Call this summer's modest foray in free agency a dress rehearsal for the Knicks, who rolled out the red carpet for Jason Kidd and Grant Hill on separate visits to New York. Both experienced the usual five-star treatment one would expect out of the league's biggest market, though Kidd opted to remain with the Mavericks because, ironically, the Knicks can't yet financially compete with other teams.
That'll come next year, when the vault finally can be opened. It's been well over a decade -- to be exact, since 1996, when the team went after free agents Allan Houston and Chris Childs and traded for Larry Johnson -- that the Knicks have had the ability to be major players in free agency. Next summer is when the big recruiting pitches will be made to the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and other franchise-changing players the Knicks so desperately lack and New York so desperately wants. There are some major concerns, however, that this widely-publicized plan for 2010 will be hampered by the economy. It was revealed by the NBA that the salary cap for the coming 2009-10 season will drop by $1 million to $57.7 million and there are already predictions that the cap could plummet even more in 2010-11. That would leave the Knicks with less cap space than originally planned, which means less of a chance to land two high-end free agents.
It also means a greater emphasis on carving out as much cap space for 2010 as possible and, more importantly, maintaining it by not adding any more contracts to the ledger. And that is why Donnie Walsh, though he did make a play for Kidd and Hill, will likely remain very conservative this offseason despite how aggressive many teams in the East -- Detroit, Boston, Orlando, Cleveland, Toronto and Washington -- have been thus far. The playoffs are a goal, but free agency in 2010 is more of a destination for the rebuilding Knicks.
The team's two restricted free agents, David Lee and Nate Robinson, are already feeling the fiscal impact. Neither received offer sheets from other teams when the NBA's signing moratorium ended on July 8. There was some interest in Lee, a double-double machine last season, but the few teams with cap space were lukewarm due to the fact that his asking price was astronomically high (a reported $12 million per annum) and teams expected the big-money Knicks to match any offer for him.
At this point, it is very likely the Knicks will sit back and wait on both players. With a determination to protect the precious cap space next summer, the best play for the Knicks may be to force both into taking their one-year qualifying offers and have them go into unrestricted free agency next summer.
One caveat is that in order to retain the "Bird" rights on both players, it would result in cap holds of around $8 million each, which essentially eats up cap space anyway. If they renounce their rights, they cannot exceed the cap when they attempt to re-sign them and risk losing both former first-round picks for nothing.
