Knicks seek to excite New York once again

The countdown to the summer of 2010, when many star NBA players will become free agents, has officially begun. Among the free agents-to-be are LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, the two marquee players on the New York Knicks' radar. Donnie Walsh, the Knicks' president of Basketball Operations, spent that last year clearing cap space to sign one of these superstars and reignite New York's passion for basketball. Yet numerous obstacles still stand in the way of the Knicks' quest to become competitive again.

First and foremost, the Knicks must lure Wade or James to Madison Square Garden, and this is far from a slam-dunk. Wade openly said winning is his highest priority. "This is where I want to be," he said on his website, dwyanewade3.com. "I would love to retire in a Heat uniform. I just want to win." Other than the Heat, Wade has strong loyalties to his hometown Bulls, who are also clearing cap space to make a run at the 2006 Finals MVP.

James also wants to win. If the Cavaliers prove they are committed to winning long-term, he may be driven to stay on the team that drafted him and win multiple championships, like his idol Michael Jordan did.

If the Knicks end up signing either Wade or James, a contract worth upward of $20 million would put a large dent in the team's remaining available salary. The salary cap decreased from $58.68 million last season to $57.7 million this season, and it will decrease again next season. With little available money leftover and no valuable trading chips, the Knicks will most likely not be able to provide their new superstar with much help.

With new additions, the current team would certainly be better, but they would be nowhere close to competing for a title. The Knicks got off to the worst start in franchise history this year (1-9) and are currently in second to last place in the East, only behind their winless neighbors from New Jersey. The most disturbing aspect of their record is that all but four of the Knicks' games have been played in the Garden.

The Knicks would have a much stronger case for attracting free agents if they had drafted better the past few years. Last year, the Knicks made a safe pick in selecting Jordan Hill from the University of Arizona with the eighth pick. They passed on the riskier Brandon Jennings, who eventually went to the Milwaukee Bucks with the 10th pick. In the 2008 NBA Draft, the Knicks selected high-risk but talented player Danilo Gallinari out of Italy with the sixth pick, this time passing on Indiana University star Eric Gordon.

Unfortunately for the Knicks and their fans, they chose the wrong Italian league player and took the wrong risk. Gordon and Jennings have been significantly better than Gallinari and Hill at this point in their careers, with the former two looking like stars and the latter two looking like works in progress. As punishment, the Knicks may miss out on two future superstars in Gordon and Jennings.

To make matters worse, the Knicks do not have their first round pick this year as they traded it away for Stephon Marbury. Sadly, this pick appears to have a strong chance of being in the top three, and could possibly be freshman phenom John Wall of Kentucky.

One can only hope that either Wade or James decide to come to the Knicks this summer, and that Gallinari and Hill turn out to be strong contributors and solid players. But with the team they have and the limited money available beyond signing a superstar, the Knicks do not have much to offer free agents beyond playing in New York City. The Knicks put all their hopes into the free agent class of 2010, and if they don't sign major difference makers, the city of New York will be watching bad basketball for many years to come.