The gulf between the NBA’s haves and have-nots has grown since LeBron James and Miami’s Dream-Three celebrated their NBA championship just a little less than five months ago. The Lakers now have a roster than features five Hall-of-Famers, and the Heat probably do, too. The Knicks probably don’t, but what they do have is one of the deepest frontcourts in the NBA. Knick-haters, you have the option to cease reading from this point forth. Because I am here to tell you that this
Jason Kidd and Marcus Camby NEW YORK — If you ask New York Knicks head coach Mike Woodson why the team has gone old, he’ll tell you it’s because young NBA teams aren’t the ones winning the championships. And the Oklahoma City Thunder’s egg-laying ceremony over the course of the last season’s five-game flameout in the NBA Finals give credence to that argument. But when you build a team around over-the-hill veterans, you need two things. First, is a good
NEW YORK — The more things change is the more they stay the same. And as we count down toward the tip-off of the 2012-2013 season, New York Knicks fans are almost exactly where they were just prior to last season’s commencement. Many questions, few answers. Tick-tock. The clock is ticking. Carmelo Anthony, your time is almost up. An unfair Anthony critic, I am not. So while I remind you of the torch job I did on ‘Melo after he was outclassed by LeBron
As August ends and calendars are flipped to September, it dawns on you: NBA training camps will open in a few weeks. Although the Summer of 2012 will ultimately be remembered for when the Los Angeles Lakers somehow managed to acquire two of the top prizes on the market, there are still quite a few free agents that could ultimately be the difference between your favorite team making a trip to the postseason or anxiously awaiting the results of the draft
NEW YORK — Since Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z became the faces of the Brooklyn Nets, the objectives of their mission have been made abundantly clear: Become relevant, move to Brooklyn, be better than the Knicks, steal the market. General manager Billy King made the deals and Prokhorov wrote the checks. The Nets embarked on an unprecedented spending spree this past summer and not only retained Deron Williams, but also surround him with some capable talent. Clearly, they are relevant. And yes, they are
After examining the biggest losers among NBA players this summer, it’s only right that we examine those that have cashed in. Centers always have and always will be hot commodities in the NBA, but some of the players below have found themselves in new situations with excellent opportunities. Sometimes, winning as a free agent is a result of being in the right place at the right time. And sometimes, it requires falling down before dusting yourself off and finding a new beginning.
Commissioner David Stern wanted to level the economic playing field and curb overspending by the NBA’s bigger markets with the new CBA. Some very useful players got squeezed this summer, while some not so deserving players cashed in major checks. Some guys such as O.J. Mayo and D.J. Augustin did it to themselves. Others such as Devin Harris and Mickael Pietrus were victims of their own circumstances. But at the end of the day, a win is a win, and a loss
The 2012 NBA Champion Miami Heat won the second title in franchise history last month, and they aren’t doing what they did after the previous one — standing pat (or standing Pat, as in Riley, who felt he owed it to those players to give them a chance to defend their title.) Meanwhile, the team they defeated in the Eastern Conference finals — the Boston Celtics — have had a pretty productive summer of their own. In New York, two basketball teams