A source close to TKB tells us that one GM is positive that he has no idea what will happen once the clock strikes midnight.
The staff here, however, have their own predictions:
Chris Alvino says:
Myles A. Mills says:
Ben Kopelman says:
As I said, it seems the Knicks feel confident from an Amar’e standpoint. And the venerable Hahn is reporting Mike Miller, an Arn Tellem client, is their first stop.
Basketball wise, I’d think the team is trying to pair, potentially, James with who he feels most confident with.
It could be Joe Johnson.
I’ll say this, I’d say that meeting with Mike Miller, although on the surface as being a “WTF” move, seems whatever to me. Hopefully AH reports what he hears they are planning to offer him.
Then fans can react.
It’s the night before free agency, possibly the most important time period in Knicks history. In the words of Donnie Walsh, it’ll shape the course of the franchise for the next ten years. Obviously there’s a lot to discuss, and let’s do it with Anthony “Rice Balls” Donahue tonight at 9 PM on TKB Radio. Call in and give your thoughts, your ideas, your plan A, B and so on, because it starts at 12, when the Knicks meet with Joe Johnson.
Phone: (646) 478-5554
Twitter: AnthonyMSG
TommyDeeTKB
MMillsTKB
“…He said, ‘Would you be willing to take less to join Dream Team?’” the player, who did not want to be identified, told the Daily News. “He said his people were putting it together.”
That conversation lends credence to reports that James will join Bosh and Wade in Miami. In that scenario, Pat Riley will likely return to the sidelines and coach the Heat.
However, there is a twist because with LeBron there always is. There was a report out of Cleveland Tuesday quoting a person close to the Cavs’ free agent as saying that the club still has an edge in re-signing him. There were other reports that James is leaning toward joining the Chicago Bulls…”
Again, to me, this scream NY because I just don’t see him playing with Wade. The Knicks know how much James respects Joe Johnson’s game, and if they somehow can move Curry, or figure to bring in another big, that would be some situation. Things starting to heat up, as we told you they would. Kncks gaining momentum.
According to ESPN.com, Nets billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorv is flexing his financial might by placing a huge billboard advertising himself, Jay-Z and the Nets in close 
proximity to the Garden.According to Marc Stein:
“Ramping up tensions between the teams with free agency looming, Prokhorov has purchased billboard space near Madison Square Garden that will display a massive image of the Russian billionaire and Nets minority owner Jay-Z, with completion scheduled just before the start of free agency.
The 222-by-95-foot billboard sporting a Nets logo will picture Jay-Z and Prokhorov side-by-side under the heading, “The Blueprint For Greatness.” The signage is strategically placed, according to sources with knowledge of the project, within the sight line of the Knicks’ offices at the corner of 34th and 8th.”
Hey you know what would be even cooler for free agents to see than a huge billboard overlooking MSG?
How about MSG itself! Last I checked, the Knicks currently reside and will continue to reside in the World’s Most Famous arena, not the Newark bound Nets.
I respect this move (and I happen to like the buzz that this new owner has created for his franchise. I beleive he will succeed in helping restore that franchise), although I find it overly obnoxious. Is Nets’ management that conscientious of of the city that the Knicks play in, or is it just my misunderstanding? I wonder if Jim Dolan will retaliate in similar fashion. Maybe he can find some nice space on a billboard along the Turnpike. You know, to convert the millions of Nets fans into Knicks fans.
Or not.
Prokhorov, despite his efforts, will not be able to transform true Knick fans into Net fans unless the Knicks somehow cannot get out of their own way. If the Knicks succeed in building a contender this summer, a feat which I believe will happen, then I can only offer the Nets good luck in their quest.
Via ESPN:
“Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com that Pierce has notified the Boston Celtics that he will opt out of the final year of his contract before Wednesday’s deadline to do so, which will make Pierce an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career.
“Sources said that Pierce will begin free agency by talking first to the Celtics when the market opens on Thursday at 12:01 a.m., but the 32-year-old will field other offers.
“External interest in Pierce is hard to gauge because there has been so little discussion in recent months about his potential free agency and because of the heavy load he has carried for the Celtics in recent seasons. Yet Pierce just played a pivotal role in helping Boston to reach the NBA Finals and take the Los Angeles Lakers to seven grueling games as a No. 4 seed in the East.
“Asked recently to gauge the likelihood of re-signing Pierce, Celtics vice president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said last week on WEEI Radio in Boston: “I don’t know because he may be able to get a long-term contract somewhere else. It may be better than what we have [to offer].”
Just listening to 1050 ESPN Radio and they reported Broussard and Stein saying “Lebron leaning towards Cleveland.”
Got it.
I sure hope not.
I am not saying that I have seen anything tangible rumors regarding such an idea, but Ken Berger throws it out there as a possibility. Berger had the following to say:
“A common misconception about the start of this historic free agency period is that rosters and cap space are stagnant until free agents begin making their decisions. Not so. For example, the Knicks are believed to be continuing to explore moves that would clear the extra cap space to retain unrestricted free agent David Lee while adding two max free agents. The only move that would do it is almost impossible, according to one rival executive, but that doesn’t mean Knicks president Donnie Walsh won’t try: trading Eddy Curry and his $11.3 million contract. To do so, Walsh would have to incentivize another team that’s under the cap to take Curry. The price for such trouble would almost certainly be 2009 No. 8 pick Danilo Gallinari ($3.3 million). The problem would be that Gallo is the most attractive existing Knicks to prospective free agents. This might result in an unusual conversation in the Knicks’ recruiting visits with James and other free agents: Who would you rather play with, Gallinari or Lee? ”
Although we have seen the Bulls give away Kirk Hinrich, the Nets give away Yi, and the Heat give away Cook, none of those players are Danilo Gallinari. First of all, Hinrich is a high-priced veteran, the Bulls’ equivalent of Eddy Curry for the purposes of this conersation. Yi and Cook are role players, expendable players. Going into free agent discussions, Gallo is the best chip that the Knicks have to offer. Hate him or love him, he is the current face of this franchise. He is the shining light for this team and the player that we as fans are counting on to step up in a big way going forward.
Players like Gallo are not given away in salary dumps. Gallo is a player that Donnie will use to build, not decompose, this Knicks’ roster.
As for Chandler, I see much of the same, but in his case, I do not think Walsh would hesitate to pair Chandler with Curry in order to acquire another tangible talent, i.e. a Monta Ellis (I am just using Ellis for argument’s sake) or another player making the same coin or less. Making such a move would make better use of the roughly 11 million owed to Curry and would give the Knicks an extra bargaining chip.
All in all, I doubt that Gallo would be dealt as Berger suggests. That would seem to go against the grain of how Walsh and D’Antoni have attempted to mold this team. It would not make a ton of sense to me.
Via Adam Zagoria:
The Knicks are targeting Joe Johnson as their No. 1 free agent choice and believe he’s a better fit for the team than LeBron James, according to an NBA source with knowledge of the team’s plans.
“Yes, we think he’s a better player,” the source said of Johnson. “He makes other people better. With LeBron’s people running the locker room that hurts the organization.”
The source also mentioned concerns about James’ entourage taking over the franchise.
“I don’t care what most people think,” the source said. “I’m not saying that LeBron is not a good player, but other stuff comes with it. LeBron’s friends want jobs. You’re gonna lose running your organization. As time goes on you got to hire this guy, you got to hire that guy.”
Led by president Donnie Walsh and head coach Mike D’Antoni, the Knicks are scheduled to meet with Johnson on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. Free agents cannot officially meet with teams until midnight ET on Thursday, or 9 p.m. on the West Coast.
Johnson played for D’Antoni in 2004 and ’05 with the Suns. He was then shipped to Atlanta for Boris Diaw and two first-round picks.
He averaged 21.3 points, 4.9 assists and 4.6 rebounds last season in Atlanta.
The Hawks can offer him a six-year deal worth $125 million, and the Knicks can offer five years and $96 million.
After meeting with Johnson, the Knicks will meet with Amar’e Stoudemire in Los Angeles on Wednesday before going to meet with James in the Akron, Ohio, area.
The source said the team’s No. 1 option would be to land Johnson and Stoudemire.
“Yeah, we’ll have room next year to get somebody next year,” the source said, referring to the 2011 free agency class that includes Carmelo Anthony.
Asked who would play point guard with the Knicks next season, the source said Toney Douglas would. He also said the Knicks could pursue Steve Blake.
This comes amid an ESPN.com report that James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh met last weekend in Miami to “seriously discuss their futures.”
The report quoted a source that labeled Miami “as the frontrunner to land James in a package deal with Bosh,” and to re-sign Wade.”
My initial reaction to this:
I don’t completely buy this at all but this is strange to say the least.
Via ESPN:
The New Jersey Nets will trade Yi Jianlian and $3 million to the Washington Wizards for Quinton Ross and the Wizards’ trade exception, a league source said.
The deal will be completed on Monday, the source said.
The move will allow the Nets to clear another $3 million in cap space to spend on free agency this summer.
Yi is scheduled to make $4 million next season. Ross is set to make $1.1 million. The Nets should now have roughly $30 million in cap space to spend after the move, according to the source.”
…finger point to PTPOP…
Chris Broussard just had a 5+ minute spot on ESPN where he ran down every team’s chances of landing LeBron, the “why he will” and “why he won’t” land in each of the destinations.
You know: the Bulls, the Heat, the Cavs and — who could forget — the Nets.
Not a single word during the entire segment about the Knicks.
Conspiracy or not, there’s something very disconcerting about the last few days of media coverage…
We know that New York City is a huge pull when it comes to luring FAs, but how much credit should be given to Madison Square Garden itself?
Via The Bergen Record:
Ask practically any NBA player about Madison Square Garden and if they don’t invoke the term “mecca,” they all but genuflect.
“A lot of great players have been through this building, laid down a lot of statistical things as individuals and as teams,” LeBron James said last season. “It’s a great building.”
“The Garden is one of the greatest, if not the best place to play, in the league,” Chris Bosh said last week on ESPN 1050. “We all have memories of Madison Square Garden.”
Memories, and more, the Knicks intend to use as part of their New York-centric recruiting pitch to LeBron, Bosh and the rest of the free agent class when they “officially” begin shopping just after midnight Thursday.
Memories the Knicks hope they can convince free agents to make in what Garden officials prefer to call a “transformed,” not “renovated,” version of the building, due for completion by the 2013-14 basketball and hockey seasons.
“We not only can offer people that come here part of the history that’s already occurred,” said Hank J. Ratner, vice chairman of Madison Square Garden, “but they can then be part of the history that’s yet occurred” in what he calls “a brand new state-of-the-art building.”
We all know the power of MSG, but I for one have given little thought to the power of a new and improved version of the historic building.
Is this really something that could tip the scaled in NY’s favor? I’m not sure; but it’s another wrinkle in the process that we have on our side…
This is what Jonathan Givony of Draft Express had to say about him last year:
“From an NBA perspective, Carroll’s lack of playmaking ability, below average size, skinny frame, and clear-cut defensive limitations certainly restrict the potential impact he could have against bigger and more athletic competition. However, his perimeter stroke, capacity for providing instant offense off the bench and impressive European resume could be attractive to any team looking for a Jannero Pargo or Daniel Gibson style shooting specialist. It’s extremely rare to see an American player producing in such impressive fashion right off the bat immediately upon arrival at this level of European competition, so there is certainly something to be said for that. Carroll’s physical profile may not project perfectly to the NBA, and at age 26 he isn’t as young as most second year pros, but at the rate he’s going, he’s destined to, at the very least, emerge as one of the more coveted American shooting guards in European basketball”
According to Ridiculous Upside’s roster lists, the Knicks will also invite Leo Lyons to their Summer League. Lyons averaged 15 and 6 two years ago in Missouri and spent his last year in Europe. Givony on Lyons:
“One of the more skilled and physically gifted players in attendance, Leo Lyons put his strengths and weaknesses on full display here in Portsmouth. Since we last wrote about him prior to the season, not much substantial has changed, though there are a few observations to be made. While Lyons measured in at a strong 6’9.75 in shoes, it’s tempered a bit by his 6’10.75 wingspan, which is just average for his size.
On the offensive end, Lyons is an incredibly versatile player, capable of scoring inside and out in a variety of ways. Taking the ball to the basket, Lyons can attack with either hand while mixing in occasionally advanced moves such as spins, crossovers, or behind-the-back dribbles. He’s not an incredibly quick or explosive athlete, but he’s very smooth and coordinated for his size, and possesses very long strides with a relatively controlled handle. The main problem with Lyons’ dribble-drive game is his at times questionable decision-making, as he’s prone to forcing the issue or playing outside his limitations.”
Listen Here
He had some nice things to say. He talks about how Dolan is extremely loyal. This is interesting because the Bulls don’t have Jordan or Pippen in the organization, and Dwyane Wade mentioned loyalty as a concern in Chicago.
Listen Here
Tune into TheKnicksBlog Radio tonight with Anthony “Rice Balls” Donahue at 9 PM. Free agency is less than 72 hours away, and we’re hearing several varying reports. Frank Isola of the Daily News will be on to chat with Rice Balls about what he’s hearing. Plus, your great phone calls.
Phone: (646) 478-5554
Twitter: AnthonyMSG
TommyDeeTKB
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