The Knicks Are Back with Amare Stoudemire Signing a 5 Year Contract

Amare Stoudemire was all smiles as he went out after an afternoon meeting with a Knickerbocker cap as they reached an agreement in principle with a 5 year $99.7 million contract with the New York Knicks. So there won’t be any Chris Bosh playing in the garden or David Lee’s chances of returning to the roster but definitely they are a step higher on the Lebron James sweepstakes ahead of Chicago, New Jersey and Cleveland. The Knicks have been preaching about going to a better and brighter direction for years now and after making bad decisions after another it became a monotonous speech every year but this time there won’t be any wrong decision in acquiring Stoudemire and if they could sign one marquee player like Wade or James then this season would be the fruition of all those promises.
Amare’s almost a $100 million contract is worth every penny with a double-double player who provides the offense and the defense needed by the Knicks from the paint it almost erase the blunder the Knicks made by signing Jerome James and Eddy Curry to fat contracts.
Amare whom the Knicks bypass in the 2002 draft choosing Nene Hilario played only with the Phoenix Suns for the entirety of his career and when the Suns offered a 5 year $71 million contract with only 3 years full guarantee and the last 2 years with a 50 percent guarantee which will turn to full depending on Amare’s minutes, the Knicks readily offered him a much better preposition with 5 years full guaranteed contract.
There won’t be any major changes for the Knicks with Amare’s familiarity of his former coach now running the Knick’s system Mike D’Antoni. Now there is one more space to fill in and with enough salary cap they are focusing now on James and Wade. And with Wade’s inclination in signing back to Miami or to his hometown Chicago it looks like the Knicks and James has a lot of catching up to do but like any chess match the Knicks have already made the first move. They know James wanted Stoudemire way back in February when Lebron was vocal in demanding Amare before the trade deadline. Now the Knicks offered Stoudemire to the table and Lebron has the chance to play side by side with a player who could match his versatility and athleticism. There was a reason why the Phoenix Suns offered only 3 years full guarantee for Amare. His history with injuries in the knee and eyes prove to be the biggest factor but beyond those scarred knees and retinas the Knicks have one thing in their mind and signing Amare could bring them closer to him… It’s all about Lebron, it was really all about him from the start.
Being the front runner for Lebron it’s still not a guarantee… But whatever happens at least they still have Amare in their roster, something to look forward to no Eddy Curry’s or Jerome James’s…
“The Knicks are back,” said Amare… they definitely are.