Knicks gain cap space by dealing top scorersby Marc Berman, New York Post
LeBron James steps foot inside the Garden on Tuesday night, and Friday Knicks president Donnie Walsh took two giant steps closer to making room for the King of Cleveland in the summer of 2010. In a historic day of frenzied Knicks trading, Walsh blew up the roster, made two blockbusters, dishing his two leading scorers in Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph, getting in return two Jersey products, Al Harrington and Tim Thomas, as well as Cuttino Mobley.
It does not make the Knicks a better team this season, but the three hired guns with short-term deals put the Knicks in great shape to be $18.5 million under the salary cap to give James the maximum contract when he's a free agent. Crawford made $10 million in 2010-11 and Randolph made $17.5 million. That's $27.5 million in cap savings.
If Walsh can also trade Eddy Curry's long-term deal, Walsh could be in position to sign two maximum players during the star-studded free-agent class of 2010 that also includes Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Amare Stoudemire.
"This goes back to my first press conference when I said we need to competitive for two years, then have cap flexibility after that," Walsh said in a conference call Friday night while the undermanned Knicks faced the Bucks at Bradley Center. "I think I accomplished both goals and brought in three players who can adapt to Mike's style."
The Crawford-for-Harrington trade was announced in the afternoon, and three hours later Walsh sent Randolph and Mardy Collins to the Clippers for Thomas and Mobley. The Knicks had seven healthy bodies and by league rules were forced to dress Stephon Marbury.
Knocking the Knicks Just when the Knicks were becoming watchable again, they sacrificed their present for an uncertain future, says FOXSports.com NBA analyst Charley Rosen. Crawford and Randolph raised their trade value in leading the Knicks to a solid 6-5 start entering Friday night's game in Milwaukee. Crawford was averaging 19.6 points and Randolph 20.5. Walsh may have felt the Knicks were headed south from here and needed to capitalize on the two players' revived trade values.
According to Players' Association attorney Ron Klempner, the salary cap for 2010 is expected to be about $64.6 million. The Knicks would need to have a payroll of roughly $46 million to give James the maximum wage.
With Crawford and Randolph gone, the Knicks have four players signed in 2010-11 for $24 million: Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Curry and Jared Jeffries. If they could also ship Curry, that would also give Walsh a chance to re-sign David Lee and Nate Robinson and give James a young nucleus to join.
"You just can't expect a guy to come to a team because it has a building" Walsh said. "It has to be a good team to be put around whoever that is."
However, the Knicks could be awful. They had just seven healthy bodies entering last night, forcing outcast Stephon Marbury to dress, though he refused to play.
"Obviously, I want to think about that now," Walsh said.
The disgruntled Harrington, who can play small or power forward, has a contract that expires after the 2009-10 season and his addition emboldened Walsh to move Randolph.
"It's always going to be a possibility that one day the face of the franchise is going to change," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "Donnie's plan is pretty clear, that in a couple of years we'll be under the cap. Everything we do will lead us to the possibility of being under the cap in two years. Then I'll deal with making sure the team is competitive.
"I want to dispel the notion we did it just to clear space. We're not throwing away this year and thinking we're not making the playoffs."
Making the playoffs truly does not seem a priority after this move. Without a first-round pick for 2010, the Knicks may be content with a lottery pick for this year's draft to boost their roster to attract James.