There is not much for New Yorkers to look forward to over the remainder of the Knicks season, unless Jim Dolan decides to write another nasty over-the-top e-mail to an elderly fan. There is a slim chance Phil Jackson can find a taker for Jose Calderon on the trade market, but aside from that there will likely be no Carmelo Anthony, no Amare Stoudemire, and no hope.
The Knicks are all-in on free agency and the draft, but here is the problem. They have traded away their first round picks in 2016 plus all of their second-round picks through 2018, and the top tier of free agents are not looking to play for the worst team in the league when their other prospects with other NBA teams are so much more alluring.
So who will Phil Jackson be able to convince to come to New York? My best guess is Greg Monroe of the Detroit Pistons, but Jackson also must maintain enough cap room to make a run at Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016. Much more on the Knicks in this podcast with Richard Neer of WFAN in New York.
I’m not so sure anymore about Greg Monroe. Van Gundy got rid of Josh Smith so that he can make a commitment to Monroe. Pistons can pay him more than Knicks and will be a less worse team going forward.
And I can’t see Durant going to Knicks if they aren’t already a good team next season and if the Wiz are an option. If he was going to leave in free agency, I have a feeling he would let OKC front office know, and allow a trade. Right now OKC may be trying to trade for Brook Lopez (per Alex Kennedy), so things can change.
Regarding James Dolan, where is the outrage from the media over Adam Stern not willing to do anything to his friend?
Double standard? Did Stern buy enough Teflon over what he did to Donald Sterling, over a private conversation by a sick old man later diagnosed with dementia? Sterling couldn’t control what came out of his mouth, but Dolan was fully aware of what he made public in an Email. Both had a bad past history but couldn’t prove it sufficiently to punish them.
Not even a 2 week suspension for Dolan or a warning by the Commissioner (a fine would have done no good, but that is what they give players for treating the fans in the same way). You were the only journalist calling for an even stiffer penalty.