Chauncey Billups: His Contract Is the Key to Chris Paul

Just recently, it was announced that Chauncey Billups would be returning to the Knicks, with his team option for next year being picked up.  

At first, I wondered why they would pay so much for an aging, injury-prone player when they could have either renegotiated his contract or bought him out.  

However, I now see what they are doing here.

It seems that Donnie Walsh has bought into the idea of super-teams. By extending Chauncey's contract, the Knicks have basically conceded from participating in this free agent class.  

This will most likely mean that they aren't going after a center for next year, which will come to the dismay of many. Although this is a controversial move, what it does is assure that we have a huge quantity of money coming off the books in the summer of 2012.

This allows us to pursue Chris Paul, Deron Williams or even Dwight Howard.  

For the short term, the Knicks will most likely not get any better, at least not by adding any new players, but after next season, it puts them in the position to establish their own Big Three to rival the one down in Miami.

What do you think of this and who do you think the Knicks should get?