With the flurry of moves the New York Knicks made on Friday, they have signaled that they are going to be the front runners for the services of the free agent class of 2010. 

LeBron James has been rumored to be a target of the Knicks for nearly two years now; both Dwayne Wade of the Miami Heat and Chris Bosh of the Toronto Raptors are due to be free agents with him.

The Knicks and Golden State Warriors agreed in principle to a deal involving Jamal Crawford and Al Harrington on Friday.  Harrington had been lobbying for a trade out of Golden State, while Crawford’s play had been one of the lone bright-spots for the Knicks early this season. 

Later this afternoon the Knicks sent the rejuvenated Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins to the Los Angeles Clippers for Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley.

From the Warriors’ and Clippers’ perspectives, the trades were moves to solidify their lineups and challenge for playoff spots in the always competitive Western Conference. 

Clearly, the Knicks have no interest in competing in the short term, despite the addition of Mike D’Antoni as their coach this season.  Randolph was leading the team in points per game and rebounding, while Crawford was their second leading scorer and projected to flourish under D’Antoni.

With the addition of Crawford, the Warriors have a viable option to run their offense after the offseason injury to Monta Ellis.  Randolph gives the Clippers yet another rebounding force on top of the oft-injured Marcus Camby and trade rumor-friendly Chris Kaman.

The Knicks still have the hefty contracts of Stephon Marbury and Eddy Curry, and it will remain to be seen if today’s moves will mean that either will soon see playing time.

Only time will tell if the moves will result in a better shot at the top-tier free agents at the end of this season, and next.  The Knicks have problems all the way to the front office (Isaiah Thomas), so this could just be the beginning.

-Scott Lewis

You're currently logged into Facebook

Do you want to share your Bleacher Report activity on Facebook?