Stoudemire agrees to five-year deal with Knicks

[Griffin]

Looks like it's official.

The New York Knicks finally got a return on their two years of self-induced misery on Monday, finishing up the final touches on a five-year contract for Phoenix Suns free agent forward Amar'e Stoudemire that is expected to be worth around $100 million. A source indicates a formal announcement from Stoudemire should be forthcoming within the hour at Madison Square Garden.

Stoudemire and the Knicks quickly found each other last week, each in need of a soft landing place. The 27-year-old Stoudemire was looking for a team that still believed he could be a dominant player in the next few years, despite concerns about his knees and his eyes following serious injuries to each. And the Knicks, who'd sold their fans for the last two years that they'd be a major player in free agency this summer, able to lure the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, were desperate for a splashy acquisition that would give fans hope and add to their depleted roster.

Stoudemire chafed at constant trade rumors involving him the last two years, but after helping lead Phoenix to the Western Conference finals, he still negotiated with the Suns when the free agent negotiating period began last week. But after he and the Suns could not reach agreement on a new deal -- Phoenix was unwilling to give him five guaranteed years on a new contract, preferrring team options in the last two years of a deal -- the Suns quickly moved on, agreeing to terms with free agent forward Hakim Warrick on a four-year, $18 million deal and agreeing on a new contract with their own free agent forward, Channing Frye, for five years and $30 million.

Stoudemire spent the Fourth of July weekend in New York, ending up at a party in the Hamptons with his agent, Happy Walters, at the home of Knicks owner James Dolan on Sunday night. After the two sides commenced official negotiations Monday it did not take long for New York to make its offer and for Stoudemire to accept, with a final meeting Monday afternoon between Stoudemire and the team's ownership group, led by Dolan, making it official.

What Stoudemire brings in terms of production (career averages of 21.4 points and 8.9 rebounds) isn't that much different than what New York got last season from David Lee, the 26-year-old free agent forward who finished second in the league in rebounds last season and averaged 20 and 11 in Mike D'Antoni's system last season. Neither is known for his defense, either. But Stoudemire brings a star power that the Knicks have lacked for almost a decade, since the end of the Patrick Ewing era. And he provides an anchor from which the team can try to lure other premier free agents.

Stoudemire said over the weekend that he thought he could lure both Nuggets forward Carmelo Anthony and Spurs guard Tony Parker to New York, though both are currently under contract to their respective teams for another year. But a Spurs source said on Sunday that San Antonio has no interest in trading Parker to the Knicks in any kind of package involving Lee, the only significant chip the Knicks have left to use in a potential deal.

Yahoo! Sports first reported that the two sides had formally discussed an offer and that Stoudemire was meeting with Dolan on Monday.

The deal cannot be finalized until July 8, when free agents can sign with teams.

http://www.nba.com/2010/news/07/05/stoudemire.knicks/index.html

 

[JustinD]

Sad really....I wish we could have gotten something for him but I'm happy they didn't pay him 100 million here in Phoenix.

 

[shazaam6]

"You'll get nothing and like it."

 

[carey]

http://tweetphoto.com/31035995

"The Knicks are Back." lol

 

[Bufalay]

Amare, welcome to the capitol of the world.

 

[Irish]

I can't remember seeing Duhon is quite a while. can he runt eh pick and roll?

 

[overseascardfan]

Congratulations NY, this is your big 2 year plan, sign some big name FA's to return to prominance. Oh well, take your consolation prize and get the same results you've had since Ewing left. Amare basically replaces Lee but at a more expensive price tag but won't rebound as well or pass as well as Lee. Oh yeah and good luck putting up with his prima dona attitude.

James will not go to NY, Wade will go to either CHI or stay in MIA, JJ stayed in ATL. Parker will not go to NY, SA will offer him more money to stay. Carmelo will more than likely stay in DEN unless they trade him. Honestly, I feel although Warrick and Frye do not equal an Amare they will be adequate, Frye will get starting minutes and Warrick will provide veteran depth, we will see what Clark can do. Hey look at it this way, if we end up having a bad year there is a lot of talent in the 2011 draft to help us rebound.

 

[joshstmarie]

Lee @ 70-80m >>>>> Amare @ 100

 

[Griffin]

Some quotes from Amare:

“I feel great about being a pioneer and showing my leadership,”

“Totally comfortable, totally confident that my leadership qualities will uplift all of us to do something great this upcoming season,” Stoudemire said. “So again, the Knicks are back.”

NY now is in a difficult position, imo. If they cannot get LeBron, then they must at least trade for a good pick-and-roll point guard. If Amare is the only significant player they bring in this summer, they won't win many more games than last year. How will Amare handle the criticism then?

 

[TJ]

New York restaurants beware!!

Don't expect more than 2% tip

 

[carey]

Can someone PM me the Hollinger article about Amare to the Knicks and Suns lack of awareness of salary cap rules found here http://tinyurl.com/2c5hlv4 ?

 

[Irish]

Is it too early to have a thread on the Wit and Wisdom of Stoudemire? I know he's said a bunch of stupid stuff while with the Suns, but I've had the feelings the local reporters kept from really crucifying him with his own words. The NY reporters will love reporting on his dumb stuff.

You would think at least some of the Steve Nash with the media would rub off, but he sitll sounds like a 19 year old rookie.?!?!?

 

[i am the bad guy]

Heres the John Hollinger article someone requested:

------------------------

The New York Knicks aren't getting Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade, and they probably aren't getting LeBron James, either.
But at least the Knicks got somebody.
Monday's announcement that New York agreed to terms with Amare Stoudemire on a five-year, $99.74 million deal at least forestalls the Armageddon scenario for the Knicks. Their two years of self-imposed playoff exile in order to create cap space weren't for naught.
Stoudemire obviously comes with some asterisks. He's had microfracture surgery, and one bad hit to his eye could be a career-ender. He's not a great defender or passer and wouldn't win a most popular teammate competition.
That said, the pros outweigh the cons for New York. For starters, Stoudemire obviously has had success in coach Mike D'Antoni's system. This was probably the best landing spot for him careerwise if he couldn't return to the Suns.
More importantly, adding Stoudemire makes many other things possible for the Knicks. Now they inform other major free agents that they have a centerpiece to build around. That applies this summer and will apply just as strongly in a year, when the likes of Tony Parker and Carmelo Anthony could be on the market and the Knicks will have more cap space as a result of Eddy Curry's expiring contract.
In the shorter term, the Knicks have a stronger selling point to make to James and Wade. Even if those pitches ultimately fall on deaf ears, which seems likely, they can make a stronger sell to the likes of defensive center Brendan Haywood and pick-and-roll specialist Luke Ridnour as well. Those types of pickups wouldn't be nearly as sexy but would enable to the Knicks to field a competent, playoff-caliber roster next season.
And, of course, they can sign-and-trade David Lee. Keeping Lee is an option, but he'd make a terrible frontcourt partner for Stoudemire -- both thrive as the dive man in pick-and-rolls, and neither plays much defense (although Stoudemire will look like Bill Russell compared to Lee). Depending on how things go with other free agents, the Knicks might prefer to deal for future draft picks rather than current contracts. However, because they'll sign Stoudemire under the cap, the Knicks would be ineligible for a trade exception in such a deal. Another possibility is sending Lee to Golden State for Monta Ellis, although that would swallow up much of the cap space available to sign other free agents.
Basically, signing Stoudemire gives the Knicks options -- realistic options, not the pie-in-the-sky stuff we've been hearing about for the past two years. For that reason alone, it's a good deal that enables them to finally turn the page on a forgettable last decade. Their financial strength makes it better. Unlike some other teams, they will be able to afford it if Stoudemire disappoints in the final couple of years of the contract.
As for Phoenix, losing Stoudemire leaves a major hole. The Suns obviously thought Stoudemire was leaving when they signed Hakim Warrick and Channing Frye, but their unwillingness to pursue a sign-and-trade leaves me puzzled.
The Suns, who have no general manager or assistant GM at the moment, apparently thought they had to renounce their rights to Stoudemire once they agreed with Warrick and Frye. Alas, that simply isn't true. It doesn't matter in what order deals are agreed to; what matters is the order in which they're signed. Phoenix could have received contracts worth slightly more than $2 million in a sign-and-trade provided they had executed that deal before Warrick signed his contract.
Here's how it works. Under a little-known provision, the Suns could have removed Frye's cap hold by signing him with their midlevel exception first, because they still would have been over the cap while Stoudemire's cap hold stayed on their books. Then they could have sign-and-traded him to another team and taken back just enough salary to leave them $4 million under, enabling them to sign Warrick under the cap.
The Suns weren't going to get a treasure trove out of this in any case, but they could have received a couple of minor assets for their trouble in getting Stoudemire and his new team a more favorably structured deal (a sixth year for Stoudemire, which could happen only in a sign-and-trade -- plus, the larger raises permitted in such deals would have let his new club spread the money out over a longer period to create more cap space).
Depending on how things go for the Bulls during the next few days, they also had the possibility of structuring a Stoudemire-for-Warrick three-way sign-and-trade to give themselves a massive trade exception. (They would have stayed over the cap in that scenario and thus legally could obtain the exception.)
Apparently nobody in Phoenix was thinking about any of this stuff, although the Suns still have three days to scramble. Instead, they'll have roughly $2 million in cap room to fill Louis Amundson's slot in their rotation and a bunch of minimum contracts to fill out the roster. They were good enough last season that they might make the playoffs even without Stoudemire, but this is a major loss.

 

[devilalum]

Suns without Amare>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Knicks without Amare

Without Nash I don't think Amare makes them any better than Lee and they didn't have a 1rst round pick. This could get ugly quick.

 

[goldseraph]

Im kinda sad, been a big fan of Amare since we drafted him. He was so exciting the first season or two, I loved his ferocity and manchildness. I thought (wrongly) he would become a great defender and shot blocker in addition to his scoring. Thanks for the great years Amare, we gotta be happy getting that career out of a number 9 pick.

 

[Irish]

D'Antoni believes in offense and Amare is all about offense. This is not a championship combination, but it may work in the East during the regular season. If you thought the Suns looked like an automatic early exit team, but bringing D'Antoni and Amare together will make the old Suns look like a lock down defensive team.

 

[snowthedirtbub]

New York restaurants beware!!

Don't expect more than 2% tip

Oh thats racist! Jk I know what you meant.

Definitely a loss for the Suns, but definitely not worth the contract he was asking for.

 

[cly2tw]

Some quotes from Amare:


NY now is in a difficult position, imo. If they cannot get LeBron, then they must at least trade for a good pick-and-roll point guard. If Amare is the only significant player they bring in this summer, they won't win many more games than last year. How will Amare handle the criticism then?

Ask Pierce, KG, or Ray Allen.

 

[cly2tw]

Suns become the Clippers right at the moment Amare left, considering all issues relevant.

 

[joshstmarie]

Shut up with your frickin phoenix clippers ****.

 

[Covert Rain]

Knicks are an instant playoff team IMO. I just don't think they can get far without another huge FA signing.

 

[splitsecond]

D'Antoni couldn't manage to get to the finals with Amare, Nash and JJ. He isn't going to get anywhere past the first round with just Amare. It really is going to be a funny joke to watch unravel, unless they manage to get LeBron.

On the other hand, I can't wait to see how much trouble crackhead mama is going to get into in NYC.

 

[itlnsunsfan]

Knicks are an instant playoff team IMO.

Seriously?

 

[Covert Rain]

Seriously?

Yes seriously. I know people here like to hate on Amare but Amare is one of the best scoring PF in the league. He is better then David Lee and he will command double and triple teams like always. Nobody double teamed any Knick players. You can't underestimate the impact that will have on that team.

D'Antoni's offense is built around opening the outside. This exactly the type of player D'Antoni needs to rack up a bunch of easy wins. They won't go deep with just Amare but if they get Wade or LeBron, this team is a legit title contender IMO.

 

[AfroSuns]

As a fan, it is always kinda of sad to see a good player go, Amare is a great offensive player. It is not going to be easy to replace his offense and i like how Hollinger wrote he may look like Bill Russell compared to Lee on defense (Note to Lee lovers).
I wish him luck with the knicks. Barring injury, Amare may be able to get them to the playoff in the east. On the other hand if the Suns stand pat with what they have, we will be lucky to make the playoffs. All in all, i cant wait to see how this all plays out.