Knicks getting right to the point

July 2, 2008   ·   Paul Raymond   ·   Jump to comments

Only two days into free agency and the New York Knicks are wasting no time addressing their need at point guard. The team has already extended an offer to former Chicago Bulls backup Chris Duhon. They’ve also reached out to the recently freed Sebastian Telfair and Tyronn Lue, while letting Stephon Marbury know he will be with the team come training camp in October. Lets look at their free agent options.

First we’ll talk about Chris Duhon since the team has already made an offer. The offer is believed to be a two-year deal worth around $7 million. This would use up a majority of the teams $5.5 million mid-level exception. The reasoning for such a short deal (which is against the norm for the Knicks), is that this contract would expire in time for 2010, when the Knicks could be under the salary cap. I’ve talked before about the Knicks needing a true point guard to run coach Mike D’Antoni’s system, Duhon is just that. Last season, Duhon averaged about 20 minutes a game, scoring just under 6 points but sporting a nice 4:1 assist to turnover ratio.

“Chris has the same interest as they do,” his Duhon’s agent, Kevin Bradbury said. “He sat down with Mike and talked philosophy.”

Duhon would initially be brought in as a backup but be given a chance to compete for the starting job with the fore mentioned Marbury. Depending on which Marbury shows up, he could have a legitimate shot at stealing the starting job. The person who’d be most affected by this move would be Nate Robinson. In D’Antoni’s system he could spend more time at the shooting guard, but the coach is already in love with Jamal Crawford there. This could increase the chances of Nate being moved, maybe even in a package deal with David Lee, who the team is also shopping.

The other two names being thrown around are Sebastian Telfair and Tyronn Lue. None of these options really intrigue me. Lue, I’ve always thought was garbage, way back to the days of him guarding Allen Iverson in the NBA Finals. He can be effective offensively in spurts but its not something to count on. He could help the team’s defense thou so that may be why they are considering him. Telfair has pitched around the idea of being a Knick since his high school days. He’s a New York product and also a cousin of Marbury. The mix of those two together could either be a really big headache on the coaching staff and fans, OR it could be the move that gets Marbury to think straight and finally play some ball.

When I first started writing this piece I wasn’t to sure how I felt about a deal for Duhon. I initially liked the thought but wasn’t to sure if it was an offer I really want the team to follow through on. While typing and thinking I’ve sold myself to this. Based on pure free agent options, Duhon is the best we can do and like mentioned earlier it solves a need but doesn’t hurt our salary cap for 2010. There are better options on the trade market, but do we want to give up what it would take? (i.e. David Lee and possibly putting future cap space in danger).

Duhon hasn’t officially accepted the offer yet, the NY Post says he’s mulling the offer. He can’t officially sign till July 9th, so even if he says he will take the deal he can always change his mind. He was expected to visit the Orlando Magic today, I don’t know if that was made. If he didn’t make the trip then the writing is definitely on the wall.

It’s summer time in New York and there is always a lot of things going on. Here’s a list of some of your local events coming up.

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