A New Day

The New York Knicks have shoved themselves into the spotlight for the first time in months. Larry Hughes is now a Knick, and no one saw it coming. The Knicks have been in full LeBron mode since they gave away both their top scorer and rebounder earlier in the year. This took the Knicks from a playoff team to another season destined to be near the bottom, all in the name of clearing cap space for the summer of 2010. As a Knick fan all you could say is: “if you’re going to throw away the next two seasons , you better sign LeBron.” Now we can have hope for this year. The trade that went down between New York and Chicago was a gift from God for the Knicks, as the Bulls where just trying to unload a unhappy player. The Knicks gave away Tim Thomas, Jerome James, and Anthony Roberson. Two of those players are past their prime and the other will probably never be good. The combined salaries between James and Thomas is $12.2 Million, while Hughes is being inked for $12.8 Million this year. That means that this trade not only benefits this years campaign but it also doesn’t jeopardize LeBron fest ’10.

While we are on the topic of LeBron Fest, I herd a report that excited me, but also sounded a bit outlandish. People are talking of a potential Chris Bosh signing to pair with LeBron. I think that, as Knicks fans, we may be thinking a little too far into the stratosphere in that particular circumstance. The priority must be LeBron, and I just don’t see the cash available to sign Bosh. The only way for this to happen is if the Knicks find some way to dump David Lee and Nate Robinson. This might not be a bad idea because it is common trend that, unlike in baseball and football, role players are a unnecessary commodity. You can win championships in the NBA by stacking superstars on the same roster, especially Bosh who has stated that he wouldn’t mind sharing the ball with LeBron. When you are trying to build a championship team that is the one thing always seems to come up, sharing the ball, and when you have a established superstar who doesn’t mind being second in command you should probably jump on that opportunity. Even though I love David Lee and Nate Robinson they will not go as far to win a championship as Chris Bosh will. I’m a big believer in doing what has worked for others in the past, and in the NBA two superstars will spell championship more then one superstar with a bunch of good role players. The Celtics had three legit superstars last year, the Spurs built a couple of championships off of three great players, the Lakers won with Kobe and Shaq, and Jordan won with Pippen before that, it’s just a trend.

Another move that went down was a straight up swap of Malik Rose for Chris Wilcox. Both contracts expire after this season so the LeBron Fest will not be affected once again. This is a solid move because it thickens the post for the Knicks who have had to rely on Lee and Al Harrington. Wilcox is a good role player who will grad solid rebounds, however, he is not a especially good fit for the D’Antoni system, but his rebounding and defense make him a decent pickup. A nice complementary deal to the blockbuster known as Larry Hughes.

This is the kind of move that make me excited for the next Knicks game, the kind of game that makes me believe in the playoffs. Larry Hughes is a great addition because he fits. The cap number is excellent, he fills a need, and he makes a team that was supposed to be taking these next two years off anyway very competitive. I’m excited for the game tomorrow against the Raptors. I wasn’t a couple of hours ago.

Just a Thought