“…Jim is looking forward to seeing what happens,” said a person close to Garden chairman Jim Dolan. “He understands that there are no guarantees with LeBron, but that Donnie (Walsh) has done the best he can to create the opportunity for LeBron to come to New York. He likes the fact that Donnie created the space for two stars. With only one spot, it’d be almost impossible to get LeBron. Now, it’s possible to swing for the fences. But like Jim says, it will come down to what is in LeBron’s heart and only LeBron knows the answer to that.”
What happens if the Knicks strike out on James, but can get Bosh? Will Dolan accept a scenario that brings Bosh but also preserves enough cap room for 2011 and a possible run at Carmelo Anthony? Or will Dolan insist the Knicks do all their free-agent shopping this July, which could lead to dangerous overspending on players not worthy of maximum-salary contracts (think Carlos Boozer)?
“Jim will let Donnie do what he thinks is right,” the source said. “As long as Donnie has a plan in place, he’ll go along with that. He’ll support what Donnie thinks is the best way to go. And heading to July, Jim is in a good place with the plan…”
And fans should be in a good place with the idea that Dolan won’t demand the team overpay because of cap space. Dolan’s lack of patience can be seen as a key reason why the team struggled for most-all of the decade. He has stayed out of the papers and rarely talks to the media since Walsh has taken over. We shall see if this continues.
For me, it may make sense, should James say in Cleveland, for the Knicks to secure one of the secondary players by overpaying. They may have to.
60 days to go
Thank you Jim Dolan for staying out of it.
They are no doubt going to have to overpay. You just can’t afford to overpay for two this year(Boozer and Johnson)
If we don’t secure two max players or one max player and two very good ones this summer and use almost all the space then the Walsh plan was a failure because all the players we moved would have been off the cap in 2011 anyway. That much is 100% certain.
If we carry over any substantial space into 2011, then we gave up Jordan Hill, the 2012 pick, the 2011 pick swap, and the Jeffries 2011 expiring contract for nothing when we could have developed the players or traded them and gotten that space in 2011 anyway.
If makes some good signings at sensible prices, he’ll be a hero.
But assuming the plan is a failure, then we shouldn’t overpay just to do something. That will screw us up like the Pistons. We should be patient and look for trades and other good moves that make both financial and team sense.
The key for me is that if we don’t have a successful summer and we wind up carrying a lot of space in 2011, I hope at least one journalist in NY will have the balls to spell it out like it is. Walsh F’D UP BADLY and it wasn’t that hard to see it coming.
We are getting Lebron and he will have input who else we sign so this move by Donnie was worth every day we sufferred this year.I can tell you I have a great feel for this situation and all the signs Lebron giving off and it all points to the Apple.
if the knicks sign boozer or anyone else to a max contract other than lebron, im gonna be pissed.