douglas – would be huge for the Knicks. Not only would it not cost them much in terms of valuable, pivotal players, but the ability to keep the mini-MLE would be a huge advantage in trying to attract another free agent. But who?

It’s been said the Knicks will undoubtedly match the Houston Rockets’ offer to Jeremy Lin, and they plan to re-sign Steve Novak and J.R. Smith (though it’s been quiet on those fronts), but there are several positional holes left on the roster.

On one hand, if the sign-and-trade for Kidd goes through, the Knicks may be bare upfront. Harrellson and Jordan are supposed to be on the Knicks’ Summer League roster, and could play minutes off the bench if they appear ready. However, without them, the Knicks’ really would only have Tyson Chandler and Amar’e Stoudemire as rotation bigs. Jared Jeffries could be re-signed (and has expressed interest), but there hasn’t been any evidence that the Knicks are working towards that.

Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports claims the Knicks and Miami Heat are currently front-runners to land Marcus Camby. The Heat could offer Camby a role as starting center, but they currently have their eyes mainly set on Ray Allen. While Camby wouldn’t start for the Knicks, he and Tyson Chandler would tighten the Knicks’ center rotation and form a formidable defensive duo that would keep the Knicks from falling into any defensive lapses while one of them sits.

Shooting guard is also a weakness of the Knicks’. Iman Shumpert would surely be the starting two-guard, but may not return until December or January while he recovers from a torn ACL. As mentioned, J.R. Smith is still a free agent. Landry Fields is likely Toronto-bound, and while the Knicks recently acquired James White, a wing player from the Euroleague, they may look for a guard in free agency who’s more ready to contribute.

The Knicks have been linked to Randy Foye as a possible addition. Foye can play both guard positions, and would be a good fit next to either Lin or Kidd, off the bench or starting. For his career Foye boasts a career average of 36% from beyond the arc, and the Knicks are well aware of his scoring prowess after he knocked down four three-pointers en route to a 28-point performance when the Los Angeles Clippers visited MSG in April. Likewise, though Foye has never averaged over three assists per game in a season, he’s capable of running an offense when thrust into the position. In the 2010-11 season, he averaged four assists per game as the Clippers’ starting point guard, and his per-36 numbers for his career all hover around five assists per game.

However, this is all assuming the Knicks keep their mini-MLE by trading for Kidd. If they are forced to sign him, the Knicks could try a similar sign-and-trade for Camby with Houston (a team looking to cut costs) or the Clippers for Foye. If they look to add pieces through the veteran’s minimum, perhaps former-Knick Ronny Turiaf could be an option upfront. A number of cheap options could be had at the shooting guard position.

The details of Jason Kidd’s deal and Ray Allen’s decision will both be pivotal factors in the Knicks’ free agency crusade.

This previous offseason, with very little money to spend and presumably no big tricks up their sleeves, the Knicks managed to surprise everyone by using the amnesty clause on Chauncey Billups and pulling off a sign-and-trade for Tyson Chandler, a well-known, respected center. The franchise reveled in causing one of the biggest free agency splashes in the league.

This summer, the Knicks once again shook up the headlines when they were awarded the Early Bird Rights for Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak. It was assumed the Knicks would re-sign both players, while bringing back fellow free agents J.R. Smith and Landry Fields. To top it all off, the Knicks would have $3 million to spend on an additional player, perhaps a veteran point guard to bring off the bench.

But once again, the Knicks have set their sights high: this time on Steve Nash.

Nash, one of the all-time great point guards the NBA has ever seen, is one of the prize free agents of this year’s class. He would do wonders helping to mentor Jeremy Lin, running the offense, finding a balance between the Knicks’ Big Three of Stoudemire, Anthony, and Chandler. Nash would bring potency from behind the arc. He would become a guiding voice in the Knicks’ locker room; a player that everyone respects. Yet signing Steve Nash outright will be nearly impossible for the Knicks.

Thus, sign-and-trade rumors between the Phoenix Suns and Knicks have emerged.

Steve Nash is being courted by a number of suitors, but it’s been suggested that the Toronto Raptors and Knicks are the two front-runners. The Raptors have reportedly offered a whopping 3-year/$36-million deal to Nash, which would make the opportunity to play in his home country difficult to turn down. However, some sources say that Nash prefers New York. The sign-and-trade with Phoenix would allow Nash to receive more money, and still land in his preferred location without sacrificing over $20 million by taking New York’s mini mid-level exception over Toronto’s gargantuan offer.

Where the problem lies, however, is what the Knicks would have to give up in order to get Nash. The Suns aren’t in a position to bargain since in almost all other scenarios, Nash would leave for nothing. However, Phoenix would likely want something in return. In the most preferable, but least likely situation, the Knicks would send Toney Douglas, Josh Harrellson, and the non-guaranteed contracts of Jerome Jordan and Dan Gadzuric, in which case Phoenix could waive the last two players, and retain two young, cheap players of the Knicks’.

But common sense says that Phoenix would like something a little meatier. Iman Shumpert’s name has been thrown into the mix, but Alan Hahn insists that he’s been given no indication that anyone in the Knicks’ front office would be willing to part with Shumpert. Landry Fields could be signed and then packaged with some of the players mentioned above.

Steve Nash is an all-time great, but in any of the above scenarios, the Knicks are sending away almost all of their developing youth. Though they’re all fairly modest players now, Shumpert, Fields, Harrellson, Jordan, and Toney Douglas (if he ever regains his confidence) are all nice, young players that could be stepping stools when the Big Three’s contracts expire in three years.

The Knicks’ pursuit of Nash also could be rubbing some of their current free agents the wrong way. Jeremy Lin believes he’s ready to be the floor general for a contending team now, and he’s currently waiting in limbo for the Nash issues to be sorted out. The Knicks can match any offers towards Lin, but the longer the Knicks wait, the antsier Lin could get. He could demand more money from the Knicks, or match an offer sheet to a “poison pill” contract, forcing the Knicks to match. Lin did just drop out of the U.S. Select Team yesterday due to contractual issues.

Other free agents like Fields, Novak (the Knicks can match offers on both), and J.R. Smith are waiting around too, and could be more likely to bolt, ask for more money, or sign offer sheets from other teams the longer they’re forced to wait.

Likewise, Steve Nash has a chronic spine issue that he’s dealt with over the past few years. His achy back often causes him to leave games early, or be attended to on the sidelines. Without the Phoenix training staff – a group has commendably extended the careers of Nash, Stoudemire, Grant Hill, and Michael Redd, to name a few – how well would Nash hold up? Especially considering he’d be in New York where the weather is harsher on bones and muscles than the dry heat of Phoenix.

This isn’t to say going after Nash is a bad move – if it’s a step towards a championship, and perhaps to the Knicks’ front office, the step to a championship. Yet things aren’t always as simple as they seem, and signing and trading for Steve Nash could come with some consequences.

Time to hand out some grades for the '11-12 Knicks

We’ve had some time to settle down from the Miami series and look back on the season that was. For better or for worse, 2011-12 was an entertaining season for the New York Knicks. The number of identities this team took on feel like something out of Nyjer Morgan’s imagination.

What we’re going to try and do is grade what each player brought to the team this season in regards to the expectations surrounding that player entering the year. For example, since the expectations for a Mike Bibby are completely different for a Carmelo Anthony, if Bibby gets a higher grade than ‘Melo, I’m not saying Bibby was/is a better player. All I would be saying is that Mike Bibby was expected to be a spare part, while Carmelo was the face of the team that under-performed at some points.

OK. Let’s get into this.

Head of the Class - 

Tyson Chandler – A+

- There is no question that from the start of the season to the end, Chandler was the most consistent and balanced Knick on the court. He brought defense to a team that has been dearth of effort on that end of the court since Mike D’Antoni took over, as evident by his Defensive Player of the Year trophy. Plus, the combination of Chandler and Mike Woodson did the impossible: they made Carmelo Anthony hustle. Not to mention, Chandler had an insane field goal possession.

“A” Students - 

Iman Shumpert  - A

Very few Knicks fans actually liked the selection of Shumpert in last year’s first round, and I include myself in that field. However, he certainly out-performed any expectations that were placed on him, and he’s shown that he has the potential to become an elite talent in this league. He broke the starting line-up in his rookie season, and will be, at the worst, a Tony Allen-type player in his career. That’s not a bad floor to have.

Jeremy Lin – A-

The only reason Lin is graded a step lower than Shumpert is simply because he played less games. We know what we all saw from Lin-sanity, but we’re still a little cautious as to just how real that all was. With that being said, unless the Knicks decide to go in a different direction, Jeremy Lin should be their starting point guard next season, and he’ll be a good one, too.

“B” Street -

Steve Novak – B+

What else is there to say about Steve Novak at this point? He led the NBA in 3-pt % and was an absolute force from beyond the arc. The Knicks picked him off the waiver wire scrap heep, so the fact that he made such an impact on the team is why he gets this high of a grade.

Jared Jeffries – B-

I mean, what were we really expecting from Jeffries this year? Energy off the bench, taking a ton of charges and playing strong defense. Check, check and check. At this point, we know what Jared Jeffries is capable of doing and what’s unrealistic to expect. He’s a nice piece to have on the bench, and he proved that yet again this season.

Average “C”s

Carmelo Anthony – C+

OK, time to explain why ‘Melo falls this low. We really went through three different levels of Anthony this season. Out of the gates, he was a flat-out F, playing terrible basketball, looking stagnant on offense and not seeming to give a crap either way. Then, after D’Antoni’s ouster, he played like an MVP, tearing up offensively and playing defense with more vigor. Once we got to the playoffs, it looked like he was trying too hard and his game suffered because of it. Carmelo Anthony was a big reason why the Knicks got to the #7 seed, positively and negatively. He’s also a big reason why they only won one playoff game. This year, he gets a grade a little above average because of the expectations, which only grow after this season.

Baron Davis – C

Remember the time we all thought once Baron Davis got healthy from his initial back problem, he was going to save our season? Oops. Baron Davis didn’t have an impactful year, but he also held his own when he was in the line-up. Unfortunately for Boom Dizzle, it looks like his career is over after that brutal knee injury in Game 4.

J.R. Smith – C

Smith is an interesting case. He absolutely became the Knicks Irrational Confidence Guy off the bench, and there were games he absolutely dominated in that role. However, there were just as many games where Smith was jacking up way too many 3s without getting teammates involved. He was like Al Harrington on steroids when it came to getting the ball on the wing and putting up a shot. I’d like to see Smith return next year because he can be a real valuable sixth man, but it has to be at the right price.

Josh Harrellson – C

This isn’t a knock on Jorts. Instead, he look real good when he did play. But, he didn’t play nearly enough to surpass all expectations this year. He has a solid future moving forward in New York.

“D” List Celebrities 

Landry Fields – D+

Fields was not a complete disappointment, but he definitely regressed in his second season. He showed flashes of Rookie Fields, but Sophomore Fields just didn’t seem to play the game the same way. He didn’t rebound as well, nor score with as much consistency. Maybe it was just a sophomore slump, maybe it was something more. We won’t know until next season which is the real Landry.

Amar’e Stoudemire – D

The amount of times I merely shook my head at a Stoudemire stat line was too many. He was not remotely close to the same player the Knicks gave a max contract to in the off-season of 2010. This all could have been a result of trying to play so many games in a short period of time, or this could be a sign that ‘Melo and STAT will never work. Trust me, this is one of the biggest questions circling around the Knicks front office this off-season.

Mike Bibby – D

He played a couple of games. He didn’t play them really well. That’s Mike Bibby.

Fail

Toney Douglas – F

And a capital F. Toney went from potential starting point guard and strong sixth man to 13th man on the bench. How? We may never know. When he did play this season, he didn’t play well at all. So, its not like the demotion was unjust. I guess we all should be thanking Douglas a little, though. Without him playing so poorly, Mike D’Antoni would’ve never thought to insert Jeremy Lin into the line-up. So, there’s that.

In-com-plete

Jerome Jordan

Was I supposed to be able to judge what this guy can do in the long-term based off his very limited exposure this season?

Dan Gadzuric

Wait…he was on the team????

According to Seth Rosenthal over at Posting and Toasting, Josh Harrellson will be out an extended period of time after suffering a fractured wrist in last night’s loss to the Denver Nuggets.

This is obviously crushing news for the Knicks who can ill afford to lose another big body inside. Jorts is a guy who has brought pretty much everything the team needs so far, and without him someone else is going to have to step up and give the Knicks solid minutes off the bench.

In the meantime it looks like you will probably see more minutes from Novak, Jefferies, Balkman and possibly even Jordan in order to try and replace the minutes provided previously by Harrelson.

At this moment it is not known how long Harrelson will be out for.

We will deal with the second question first as we got our answer on Saturday against the Sacramento Kings. Mike D’Antoni made the decision to start rookie Josh Harrellson, a potentially controversial decision given Jorts’ lack of experience and D’Antoni’s other options which would have allowed the Knicks to play small ball—a type of basketball that Coach D’Antoni has become infamous for utilizing in his game plans.

Despite the nature of the decision, Josh Harrellson’s play did more than enough to vindicate D’Antoni call to start the rookie; in the end Harrellson finished with an impressive line of 14 points which included 4 three pointers on 50% shooting from behind the arc to go along with 12 rebounds and a steal.

More impressive than just his stat line, was his defensive effort. Harrellson made a noticeable impact both individually as well as on rotations for this New York Knick defense. Granted, it was only one game against an enigmatic team in the Sacramento Kings but Jorts certainly showed he potentially has what it takes to make a difference for this team defensively and on the boards.

Defense, along with point guard play, has been a big issue for the Knicks so far this season, and being able to shore up that defense by (more…)

Who will D'Antoni start in place of the injured Stoudemire?

Just when you thought things couldn’t quite get any worse, they do. Amar’e Stoudemire will sit out tonight’s contest against the Sacramento Kings after suffering a sprained ankle on Thursday night against the Lakers.

This is rather unfortunate news for the  Knicks who could certainly use a win against the Kings to get back on track, after suffering a pair of unfortunate losses against Golden State and the Lakers. (more…)

In the second round of last Thursday’s draft, the Knicks selected Josh Harrellson of Kentucky. The Knicks, who did not originally have a second round pick, purchased the 45th pick from New Orleans in order to take the Wildcat senior. Just like Landry Fields last season, the Knicks are hoping they found another diamond in the rough that can help make an immediate impact. (more…)

Another year, another unconventional draft pick in New York. This time around the Knicks chose to go with Georgia Tech combo guard Iman Shumpert, a guy who until just a couple weeks ago wasn’t on anybody’s first round radar. Last night my immediate reaction was to compare Shumpert with Renaldo Balkman, but after cooling down for a couple hours, it’s conclusive that things look a little rosier now than they did back then. Hopefully. (more…)