New York Sports Fan Blog

After missing out on LeBron earlier this offseason, it appears the Knicks are now moving their sights onto another young superstar. Chris Paul has recently asked the Hornets to trade him, giving them a list of teams with the Knicks on the top of his list. This news coming after Chris Paul made a toast at Carmello Anthony’s wedding to the big 3 in NY (Paul, Anthony, and Stoudemire) to compete against the big three in Miami. The Knicks have the assets to make the trade, and it seems like a strong possibility the Hornets will trade Paul, so will the Knicks get two coveted superstars in the offseason after all?

It seems like a strong possibility. New Orleans is a team in transition. They have a new GM, a new head coach and no great talent next to Paul. They have a lot of bad contracts and Paul realizes they will not be able to compete for a title any time soon. He saw LeBron leave and form his big three and now he wants one of his own. The Hornets are a small market team, and while keeping Paul helps their ticket sales, he can also hurt them if he isn’t buying into the system. The new guys don’t need someone questioning their system, and they don’t need a player constantly telling their fans the team will never be successful. In addition the Hornets could pick up a lot by trading Paul. There are a lot of young players available to them, and you bet they are going to be able to unload a bad contract or two. They are a team that is not going to compete now. With a new coach and GM why not start a rebuilding project.

For the Knicks they have the players to acquire Paul. Anthony Randolph, Danillo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Toney Douglas, and Bill Walker are young players with a lot of upside. Package any of those guys with a few 2nd round draft picks or a 2014 first round pick, in addition to taking on a bad contract like an Emeka Okefor or a James Posey, and the Knicks have an attractive offer. Definitely competitive with the other teams on Paul’s list, the Mavericks, Magic, and Trail Blazers.

So New Orleans have reasons to trade Paul, the Knicks have the means to get him, so will they get him and more importantly should they get him? For the first question I believe if the Knicks want Paul they will get him. Perhaps it is my NY bias, but there is a lot going in their favor. First, Paul has picked them above any of the other teams, and while New Orleans has the final say, I am sure it has some play. Second the Knicks can offer so much to the Hornets, with the Blazers the only team that can really match it.

So, yes I believe the Knicks will get Paul if they want him, but should they want him. Well it depends. If you can get Paul with keeping your flexibility open to get Mello later, that would be a no brainer. Imagine a big three in NY that could stick it to Pat Riley and those guys in South Beach. But my feeling is that to get Paul they would need to take on Okefor and Posey all while giving Curry’s expiring contract up. So depending on what young guys we have to give up, we could have a team with Stoudemire, Paul, and a lot of big contracts for guys that don’t exactly fit the system. We would lose all the flexibility we worked to get. While we might not be assured a player next offseason, I believe the Knicks could get either Tony Parker or Mello, even with a new CBA looming. They can achieve this and keep their young players and flexibility.

It is extremely tempting to want to get Paul, and if the deal makes sense I am sure the Knicks will make it. But if the deal costs too much the Knicks won’t and shouldn’t do it, and will instead wait till Dec 15 or next offseason.

by Evan Slavit at the Sports Fan Blog Network

Knicks blogs these days have only been harping on whether or not superstar Lebron James will come to New York in the offseason. I understand plan A (whether Walsh will refer to it as that or not) was to clear enough cap space to entice James and another superstar to come to the Knicks, but what if he doesn’t come?

He has plenty of other options, including staying in Cleveland, joining Derrick Rose in Chicago, going to Jay-Z and the Nets, or even the Clippers. So what do the Knicks do if he doesn’t come?

Aside from James the other top names available are Chris Bosh, Amare Stoudemire, Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki and Joe Johnson. There are plenty of other players available, but if the Knicks are looking for a star, they have to sign one of these guys—unless they plan on working out a trade for a player like Chris Paul or more surprisingly Carmelo Anthony.

I do not see Wade signing with the Knicks. He has never given any sign that he is interested in New York and from all indications he likes Miami. Most sources have said he would like to stay put with the hope Miami can bring in another top player this off-season. If Wade does leave, it will most likely be for Chicago, his hometown and a team that is already set up pretty well.

Putting a trade aside and taking Lebron and Wade out of the mix, I think the Knicks best option is to sign Joe Johnson.

Bosh is good, but he has failed to prove he is good enough to lead a team to the playoffs or a championship. He has missed the playoffs the past two seasons and the two years he made it his team was eliminated in the first round. Personally I don’t think he is that much better than David Lee and if Lee could be signed for 10-12 million I would rather that than the 18 million they would have to pay Bosh. Plus I doubt Bosh would come to New York without Lebron signing anyway.

Amare has proven to be dynamic, but he has health issues and is worse at defense than Lee is. As for Dirk, there is no way he leaves Dallas for New York unless a really good player is coming with him.

Joe Johnson has proven he can lead a young team to the playoffs. He is a professional in the locker room and is the scorer the Knicks need for down the stretch. In addition there is a chance the Knicks will be able to sign him for less than the maximum.

With the extra cap space they could sign a proven point guard like Raymond Felton, or trade for Darren Collison from the Hornets as it is believed he will be available. They could send Curry’s expiring contract alongside Wilson Chandler for Collison and Emeka Okefor solving their issues at both point guard and center.

They might even have enough left to re-sign fan-favorite David Lee. Lee has been working on his 3-point shooting and improving his defense, if all goes well he could slide over to power forward and play at an All-Star level.

If they could pull these moves off the Knicks would sport a starting line-up that consisted of Collison at point guard, Joe Johnson at shooting guard, Danilo Gallinari at small forward, David Lee at power forward, and Emeka Okafor at center. They would also have Bill Walker, Toney Douglas and their two second-round picks on the bench.

There are a lot of options out there and this is just one of the possibilities. Not only would this be a very good offensive unit, but a top-notch defensive one. I truly believe the Knicks can assemble a team like this, and it can easily lead the Knicks back to the playoffs, and possibly even a championship. It just goes to show you that there is more to talk about than Lebron.

by Evan Slavit at the Sports Fan Blog Network