knicks will meet with free agents and Carmelo Anthony
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Last updated: Wednesday June 30, 2010, 10:30 PM
BY STEVE ADAMEK
The Record
STAFF WRITER
It began with sales-pitches to Joe Johnson, Amar’e Stoudemire and Mike Miller early this morning, plus a sitdown, according to a report out of Denver, with Carmelo Anthony, who could be traded this summer.
All preliminaries to today’s mother-lode: a meeting with LeBron James this afternoon in his native Akron, Ohio.
It will also include visits with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh (clearly gettable now via a sign-and-trade deal) in Chicago, rather than New York as initially planned, plus other “lesser” free agents in the days to come.
The Knicks magical mystery (free-agent) tour began late Wednesday Los Angeles time with, for the moment, the most money to spend. But if Miami completes a rumored Bosh deal with Toronto, it could leave them with him, plus enough salary-cap room to re-sign Wade, plus give a third player close to the max.
Yet, conspicuous by his absence amid all the names on the Knicks’ radar screen is their best player the past two seasons.
Someone who averaged more rebounds (11.7) than fellow power forward free agents Bosh, Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer and Dirk Nowitzki (expected to stay in Dallas), plus 20.2 points.
David Lee is free _ and for now, apparently a Knicks afterthought.
That could change if all else, or much of it, fails _ except he may be gone if it does.
“As much as David would like to wait around and see what’s going to happen, because he does have a big interest in going back to the Knicks, we really just can’t afford to do that,” Lee’s agent Mark Bartelstein said. “We don’t have any idea if the Knicks are going to be there for us.”
Lee, who did not return e-mail messages for comment, said recently in an on-line interview, “I want to be here in New York … [but] it kind of starts from the top.”
Meaning, as he said at the end of last season, that LeBron has to start the dominoes falling before teams get to Lee.
“I’m sure there’ll be some teams that may come to the party late because they’re waiting for some dominoes to fall,” Bartelstein said.
“But from our standpoint, there’s a number of teams that are interested in doing something with David right away … [and] if David feels like, ‘Hey, this is great, this is a great place for me,’ then we’ll probably pull the trigger.”
Bosh, Stoudemire and Nowitzki are likely to demand and receive max-contract offers that Lee won’t, although his agent wouldn’t say what he’s seeking for his client.
However, after signing a $7 million, one-year deal with the Knicks last summer, it’s almost certain he’ll start with the $10 million-plus asking price he didn’t get a year ago.
“I think David’s going to be an unbelievable value, when you look at what some of those other guys are asking for and [what] they get,” Bartelstein said.
But as Knicks president Donnie Walsh put it recently when asked about Lee’s chances of staying in the context of his master plan, “I can’t predict how everything [else] will fall.”
The reported Anthony meeting represents a new twist, as the 2011 free agent could end up being traded if he and the Nuggets don’t reach a contract-extension agreement.
Stoudemire, meanwhile, opted out of his contract Tuesday with the Suns, but still plans to keep talking with them while keeping his options open with the Knicks.
Bosh-to-Miami, meanwhile, isn’t a done deal and the Knicks could get involved by offering Lee in a sign-and-trade (to which Lee would have to agree).
As for Johnson, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports he’ll get a max offer from the Hawks. Thus, the Knicks could come up $30 million short of getting him.
It began with sales-pitches to Joe Johnson, Amar’e Stoudemire and Mike Miller early this morning, plus a sitdown, according to a report out of Denver, with Carmelo Anthony, who could be traded this summer.
AP
If an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report is true, Joe Johnson will get a max offer from the Hawks — and the Knicks (despite Johnson’s past connection with Mike D’Antoni in Phoenix) could come up $30 million short of signing him. All preliminaries to today’s mother-lode: a meeting with LeBron James this afternoon in his native Akron, Ohio.
It will also include visits with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh (clearly gettable now via a sign-and-trade deal) in Chicago, rather than New York as initially planned, plus other “lesser” free agents in the days to come.
The Knicks magical mystery (free-agent) tour began late Wednesday Los Angeles time with, for the moment, the most money to spend. But if Miami completes a rumored Bosh deal with Toronto, it could leave them with him, plus enough salary-cap room to re-sign Wade, plus give a third player close to the max.
Yet, conspicuous by his absence amid all the names on the Knicks’ radar screen is their best player the past two seasons.
Someone who averaged more rebounds (11.7) than fellow power forward free agents Bosh, Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer and Dirk Nowitzki (expected to stay in Dallas), plus 20.2 points.
David Lee is free _ and for now, apparently a Knicks afterthought.
That could change if all else, or much of it, fails _ except he may be gone if it does.
“As much as David would like to wait around and see what’s going to happen, because he does have a big interest in going back to the Knicks, we really just can’t afford to do that,” Lee’s agent Mark Bartelstein said. “We don’t have any idea if the Knicks are going to be there for us.”
Lee, who did not return e-mail messages for comment, said recently in an on-line interview, “I want to be here in New York … [but] it kind of starts from the top.”
Meaning, as he said at the end of last season, that LeBron has to start the dominoes falling before teams get to Lee.
“I’m sure there’ll be some teams that may come to the party late because they’re waiting for some dominoes to fall,” Bartelstein said.
“But from our standpoint, there’s a number of teams that are interested in doing something with David right away … [and] if David feels like, ‘Hey, this is great, this is a great place for me,’ then we’ll probably pull the trigger.”
Bosh, Stoudemire and Nowitzki are likely to demand and receive max-contract offers that Lee won’t, although his agent wouldn’t say what he’s seeking for his client.
However, after signing a $7 million, one-year deal with the Knicks last summer, it’s almost certain he’ll start with the $10 million-plus asking price he didn’t get a year ago.
“I think David’s going to be an unbelievable value, when you look at what some of those other guys are asking for and [what] they get,” Bartelstein said.
But as Knicks president Donnie Walsh put it recently when asked about Lee’s chances of staying in the context of his master plan, “I can’t predict how everything [else] will fall.”
The reported Anthony meeting represents a new twist, as the 2011 free agent could end up being traded if he and the Nuggets don’t reach a contract-extension agreement.
Stoudemire, meanwhile, opted out of his contract Tuesday with the Suns, but still plans to keep talking with them while keeping his options open with the Knicks.
Bosh-to-Miami, meanwhile, isn’t a done deal and the Knicks could get involved by offering Lee in a sign-and-trade (to which Lee would have to agree).
As for Johnson, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports he’ll get a max offer from the Hawks. Thus, the Knicks could come up $30 million short of getting him.
7/1/2010 12:29 AM