Mike D’Antoni can finally see the light at the end of the Lincoln Tunnel.
The Knicks coach has struggled through two years with the team more concerned with paring down payroll than putting a winner on the court. That finally comes to an end July 1 when free agency begins and the Knicks will try to put their salary cap space to work. When the possibility of striking out come next week with free agents was brought up to D’Antoni, he quickly shot down the idea.
“We are not going to strikeout,” D’Antoni said on ESPN Radio. “We may hit a single or a double; we are going for the home run. We are going to get the bat on the ball, I guarantee you.”
The home run would be bringing LeBron James and Chris Bosh to the Big Apple. D’Antoni laid out how he plans on selling the Knicks to free agents.
“We are going to show him what we have to offer, what New York has to offer, how we are going to try and build a championship team, and convince them this is the place they want to be,” D’Antoni said.
D’Antoni has watched as team president Donnie Walsh has traded away players that could have helped the Knicks win, but whose salary would prevent them from being a major player in this year’s highly touted free agent market. The Knicks traded away Zach Randolph, Jamal Crawford two seasons ago and first-round pick Jordan Hill this past season to afford two max free agents. D’Antoni said that part of the process is finally over.
“From now on we are going to do everything we can to win, the past two years we were doing everything we can to get under the cap,” he said. “That meant sacrificing the team sometimes, taking some people you didn’t want to do. Now everything is on board to build a winner. … Every trade we made sent us a step backwards.”
David Lee, the team’s All-Star from last season, will be one of the players hitting the open market. Though D’Antoni touted Lee’s ability, he didn’t sound optimistic he would be with the Knicks next season.
“That’s the tricky part of it — the timing and finances, not on his ability.” D’Antoni said. “David has made an unbelievable improvement the past couple of years and he’s become a viable, very good basketball player.
“He has to be surrounded by certain types of players, we asked him to guard the basket which really wasn’t fair to him. He was an All-Star, he’s improved his game. If we can get the team right love to have David, but mathematically, timing it’s hard to say what’s going to happen. But he’s going to make somebody a really good basketball player and hopefully it’s a Knick.”