Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Having landed two NBA superstars in Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire, the Knicks are still focused on landing a third in 2012.
Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard will all become free agents in the summer of 2012 and the Knicks are in prime position to land one of them.
“If we choose to,” Knicks president Donnie Walsh said Tuesday. “You could divide it up and get two players. It depends on what you want to do. But we’ll have cap room. No matter what happens we’ll have cap room.”
Paul is reported to have said at Anthony’s wedding last summer that he wanted to join ‘Melo and Stoudemire in New York, and reports have linked Williams to the Knicks as well.
“I think the chances are pretty good,” Stoudemire said in speaking generally about adding a third star down the road.
“The fact that everyone looks at New York now as a place to be. So I think our chances are greater than they were a few years ago, for sure. But it’s kind of far away, so we’ve got to try to focus on what we do now for the near future.”
Stoudemire said the Celtics started the trend of using three superstars to win a title, the Lakers and Miami followed, and now the rest of the league is following suit.
“I think Boston started it and they were successful,” he said. “They won a championship…so that formula was successful. I think everybody just kind of tagged along after that.”
Anthony was expected to sign a three-year, $65 million extension Tuesday with the Nuggets before being traded to the Knicks.
Two years from now, Stoudemire and Anthony will make approximately $40 million combined.
The NBA has proposed a $45 million hard cap under the new collective bargaining agreement. The old one expires June 30.
Asked what would happen under that scenario, Walsh said, “Well, then everybody’s going to have to go down and $5 million [in cap space] may be the biggest in the league.
“I don’t know, you’re asking me questions I don’t know.”
At that point, Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni chimed in and said, “That’s one of the reasons [why] we got Carmelo now because come July 1 you don’t know what’s going to happen.
“Now we’ve got two guys in our stable and whatever happens, happens. And we’ll go from there.”
RELATED CONTENT
**Walsh on Isiah: ‘I could care less‘
**Knicks land ‘Melo; New-look team to appear Wednesday
**Mozgov most important man in NBAAnd like ZAGS on Facebook.
Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Having landed two NBA superstars in Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire, the Knicks are still focused on landing a third in 2012.
Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard will all become free agents in the summer of 2012 and the Knicks are in prime position to land one of them.
“If we choose to,” Knicks president Donnie Walsh said Tuesday. “You could divide it up and get two players. It depends on what you want to do. But we’ll have cap room. No matter what happens we’ll have cap room.”
Paul is reported to have said at Anthony’s wedding last summer that he wanted to join ‘Melo and Stoudemire in New York, and reports have linked Williams to the Knicks as well.
“I think the chances are pretty good,” Stoudemire said in speaking generally about adding a third star down the road.
“The fact that everyone looks at New York now as a place to be. So I think our chances are greater than they were a few years ago, for sure. But it’s kind of far away, so we’ve got to try to focus on what we do now for the near future.”
Stoudemire said the Celtics started the trend of using three superstars to win a title, the Lakers and Miami followed, and now the rest of the league is following suit.
“I think Boston started it and they were successful,” he said. “They won a championship…so that formula was successful. I think everybody just kind of tagged along after that.”
Anthony was expected to sign a three-year, $65 million extension Tuesday with the Nuggets before being traded to the Knicks.
Two years from now, Stoudemire and Anthony will make approximately $40 million combined.
The NBA has proposed a $45 million hard cap under the new collective bargaining agreement. The old one expires June 30.
Asked what would happen under that scenario, Walsh said, “Well, then everybody’s going to have to go down and $5 million [in cap space] may be the biggest in the league.
“I don’t know, you’re asking me questions I don’t know.”
At that point, Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni chimed in and said, “That’s one of the reasons [why] we got Carmelo now because come July 1 you don’t know what’s going to happen.
“Now we’ve got two guys in our stable and whatever happens, happens. And we’ll go from there.”
RELATED CONTENT
**Walsh on Isiah: ‘I could care less‘
**Knicks land ‘Melo; New-look team to appear Wednesday
**Mozgov most important man in NBA
And like ZAGS on Facebook.
