Later today, the Knicks braintrust will make the pitch they’ve been prepping for the better part of two years. It’ll start with something along these lines:
“LeBron, we want you in New York.”
What happens after that? There’s a wide range of potential possibilities.
Option One: Sign Three Free Agents
Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated suggested the Knicks will attempt to convince LeBron James and two other top free agents to sign as a group. The problem with that scenario: the Knicks don’t have the cap room to make three “max” offers, so James and the other two signees – say, Joe Johnson and Amar’e Stoudemire – would have to accept less money. Bear in mind – they’d already be sacrificing significant money by leaving their current teams. Frankly, I don’t see it happening.
Option Two: Sign Two Max Free Agents
This might be the most reasonable scenario – and the one Knicks fans have been buzzing about since Donnie Walsh’s trade deadline deals put the Knicks far enough under the salary cap to make two max offers. The Knicks could attempt to sign LeBron outright and add a second max player – a big man like Chris Bosh or a perimeter player like Johnson, perhaps – and then fill out the roster with players at or near the league’s minimum salary.
Option Three: One Max and other help
What if the Knicks get LeBron’s signature on a contract, but the other big names – Dwyane Wade, Stoudemire, Bosh, Johnson – all sign elsewhere? The Knicks could surround James with players who won’t necessarily command the max – maybe re-signing David Lee and adding a guard like Charlotte’s Raymond Felton and a shooter like Mike Miller, maybe even a defensive specialist like Josh Childress.
Would James sign with the Knicks knowing none of his Team USA buddies would be tagging along? That’s unclear – but that scenario might actually give the Knicks the best possible 12-man roster for the upcoming season.
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Original Story:
http://blogs.msg.com/gameon/2010/07/0...
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