Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
New York basically forfeited the rest of the season by trading two of its most productive players for mediocre Al Harrington and abjectly terrible Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas. It's got to be at least a touch stinging for Knicks fans and the longest tenured 'Bockers, like David Lee and Nate Robinson. The Knicks haven't been this competitive in years. Nate Rob, in fact, sees further psychological damange: exiled Jamal Crawford and Robinson share a hometown and a lot of love.[P]layers knew exactly why the deals were made — for salary cap space in 2010, and for the potential prize that awaits.Everybody knows, indeed. (And talk about timing: LeBron makes his first visit of the season to Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.) I don't think the punditry has realized just how much space Donnie Walsh freed up on Friday, though: if N.Y. manages to move Eddy Curry or Jared Jeffries for expiring contracts within the next 18 months, the Knicks could find themselves far enough under the cap to sign two of the major 2010 free agents. Two of them. LeBron and Chris Bosh? Dwyane Wade and Amare Stoudemire? If I were a Knick, I'd be trying my best to make myself indispensible.
“For LeBron,” Robinson said, referring to the Cleveland star LeBron James. “Everybody knows. Everybody’s got to see the bigger picture.”
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
3 comments
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
Scoreboard data copyright © 2012 by STATS LLC. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC is strictly prohibited.
OpenCalais - Powered by Thomson Reuters
•
Odds Shark 
Comments
WTF ??? Why does everyone assume that LeBron will choose money over a championship? Why whould he leave Cleveland for pitiful NY? Because of the fans…..please. He has said over and over that he wants to bring a championship to Cleveland. Not NY, or Jersey. While all of these owners are putting their business out there, ole Dan Gilbert is sitting back getting his plaan in motion. Bottom line, if anyone thinks that Lebron is leaving Cleveland, they been hanging with Cheech and Chong way tooo long!
by honeyb43 on Nov 22, 2008 3:09 PM EST reply actions
"There’s always 2010" is the new "We’ll get ’em next year."
by L'etat, c'est moi on Nov 22, 2008 4:24 PM EST reply actions
Will Lebron leave Cleveland?
Look. Lebron’s after three things:
rings, money, and a legacy. In that order. All this recent cap space
freeing-up makes it pretty obvious that he can get more money than the
Cavs will pay him from a number of places. The Cavs know that. If they
want to keep Lebron, they have to give him a ring in the next two
years. If NY or NJ (Brooklyn?) are more stacked than the Cavs in 10-11,
and Lebron still doesn’t have a ring, his options are the following:
(1)
stay with the Cavs, MAYBE win a championship, decline a ridiculously
lucrative offer, and leave behind one of basketball’s greatest legacies
IF the Cavs can surround him with the necessary talent to win a
championship.
(2) leave Cleveland for a better team, make more money, and PROBABLY win a ring.
Whether
or not it’s true, Lebron will go down in history as singlehandedly
bringing Cleveland a championship if they win. On the other hand, he
will be seen as an important part of a championship-winning Knicks or
Nets. So the question of whether Lebron will leave (assuming the Cavs
don’t win in the next two years) reduces to the question of whether he
will be willing to gamble his hopes for a ring in exchange for an
elevated place in history. My guess is that he won’t be.
by 3peatbog on Nov 23, 2008 11:39 PM EST reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed