New York Knicks: Is There Any Good Solution To The Amar’e Stoudemire Problem?

Amar’e Stoudemire’s contract has become an albatross for the New York Knicks. (Flickr.com photo by Bryan Horowitz)

Amar’e Stoudemire‘s 2012-13 season was something of a mixed bag. On the one hand, when he was healthy, he played pretty well, thriving as the sixth man for the New York Knicks and shooting an excellent .577 from the field, his highest shooting percentage since 2007-08.  His defense wasn’t particularly impressive, but his PER of 22.1 illustrates that he can still be an extremely effective player.

SeasonAgeTmLgPosGMPPERTS%eFG%ORB%DRB%TRB%AST%STL%BLK%TOV%USG%ORtgDRtgOWSDWSWSWS/48
2010-1128NYKNBAC78287022.7.565.5057.817.612.713.21.23.812.530.91091085.42.68.0.134
2011-1229NYKNBAPF47154317.7.541.4877.919.813.76.31.32.312.825.41041011.82.34.1.128
2012-1330NYKNBAPF2968222.1.637.57710.015.112.43.60.82.713.425.71181082.10.62.7.191
CareerNBA6702278122.2.597.5368.919.514.37.11.32.912.726.711410556.626.282.8.174

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 6/7/2013.

On the other hand, his ongoing knee problems dogged him once again and he played just 29 games. Furthermore, while his play was solid, when he was healthy, it was clear that the Knicks were struggling to find a place to put him. The worst part of the Knicks’ season just happened to coincide with the time Stoudemire was playing–and that was with him at his best. All of this begs the question: Is there anything the Knicks can do about the Stoudemire situation that will make everyone happy?

The answer might be no. Stoudemire has one of the biggest contracts in the league and he is owed more than $45 million over the next two years. This means that despite his inspired play this season, the Knicks will have a very difficult time finding someone to take his contract. Even if you think Stoudemire could help your team, why would you want to spend all that money on a player who past his prime and has been injury-prone for his entire career?

There’s a remote possibility that as the season goes on, the Knicks could find a team willing to take on Stoudemire’s salary simply for the boost he would give to their lineup if he were to stay healthy. Still, that’s hardly a certainty and the Knicks would be wise to prepare for a future where Stoudemire will be on their roster for the next two seasons.

The Stoudemire situation illustrates one of the more foolish things about max deals–his highest-paid seasons are the last two years of the deal, when he is most likely to be past his prime and therefore extremely unlikely to draw any interest from other teams. It would make far more sense the other way–give a max player in his prime the biggest year of his contract the first year, when he will likely provide the greatest value. Then, as he gets older and his skills begin to atrophy, have his salary decrease each year. That way, he makes the most money at a time when he’s worth it and in the declining years, he’s not making so much that he’s impossible to move.

But the Knicks are stuck with the Stoudemire situation and all they can really do is hope for the best. How could this situation have a happy ending? Well, there are two primary ways. One is that Stoudemire plays as well as he did last year, continuing to shoot an extremely high percentage and prove he’s still a valuable player. That way, there’s a chance the Knicks may be able to negotiate a trade and even they don’t, at least they’ll be getting production out of Stoudemire on a consistent basis. The other way is a bit more grim; if Stoudemire were to suffer another injury–one that would keep him out for an especially lengthy period of time–the Knicks might be able to get his contract voided, like the Houston Rockets did with Yao Ming back in 2010. Obviously, no one would want to see a player of Stoudemire’s talent suffer yet another injury, but it would effectively get the Knicks out of a bad situation.

While Stoudemire has had his moments in New York,  for the most part, he’s a cautionary example of what can happen if you give a max contract to an injury-prone player–especially one who had already been in the league for eight seasons. Injuries, along with a general decline in skill (remember, his solid play in 2013 came as a second-unit player, going against weaker competition) have left the Knicks getting far less than they paid for. In two years, his contract will be up and they’ll be off the hook, but for now, they’re stuck with Stat and all they can do is hope he can be useful for them going forward.