Will the Knicks target these big men next summer?
Is it too early to start thinking about the free agent class of next summer?
Not if you’re a Knicks fan!
In fact, let’s be honest: next summer is the first opportunity Knicks fans will have to think about something real happening on the court again. The team simply won’t contend for a title this season.
Just ask Carmelo Anthony, who said in August, “I do not expect to win a championship this year.”
So, let’s fast forward to July 1, 2015 — when the next free agency period begins. With little to look forward to this season other than some exciting (read: frustrating) antics from J.R. Smith and Jose Calderon cursing at Melo in Spanish, let’s take a look at some players who Phil Jackson and his pupil Derek Fisher are potentially going to target for the offseason.
IN DESPERATE NEED OF A NEW FRONTCOURT
Get ready for Dolan to be dolin’ out the money again. Team owner James Dolan can start fresh next summer and hopefully make some good decisions this time around. As they say, “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes” so the jury is still out on whether Dolan has the ability to spend wisely. He’ll have nearly $40 million come off the books next summer, thanks in part to the expiring contracts of Amar’e Stoudemire and Andrea Bargnani.
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The Knicks are already thin at frontcourt with the departure of Tyson Chandler now back with the Dallas Mavericks; he missed 27 games last season, so it’s not like New York could rely on him even when he was with the team. Cole Aldrich figures to get more minutes this season since his only real constant competition at center right now are Bargnani and Samuel Dalembert, and neither of them are reliable. In fact, all three of them are unreliable.
Aldrich is an unrestricted free agent next summer, so it’s entirely possible that he gets some money thrown at him next year from another team looking for insurance in the front court. This year could be an impressive upcoming season for the big man, who is still relatively young. He turns 26 years old on Halloween — just days after the regular season tips off — and could get the best chance he’ll ever get in the pros at showing what he can do.
The bottom line: The Knicks will find themselves dangerously thin at the center position next summer with the very likely departures of Bargnani, Dalembert and Aldrich.
THINK BIG
So who are some of the free agent big men that can help bring a title to New York City for the first time in more than four decades?
Let’s take a look:
- Paul Millsap (Hawks) – Unrestricted Free Agent
- Al Jefferson (Bobcats) – Player Option
- Roy Hibbert (Pacers) – Player Option
- DeAndre Jordan (Clippers) – Unrestricted Free Agent
- Marc Gasol (Grizzlies) – Unrestricted Free Agent
- Nikola Vucevic (Magic) – Restricted Free Agent
- LaMarcus Aldridge (Trail Blazers) – Unrestricted Free Agent
LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE
The Knicks could throw a max contract at any one of those players next summer, but only Aldridge is deserving, assuming he can maintain or exceed his stats from an MVP-caliber year last season. If New York lands him, Knicks fans will have to possibly stomach hearing Walt Clyde Frazier say, “Here’s comes Aldrich in for Aldridge.”
But LMA can score from just about anywhere inside the arc and showed last season he can handle his own down low, grabbing a career high 11.1 rebounds while also showing an array of low-post moves. The Knicks will need that low post presence in the postseason if they hope to get past any number of the formidable frontcourts in the Eastern Conference. (See: Bulls, Bobcats, Wizards)
Anthony reportedly said at the end of last season that he needs another player to take some of the scoring load off his shoulders, and he’s right. It’s clear that he alone can win games but can’t win a series by himself, let alone consistently lead his team to the postseason for the opportunity to win a series.
LMA is that lowpost scorer who gives the Knicks a true inside-out game. Defenses will be stretched and will find themselves doubling Melo and LMA on many possessions. Aldridge will easily score 25 points down low while opening up the rest of the court for Melo to get his 30 points on any given night. This will leave wide open shots for Calderon — one of the best three-point shooting point guards in the league — Tim Hardaway, Iman Shumpert or Pablo Prigioni.
The Knicks, dare I say, would be a tough cover.
THE UNLIKELY OTHERS
The others on that list of potential free agent big men the Knicks should target next summer are secondary to Aldridge.
Hibbert’s a HUGE question mark after his virtual no-show when it counted most in the playoffs; Jordan is too much of a one-dimensional player and too limited on the offensive end to really lead the Knicks on a night when Carmelo needs the help; Vucevic is good but is a restricted free agent and I’ll guess that the Magic match any offer; and Millsap, as underrated as he is, will always be undersized on some nights.
BIG AL AND MARC
That leaves Big Al and Marc Gasol as potential targets, the latter of which could see playing alongside fellow Spaniard Calderon in New York as one of the incentives to leave Memphis for the Knicks. Gasol, who was named the 2013 Defensive Player of the Year, would give the Knicks one of the best low-post presences since the Patrick Ewing era — the last time the team was actually relevant.
Is he worth a max deal? He’ll be making $15.8 million in the final year of his deal this season. I personally don’t think he’s worth the max, but that’s ultimately for Dolan to decide, which typically means the right answer will not be made.
Jefferson is an interesting case.
He’s one of the few remaining big men who plays the old-school way with his back to the basket. He’s an excellent rebounder and will easily give you 20-10 every single game.
But he’s much more of an effective player in the half-court. How will Calderon run the offense under Phil Jackson?
Jefferson, who has battled a host of injuries in the past, will have to prove that the plantar fascia injury that severely limited his postseason last year is now behind him.
I love him as a player and like him as a potential fit for the Knicks, but he’s got some questions he’ll need to answer with another consistent regular season AND postseason before the Knicks should consider making him the potential second max-contract player. He’s also be turning 31 years old midway through his first season in New York if he does comes to the Knicks next summer, so he’s starting to enter that age bracket when we start to see big men deteriorate.
Jefferson’s got a $13.5 million player option that he could — and should — decline in order to test the market next summer, but the Bobcats could finally have a formidable core that gives the franchise a deep postseason behind a squad of Big Al, Kemba Walker and the offseason acquisition of Lance Stephenson. In my opinion, they’re still a few key pieces away from truly making a deep run — assuming they can keep that trio intact — but the potential is there, and may be enough to retain Jefferson for a few more years.
KEEP QUIET THIS YEAR, BIG THINGS WILL COME
The Knicks should avoid any multiyear deals or in-season acquisitions via trades this season that would cut their spending flexibility next summer. This year will be another dark one for the franchise, but fans should trust that next summer good ol’ Phil will make something happen.
Dolan has shown his ability to buy fans with temporary excitement, but Jackson will show next summer his unique ability to bring a winning culture back to New York for the first time since he won a title there as a player in 1973.
And maybe — just maybe — we’ll soon be crowning Melo as one of the greatest athletes in New York sports history.