It may have taken over 10 years, but the New York Knicks have finally acquired their best player since Patrick Ewing. Madison Square Garden, say hello to the first piece of the puzzle.
Though the move had been anticipated for several days, the Knicks officially locked up Amar'e Stoudemire on Monday night to a five year deal worth almost one hundred million dollars. The 27 year old Stoudemire was able to receive the max contract he had hoped for and the Knicks have now made sure they will not come out of Summer 2010 empty handed.
The naysayers will quickly point out that Amar'e Stoudemire is not Lebron James and rightfully so. Lebron was and is still the ultimate goal, but Amar'e Stoudemire is the first piece in a puzzle Donnie Walsh has planned to construct for two years. Acquiring one of the games best Power Forwards is something all Knicks fans should cheer. Stoudemire is a 5 time All Star with big game experience. His 42 points in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals showed he is ready to elevate his game when his team needs him most.
Above all, Stoudemire gives the Knicks a face. Their pitch to other free agents becomes significantly stronger. Lebron can now look to New York and see that he could be playing with someone better then anyone he has ever played with in Cleveland. Lebron was adamant in his request for Amar'e to become a Cavalier before last year's deadline and the Cavs responded by giving him Antwan Jamison. In New York, Amar'e and Lebron could potentially form the most deadly pick and roll in NBA history.
It originally seemed that Mike D'Antoni would hinder the Knicks from signing Amare. However, the past differences between the two have obviously been worked out. Amare knows how effective he can be playing for D'Antoni. He averaged 25 points per game and shot 59% from the field during their last season together in Phoenix. The critics will point out that Amare is not the biggest defensive presence, but in D'Antoni's system there is much more emphasis on the offensive side of the floor.
The next step for the Knicks should be to maneuver a sign and trade with David Lee. The Amare acquisition all but closes the door on Lee returning next season so Donnie Walsh should move quickly to acquire something for Lee while he still can. For as good as Lee has been over the past few seasons, Amare is certainly far and away better.
The plan for the Knicks was to get better. Signing Amare Stoudemire will make any team better so give the Knicks credit for accomplishing that. They still have plenty of salary cap space so Amare should know that more help is on the way. If that help comes from Cleveland then Knicks fans can look to Amare as the spark that started the fire.
I hope they get 5 good years out of him... I heard Phoenix was only offering 70 mil because they were concerned that by year 4 he would start to break down.
ReplyDeleteBummed like everyone else in NY that the Knicks did not get Lebron. I hate that we gave up 2 picks to clear space, they really need to reevaluate and come up with a better long term plan. I get the sense that everyone in the East is going to be looking up at the Heat for the next 5 years so the Knicks should only sign quality free agents and try and develop some young talent like the Nets.
Unfortunately this reminds of the Jordan years. Teams would put up a good fight but you always had the sense that they were going to loose to Chicago in the end but you wanted to see how...