It was July sixth 2012, and veteran point guard Jason Kidd had agreed to terms with the New York Knicks while shunning the Dallas Mavericks.
The man Knicks fans thought Jason Kidd would be mentoring, the sensational Jeremy Lin (or “Linsanity” as he was better known), had signed a four-year $28 million deal with Houston which included a two-year poison-pill window which Knicks owner, James Dolan could not and would not match.
This was also done on July sixth 2012.
Days later the New York Knicks decided to perform a sign-and-trade for yet another veteran.
Rather than plug in the young guys the Knicks had in Tony Douglas, Josh Harrelson and Jerome Jordan, the Knicks decided to trade the young players and two second round picks for 38-year-old centre Marcus Camby.
If that wasn’t bad enough the Knicks signed Camby to a three-year $15 million dollar deal.
The official ending of the New York run for Jeremy Lin came on July 15th in a trade where the Knicks received Raymond Felton and Kurt Thomas (oldest current NBA player) while giving away Dan Gadzuric and Jarred Jeffries.
While this wasn’t a terrible trade for the Knicks, they again got older as Kurt Thomas is the oldest player in the NBA. Ignoring Jeremy Lin and signing Raymond Felton also meant the Knicks got older.
See a theme here?
Finally to cap things off during last off season the Knicks signed former retired 38-year-old veteran Rasheed Wallace. The oldest team in the NBA just got older.
Entering the season the Knicks average age was 31.3 years old.
In my opinion, this is why the Knicks are doomed to fail.
A popular idea is that Carmelo Anthony is a reason why the Knicks won’t win. Well, let me try to put that to sleep right now.
1. The Knicks are 27-10 when Melo is a game’s leading scorer, 6-8 when another Knick is the leading scorer, 9-8 when an opposing player is.
2. The Knicks have a +/- of +5.6 while Melo is on the floor and -1.4 while he is off the court.
3. When a non-Melo Knicks is the leading scorer, the TOV rate goes from 12.2% to 14.9%
4. When Melo plays and doesn’t lead all scorers but another Knick does, they are 3-2; when he plays and an opposing player leads, 6-7.
My point is that the Knicks should have attacked another player who can shoot the ball well in free agency to help free Carmelo up.
By freeing Anthony up it would allow the offense to be less predictable which in turn would help Melo’s game, which would equate to more wins.
Instead the Knicks decided to go for players who are over the hill. You simply cannot say Camby, Thomas, Wallace, Felton or Kidd have had a good season.
Throughout this season the Knicks have been one of the most up and down teams in the NBA. They came out firing shooting off to a 0.750% start at the quarter mark before tumbling down back to reality with their current 0.618% record.
The old vets breaking down to injuries is the most predictable thing that has happened to this team this year. When Glenn Grunwald made his free agent signing last off-season surely he would have to had to know this is simply not a sustainable product.
Although the Knicks have recently locked up a playoffs birth, does anyone think they can even make any noise in the playoffs?
The Knicks are looking down the barrel of either the Celtics, Chicago or Atlanta. Would anyone take the Knicks in a series against Celtics or Bulls? I sure wouldn’t.
The Knicks have just gone backwards three years thanks to the current roster. The have the following multi-year contracts on the books:
• Marcus Camby (3 years, $15million)
• Jason Kidd (3 years, $9.5 million)
• Amare Stoudemire (3 years, $65 million)
• Raymond Felton (3 years, $15 million)
I’m sure if the Knicks had their time again, they would not commit to these contracts.
With the combination of these contracts, old veterans and Mike Woodson, the Knicks have no hope of an NBA championship in the next few years.
Only time will tell how the Knicks future will pan out. This Knick fan sure hopes it’s a bright one.
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