Knicks Are Screwed With the Cap Too

So it ends up that the New York Rangers aren't the only team that plays in Madison Square Garden that is having some cap troubles. And the other team is not the Liberty (have no clue how close they are to the $803,000 cap...still amazed by that number). According to this ESPN article, it's the New York Knickerbockers, who, despite Donnie Walsh trying him damnest may not be in as good a cap position when King James, D-Wade, Chris Bosh and others becoming free agents. This isn't necessarily even a fault of their own (though, we all know, no one forced them to sign Eddie Curry or Jared Jeffries). It seems like the bad economy may doom the Knicks as well.

The key for the Knicks may lie in the trade market. Although my two favorite Knicks are David Lee and "Krypto-" Nate Robinson, it may be a good time to trade them. In Mike D'Antoni's run-and-gun offense, David Lee has become a double-double machine. Krypto-Nate won the slam dunk contest for a second time and solidified his place in the spotlight. Then he went out last night and dropped 32 points, with four 3-pointers, 10 rebounds, three assists and one steal in 38 minutes in an OT win against San Antonio. They both have drawbacks as well. Lee isn't particularly great at any one aspect in the game. He's a pretty good rebounder, but his scoring and defense in any other system may get exposed. Robinson hasn't shown that he can be the go-to-guy at the point guard position over the course of a full season.

So maybe the time is now to trade them...but only if they go in a package with Curry and/or Jeffries AND they bring back contracts that will expire by the time that summer hits. Raef Lafrentz has never looked better in a Knicks uniform. Chad Ford has one idea for a trade with the Bulls that makes some sense. The other option is to acquire guys who may be underachievers at this point but have a chance to blossom by the time 2010 hits. If they can get a guy who can replace a Bosh in the lineup, they can go in a lot of different directions.

Another option, I wonder is maybe to sweeten deals by including the Knicks #1 pick next year. The Knicks have generally been horrible at picking players in the draft. This year's pick will probably be a lottery pick and the Knicks, under this cap scenario, can't afford to sign the player anyways...so why not deal the pick for something more valuable like cap space or maybe a young player who they can try to develop. Unless they can find a way to do that, they may not have a sweet enough deal to entice someone like LeBron or Wade to come. And if that's the case, you may not find Knicks basketball in the World's Most Famous Arena for many more summers to come as this awful playoff drought continues.