F Amare Stoudemire has agreed to a five-year contract worth $100 million to join the New York Knicks yesterday. It was clear that the Knicks were Stoudemire's first choice, as he really only met and talked with the Knicks. The Knicks weren't really courting Stoudemire initially, but his interest in the Knicks was something the Knicks could not turn down. Stoudemire also made headlining comments a couple of days ago when he said Denver Nuggets F Carmelo Anthony and San Antonio Spurs G Tony Parker are ready to join him in New York when they become free agents next year. Stoudemire spent the first eight years of his career with the Phoenix Suns, averaging 21.4 points per game during his time there.
In addition to his personal success, the Suns have been as far as the Western Conference Finals three times in his eight seasons there. However, he has not been able to get them to the NBA Finals, and he'll try to start anew with the Knicks and his old coach Mike D'Antoni. D'Antoni led the Suns to two of the three Western Conference Finals appearances Stoudemire has been involved in. The Knicks signing of Stoudemire could lure another top class free agent over to the Knicks. F Lebron James and G Dwyane Wade are still available on the free agent market.
The Knicks have only made the playoffs once since 2001, and they failed to get a win in that lone playoff appearance. The Knicks have been set back by failed free agent signings, and bad trades. The Knicks had a bunch of overpaid players who didn't contribute much or nothing at all. When Donnie Walsh left the Indiana Pacers to join the Knicks, he made it a goal to get rid of all the bad contracts to have financial flexibility for the 2010 free agency period. He blew up the team during the 2008-2009 season, when the Knicks were playing decent basketball with G Jamal Crawford and F Zach Randolph. He traded both of them in the same week in separate deals, freeing up cap space. It may now pay off for the Knicks and the fans, who haven't seen a championship since 1973.
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