New changes in NBA will bring more problems for the New York Knicks: NBA Update
With no headway in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the players union and the NBA officials and owners yet, the league can be headed for a lockout. For the new president of the New York Knicks though, the situation
is going to get even tougher if the new CBA is agreed upon.
Donnie Walsh the former President of the Knicks, who was relieved of his post last week said, “We have the stars” who definitely deserves respect. “They will do what they do, and we’re lucky to have them”. But, Walsh had admitted
saying, “You need more than that” to compete for the title.
Walsh meant that a team needs the supporting players as much as they require star players as they are the ones who “fill in the blanks”. The fringe players are the ones who do all the dirty work while the superstars go on and
provide scoring outlets. The major evidence of this is the current playoffs performances by the supporting players - Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller of Miami Heat and Tyson Chandler and Shawn Marion of Dallas Mavericks. The Knicks have got the star power in
the form of Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire, but they lack the supporting cast. So now their next task will be to draw some quality supporting players.
However, the major problem that stands in the Knicks way that 40 million dollars are already engaged in Anthony and Stoudemire. The total salary cap for this season was $58.5 million so they are left with just $18.8 million to
pay the remaining roster. The problem just doesn’t end here. The current size of the salary cap is going to reduce with the implementation of the new CBA – which will shorten the salary cap.
So if the salary cap will be lowered to $50 million for each team then things will become more complicated. The Knicks have $43 million commitments with four players – Anthony, Stoudemire, Toney Douglas and Renaldo Balkman and
they will be left with just $7 million.
However, this scenario can take another turn if the owners win the fight and reduce the players’ salaries. Then, the $40 million obligation to Anthony and Amar’e will be reduced to almost half, but this option can barely take place
because if this happens, the players association will prefer cancelling the season rather than giving back the contract money.
The Knicks new president will have his hands full and even with smart moves, it seems that the new President will most probably remain handicapped. First, because of the limited equity and secondly because the Knicks don’t have
the first round picks in the 2012 and 2014 NBA Draft.
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