The Knicks Fix

The Knicks just announced a press conference for tomorrow at 1 p.m. to introduce Mike D'Antoni has the head coach of the Knicks.

And LeBron James just dunked on Kevin Garnett.

They don't want to read about this in Cleveland, but just about every step Donnie Walsh will take between now and the Summer of LeBron (2010) will be all about getting King James into a Knicks uniform.

As we reported today, much of Walsh' recruiting efforts with Mike D'Antoni involved the gameplan of getting under the salary cap to make a run at LBJ.

Before we get to the meat of the story, let me first correct a few things in the story. First and foremost, Marc Iavaroni's name is misspelled in the story. For some reason, we went with the spelling of another Long Islander, Big Brown owner Michael Iavarone.

Pardon me, I'm an idiot. But as I've said in the past, fallibility is sexy.

More importantly -- and clearly something that will be discussed a great deal -- is the Knicks payroll situation going into the offseason after 2009-10. I wrote that the Knicks have $28 million in salary, which reflects only guaranteed contracts. I failed to include the various options that are also on the ledger that, if all were taken, would increase the number to $47 million.

Let's assume the cap in 2010-11 is in the $60-65 million range. That still leaves the Knicks over $10 million in cap space, which is a start.

But let me show you what the Knicks have contract-wise to deal with between now and then:

Stephon Marbury ($20,840,625) and Malik Rose ($7,647,500) become free agents in 2009.

David Lee and Nate Robinson are both headed toward restricted free agency in 2009. The most the Knicks have to do is give qualifying offers to both -- Lee would get $2,682,049 and Robinson would get $2,911,077 -- and then negotiate with them in 2010. But that opens the door for other teams to submit offer sheets for either (Lee might get a lot of attention, perhaps at the mid-level exception) and Walsh will have to decide if it is worth keeping either for long-term committments or letting them go to stick with the 2010 plan.

Like I said, Fixers, there are going to be some tough decisions.

Another one that is coming in 2009 is Jamal Crawford, who has a player opt-out after next season and may very well take it if he believes he could get more on the open market than the $19,440,000 he would get over the next two seasons if he picked up his option. Keep this in mind, Crawford should flourish in D'Antoni's system, so his offensive numbers aren't likely to drop. So if Crawford opts-out, his $10,080,000 owed in 2010-11 comes off the books.

Quentin Richardson has a player option in 2009 for $9,352,500 that you can expect he will pick up. But he comes off the books in 2010.

Jerome James has a player opt for $6,600,000 in 2009. I wonder if before this point Walsh will look into getting a disabled player exemption for James, who has a litany if physical issues that -- along with an awful work ethic -- has kept him from being physically able to perform. Either way, his contract is off the books in 2010.

Going even deeper, there are team options on three young players for 2010 - Renaldo Balkman ($2,036,920), Mardy Collins ($1,801,029) and Wilson Chandler ($1,255,440). None are guaranteed to be picked up because you can't assume anything.

Everyone agrees it's pretty much a given Eddy Curry will pick up his option in 2009 that kicks in $10,500,423 in 09-10 and $11,276,863 in 10-11. You're stuck with that unless you can find a trade parter.

Zach Randolph's contract is the killer. He is owed $17,333,333 in 2010-11, which is the final year of his deal. Perhaps you can trade him by then as an expiring, but there is reason to believe that Walsh will do all he can to move Randolph this summer. But you'll likely have to take on someone else's bad contract (or two) in the process. Since you're going to need players, the hope is you at least get players who better fit the system and, better fit with Curry in the frontcourt.

In the meanwhile, anything else you do is purely short-term. D'Antoni's system needs strong play out of the point guard position. We already know Toronto will have to make a choice between Jose Calderon (a restricted free agent) and T.J. Ford, who is owed $16.5 million over the next two seasons and has a player option for $8.5 million in 2010-11.

One intriguing option to consider -- longshot, but worth monitoring -- is the situation brewing with Baron Davis and the Warriors. Davis has a $17.1 million option this summer. If he opts out, he is a free agent and the Knicks won't be able to touch him. But if he has any interest in coming to New York, he'd have to take something short-term via a sign-and-trade.

Fixers, this isn't going to be easy. There is a lot of maneuvering to do and some very tough decisions (Crawford and Lee) to make along the way to get to that Summer of LeBron with enough space to lure him away from Cleveland.

A statement was just released by the team:

"The New York Knicks have agreed in principle with Mike D'Antoni to become the next head coach of the team. A press conference will be scheduled upon the completion of the contract."

There is early word that a press conference could come as early as Monday -- there is only one playoff game that night (Boston at Cleveland) -- but nothing has been officially set as of yet.

The fact that the Knicks released a statement likely means D'Antoni officially resigned from the Suns, which had to take place before the Knicks could announce an agreement.

Four years at $24 million is the deal, which we were able to confirm. What's notable is that means next season the Knicks will be paying for three head coaches. Larry Brown should be in the fourth year of his five-year deal. Isiah Thomas is in the second year of his three-year extension. And now D'Antoni starts his four-year agreement.

Good to have money.

Have I said how much I admire and respect Cablevision as a company?

By the way...I owe myself this. Click here for the result of my prediction on the Michael Kay Show.

Mike D'Antoni is your new coach.

Discuss amongst yourselves. I'll blog after my responsibilities to the print side are completed.

L'Affaire D'Antoni has been like reading one of those choose-your-own-adventure books. You start with the fact that Mike D'Antoni has been given permission to talk with other teams....

Now, if you believe his destination will be Chicago, turn to Newsday, the Chicago Tribune and the Arizona Republic.

If you believe the Knicks are legitimately in play, turn to The New York Post, the Chicago Sun-Times and the East Valley Tribune.

And if you will believe anything someone tells you, go to ESPN.com.

Hey, like Buffalo Springfield said, Nobody's right if everybody's wrong.

Despite this reported anticipation of a "staggering offer" from the Knicks, D'Antoni is meeting with Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf this weekend, according to the Chicago Tribune.

This report backs up our story in today's Newsday which, according to a source, said that D'Antoni would be meeting a second time with the Bulls this weekend.

From the beginning this has been mainly about D'Antoni and the Bulls. They were the first to fly to Phoenix and talk to D'Antoni when the Suns gave him permission to speak with other teams. Donnie Walsh arrived the next day.

Walsh does have an interest in D'Antoni and, through people close to him, there is a sense that Walsh is confident that D'Antoni could be successful in New York. But is Walsh desperate to hire him?

He doesn't seem to be.

Not as desperate as the D'Antoni camp has in perpetuating the notion -- through the eager media -- that Walsh and the Knicks are holding a blank check to lure D'Antoni away from the Bulls, who are trying to be reasonable with their contract offer after regretting a long-term committment to Scott Skiles. As the Tribune reported, the idea that the Bulls won't pay because they still owe Skiles a ton of buyout money is factually incorrect.

Skiles is owed $3.5 million, but as per the agreement that number will be paid out over time. The Bulls will pay Skiles $1 million each in the next two seasons and then $750,000 each in the following two. That is hardly break-the-bank numbers for a wealthy team like the Bulls.

Bottom line, if they want D'Antoni, they can certainly match the remaining salary he has in Phoenix, which is $4 million this coming season and $4.5 million in 2009-10.

But if you represent D'Antoni and the New York market is involved with even mild interest, you wouldn't be a good agent if you didn't try to get your client more. The Bulls have no interest in getting into a bidding war with the Knicks.

And the Knicks have no interest in bidding against themselves, which is a refreshing change from the mindset of the previous regime.

More to come. Stay tuned . . . .

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Been making the radio rounds this week around the country -- we've been on in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Atlanta -- and on Friday we made our drivetime debut on the Michael Kay show on ESPN Radio. Go here for a listen.

And be sure you catch fellow Fixer Brandon Tierney's show from 7 - 10 p.m. weeknights on ESPN Radio.

Maybe Steve Nash knows something, or maybe he's freaking out over the idea of playing in a system other than Mike D'Antoni's free-wheeling, free-spirited system.

Reporters in Phoenix caught up with him at a charity appearance today and he addressed the speculation surrounding D'Antoni.

"This is the last thing I'm going to say about our coaching situation: Mike's my coach," Nash said. "So I expect to see Mike back here next year. And I know there's a lot of stuff going on right now, but Mike's my coach. I love playing for him. I expect to see him back in October."

No one benefitted more from D'Antoni than Nash, who arrived in Phoenix in 2004 and became a two-time MVP. The Suns went from a 29-win team the season before to a 62-20 finish in 2004-05. D'Antoni took over during the 2003-04 season, which saw all kinds of changes, including the blockbuster trade of Stephon Marbury to New York, which freed up cap space to sign Nash.

It is hard to believe D'Antoni can return to the Suns after all of this. Even if he doesn't take the Bulls offer and the Knicks decide not to go with him, D'Antoni will have other options later this summer with the uncertaintly in Atlanta. And the later this goes into the summer, the more pressure is put on the Suns to make a decision with a replacement coach -- not many options the longer they wait -- and then are forced to negotiate a buyout with D'Antoni. If they force him back to coach it would create a very strange and uneasy situation. But a contract is a contract.

Nash would obviously welcome that scenario, but you wonder if there is fallout to come with D'Antoni's departure. Would Nash seek a trade?

Stay tuned....

I have this wild and complicated scenario that, aside from obvious collusion, could be a plausible solution to the Mike D'Antoni situation.

Warning: This is pure speculation. But since everyone else is doing it -- and not being held accountable for it (i.e.: there was no "staggering offer" made by the Knicks and there was no meeting today between Donnie Walsh and D'Antoni's agent, Warren LeGarie, as was reported elsewhere) -- let us grab a handful of goo and throw it at the wall. If it sticks, we'll take all the credit.

If it doesn't, we'll just pretend we never said anything.

The scenario involves the Knicks, Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors. Now, Fixers, stay with me here.

The Suns have refused to give D’Antoni permission to speak with the Raptors, for whom former Suns executive Bryan Colangelo is the general manager. Suns managing partner Robert Sarver doesn't want to see Colangelo reunite with his buddy Mike D.

But that doesn't necessarily mean D'Antoni can't wind up in Toronto. D’Antoni could quit if he had assurances via backchannels (i.e. his buddy) that Toronto would give him the job.

But Colangelo would first have to get Donnie Walsh to give assurances that he would hire Sam Mitchell, a Walsh favorite, who then would have to quit in Toronto before D’Antoni was hired.

Round and round she goes....

In this scenario the Suns get out of paying D’Antoni the $8.5 million left on his contract and the Raptors get out of paying Mitchell the final three years of the extension he was given last summer.

And the Knicks get an experienced candidate who fits more of the mold Walsh is looking to set for the franchise.

Or, of course, Walsh could just give D'Antoni a boatload of money. Or give the job to Mark Jackson and put an end to all of this.

For those who are wondering about Avery Johnson, I heard today that he might just take the $11 mil coming to him from Dallas and sit out a while until the best opportunity opens for him. It suggests even he believes New York is not a good fit for him.

Stay tuned....