Will Josh Howard Take a Bite Out of the Big Apple?

Reports have been surfacing that the New York Knicks have been inquiring about the services of Josh Howard as we enter the later stages of the free-agency period.The length of contract the Knicks are willing to give is not yet known at this time.

Howard, a former Demon Deacon and another great from the 2003 NBA Draft, is currently recovering from a torn ACL after only playing four games with the Wizards. He has been known for his hung over incident, which reportedly was the main reason he was traded from the Mavs, and his well-known disrespect video of the national anthem.

Although he's only been in the league as long as LeBron James, Howard was 23 when he entered the league and has already hit his 30th birthday. This could come as a scare to some teams interested in him. They must account for not only his age, but his ability to fully recover from the ACL tear going on from here.

The one-time All-Star (2007) has also grown interest from the Bulls, Celtics, and his latest team in the Washington Wizards. There have been no reports from the Mavericks in reacquiring their former small forward.

The figures of what he is expecting is still unsure as he will not be able to join his future team at the beginning of the season due to the injury. He could look like a nice piece alongside rookie John Wall, but New York makes the most sense.

He would get to play under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden and would give the team a more D'Antoni-oriented offense.

Losing David Lee definitely hurts the team, but bringing in Howard at even a slightly overpaid price could pay dividends in the long run. Running Gallinari, Howard, and Stoudemire as your front court is not a bad option for a Mike D'Antoni squad. The question will come back to if Raymond Felton can run the squad and give the potential Howard easy buckets.

Felton has come from the Larry Brown world of schooling to sign with the Knicks and we will have to see if the improvements come through for him as they did for Chauncey Billups and Allen Iverson.

Howard made over his last three seasons: $9 million, $9.94 million, and $10 million dollars. I would not expect anything near max numbers for Howard, but then again, these are the Knicks.