10 Latest Offseason Developments and Rumors for the NY Knicks

Two weeks after the Dallas Mavericks redeemed themselves and rejected the Miami Heat for the NBA championship to the delight of many, capping off one of the best NBA seasons since perhaps the Jordan era, the 2011 offseason was rocked by the now two-month long lockout.

The lockout is hogging the media spotlight, what little there is on the NBA right now.  But there is stuff going on all around as players, owners and fans alike—maybe it’s denial—act as if nothing's wrong.  But they speak as if the season will, at the least, not start on time.  And so agrees the general consensus.

Though the normal offseason routine—trades, free agency, summer league, team practices—has been quashed, players are still keeping in shape (unofficial sessions, playing in Europe), the 2011-12 schedule has been released, coaching and management transactions are still in effect and improvements in venues are full-speed ahead.

For the New York Knicks, there’s a lot going on, but a lot still to do once the lockout is lifted—like signing some players in limbo.

Here are the latest offseason developments and rumors in New York Knick Land.

1. NBA Lockout Status

The NBA lockout began on July 1st. Ironically, negations had been going on since the beginning of the year up until the midnight deadline—but there were no negotiations for the entire month of July as both camps retreated to strategize.  The two sides resumed talks and tort-flinging in August, but just briefly.

Another month went by, until again last night (Aug 31) the NBPA and NBA met again—but both agreed to say nothing about the negotiations, so we're in the dark a bit.

The sides are far apart on issues ranging from player’s share of league revenue to salary cap, age minimums and rookie salaries…in a battle to carve a $4 billion pie. It doesn’t look good.  Billy Hunter, NBPA union director, “told an American Bar Association conference that if he "had to bet on it," he would wager that there will be no NBA season.” (ESPN)  Now that’s a stance.

Most people, though, think there will be a season, albeit a shortened one, like the 50-game schedule that resulted from the last lockout in 1998-99.

In the meantime, the Knicks and the rest of the players will continue receiving paychecks until the middle of November (NY Times).

If the season never realizes, players, owners and arenas stand to lose a lot of money and some fanbase. Every Knicks home game “generates at least $1 million in ticket revenue” for Madison Square Garden (Bloomberg.com).  Most of this will be lost due to the difficulty of finding replacement events on such short notice.

For the Knicks, who raised ticket prices this season (a whopping average of 49 percent), the year’s new potential profit will not be achieved on top of the losses.  Yeah, I know your heart bleeds.

But it's not just about money,

"The lack of a full training camp may damage the Knicks more than any other club because they never had the opportunity to build chemistry with coach Mike D’Antoni last season." (Boston Globe) How long is it going to take for this team to gel?  Tired of hearing it. Gel already.

2. Madison Square Garden Renovation

Speaking of that price hike…

In case you’re unaware, Madison Square Garden is going through the biggest and most costly renovation in its history.  It’ll cost James Dolan, et al. $850 million. The whole inside is being torn down and rebuilt over a three year period that began not long after the Knicks were bounced from the postseason.

The Garden is off limits to all sporting events and live acts all summer and early fall as the construction plows through.

The renovation will “update the Garden's entrance, seating, locker rooms, lighting, sound and video. There will also be wider concourses, more bathrooms, luxury suites, food options, dressing rooms and production offices.” (wsj.com)

The changes will be very noticeable, especially along the concourses where the spaciousness might remind the fan of the new prototype baseball stadiums and hockey arenas (see the Rock in Newark where the Devils play for similarities).

See for yourself. MSG.com has a construction camera that shows the state of the arena for every date of the calendar.  Take a look at what will be the 8th Floor Concourse Viewing Area, new suites, the new Knicks locker room and what the new arena will look like when completed (in 2013).

3. New York Knicks 2011-12 Schedule

The NBA has optimistically released the 2011-12 schedule.

If the season tips off on time, the Knicks (schedule here) will open up at home against the Miami Heat on November 2nd.  It’s a tough opening month—a week later they host the Oklahoma City Thunder, then face the top scoring team of 2010, the Denver Nuggets, and the L.A. Lakers on the road.  The Knicks finish the month against the Orlando Magic. New York might actually be served well by a season delay in terms of strength of schedule.

December is lighter and looks to be the type of month where the Knicks, if they are as good as last year, could romp—go 14-2 or 13-3.  The highlight is a home-at-home with the Boston Celtics, including high noon on Christmas Day.

January is similar…the Knicks could do very well here, too. There’s a Grizzlies game in there and one against the Thunder and Heat, but the rest of the opponents are definitely beatable.

Crunch time begins in February. The Knicks meet the Chicago Bulls for the first time to open up the month.  The Magic and Lakers also come to town as the schedule really begins to heat up.  Throw in the Dallas Mavericks and a visit to Miami, and New York has its work cut out for it.

March isn’t too bad, though.  Perhaps it is because the Knicks are better than most of the teams in the NBA now—but still not as good as the elites.  They face the Celtics, Mavericks and Bulls in the first two weeks, completing a challenging six-week stretch.  But after that, it’s smooth sailing until April.

Of the nine games in April, the Knicks will face the Bulls twice, the Magic, the Heat and the Celtics. Whew. Thankfully, the finish the season in Cleveland.

4. Knicks' Injury Updates: Anthony, Stoudemire, Billups and Turiaf

While the biggest concerns on Knicks’ fans’ minds probably surround Chauncey Billups’ knees and thighs and Amar'e Stoudemire’s back and continued health after micofracture surgery, the big offseason injury happened to Ronny Turiaf.

The Knicks’ only tested center broke the ring finger on his left hand playing in a France vs. Great Britain exhibition game.  Recovery time is four to six weeks.  That’s plenty of time to heal, especially considering the lockout.  I don’t see the Knicks changing their plans—for example, re-signing Jeffries—in a desperate attempt to maintain height (let’s hope not).

Carmelo Anthony has an injury issue you may not even know about.  He had been “secretly rehabbing” chronic bursitis in his elbow from before the trade even. Before Tuesday night’s "surprise" pick-up all-star game in Baltimore (more on that later), Anthony hadn’t played in a game, and barely trained, since Game 4.  He claims to be fully recovered.

As for Billups and Stoudemire?

Billups’s knee injury in the final minutes of Game 1 doomed the Knicks.  What were they going to do without a point guard—and an experienced champion shooter to boot?

Well, his knee is as healed as a pre-injured knee on a veteran 35-year old can be.  He’s ready to go. He has been “cleared to workout after resting his knee injury for months,” and “vowed to be ready to play” if and when the season begins. (rotoworld.com)

And remember those thigh bruises that plagued him when he first came to New York? There is no word on them and the assumption is they were isolated incidents or par for the course for the old-timer.

And so far so good for Stoudemire, too.  He is “proof that there is life after microfracture” (nytimes.com).  There have been no setbacks and fans can only hope STAT keeps on, the poster-child of successful microfracture surgery.  They used to say Tommy John surgery was the end of a pitcher’s career. No more. Can we say the same for microfracture surgery?  Not yet.  But maybe soon.

And what about his back?  Believe it or not, Stoudemire is still recovering from that tweak.  He was not cleared to play basketball through July and August—“There's no rehab right now—no cardio, no weightlifting, nothing. They say the best thing for me right now is another three weeks of rest, nothing else.” (hoops-nation.com) He should be ready in September to get rolling. Hopefully, this won’t become a chronic concern, especially come playoff time.

5. Amar'e Stoudemire's Unrealized Unofficial Practice

STAT just got back from China, where he participated in Nike’s 2011 Festival of Sport with fellow NBAer LeBron James and No. 1 draft pick Kyrie Irving amongst others.

Amar’e re-upped with Nike in July.

Stoudemire had been organizing an unofficial team workout all offseason.  First it was to take place in Los Angeles in July, then it was moved to IMG Academy in Florida for September.

Now, it appears the workouts have been called off until at least October due to the “dismal nature of the CBA talks. In short: things are so bad, they're almost definitely losing games, so there's no rush.” (cbssports.com) Yeesh.  That sounds like no one is even going to try and solve this thing on time.

So what now for STAT?  Can he live? He just had the “illest pool party MTV Music Awards weekend” over in West Hollywood.

And it looks like he’ll be back out East after Labor Day.  He’s scheduled to hobnob with couture society at Macy’s Fashion’s Night Out on September 8th.

6. Carmelo Anthony's Baltimore "Pick-Up" Game

With Stoudemire sporting the team leadership at least with well-intentioned attempts at putting together an offseason summit, where’s the other guy? Carmelo Anthony has been quiet and out of the limelight for the past two months.

But that’s okay.  Fans have been pretty much hands-off Melo, so long as he does the job—like those 42 points in Game 2 against the Celtics with STAT on the bench.  Now that’s a form of leadership.

So, what is Melo doing instead?  He just returned from San Juan, Puerto Rico where his Courts 4 Kids program breathed new life into dilapidated playgrounds and neglected public basketball courts.

And, guess what, he did get a practice in finally—this past Tuesday in an unannounced and under the radar exhibition game in Baltimore with, get this, the likes of LeBron James, Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins, Roger Mason, Jr. and more—all at local Morgan State University.

Now, it’s off to New York City to film an episode of Law and Order SVU with, egad, Chris Bosh of all people.

Anthony is now on board with Knicks workouts, too: "Most likely I think as the month goes on, probably early October, we'll start getting guys together." (ESPN)

He's got a lockout solution, too, suggesting the NBA unlock the doors and open the season while simultaneously conducting negotiations.

Considering the height of the game at the moment, this may be the best solution for the NBA, despite its handful of money-bleeding teams.

I doubt it will happen.

7. Mike Woodson Hired as Assistant Coach (Finally)

As had been rumored for the past month and more, Mike Woodson has been hired as an assistant coach to Mike D’Antoni.  The rumors, though, stressed Woodson was to be hired as a defensive coach. The reality: this is a message to D’Antoni, who is on the last year of his contract.

Mike Woodson has been around.  He’s been an assistant coach in Detroit, Milwaukee and Cleveland and was head coach of the Atlanta Hawks for the six years (2004-2010).

There’s no doubting defense, just what the Knicks need, is Woodson’s specialty.  During his tenure in Atlanta, the Hawks went from 29th best defense in the league to 10th and made their first playoff appearance in nine years.

But Woodson wants a bigger piece of the action, too: “I'm not going to sit here and say that I'm just a defensive coach. I can help Mike, I think, offensively as well.” (nydailynews)

D’Antoni will have to do better than a first-round sweep this year or very possibly Woodson will be the Knicks coach in 2012-13.  We’ll see what happens.  I’m not sure that’s the best move. Why toss away all that offense?  It is working.  There just needs to be some work on the other side of the ball.

8. Who's Signed? Who's Unsigned? Who Will Stay? Who Will Go?

Current Signed/Retained Team: Amar’e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Landry Fields, Ronny Turiaf, Toney Douglas, Renaldo Balkman, Andy Rautins, Bill Walker, Iman Shumpert and Josh Harrelson.

Shawne Williams is unsigned, but should be once the lockout is over, if there is at least a partial season this year.

Anthony Carter is unsigned and despite his impressive playoff performance and the veteran experience he brings to the court, probably won’t be as the Knicks go with the youth movement at guard.

Roger Mason, Jr. is unsigned, but has a good relationship with Carmelo Anthony and has shown some flashes.  Expect Mason to be a Knicks in 2011-12.

Shelden Williams is unsigned and probably won't be.

Jared Jeffries is unsigned and most fans have their fingers crossed that it will stay that way.

Derrick Brown is unsigned, but it looks like the Knicks will keep him.

Rookies Shumpert and Harrelson are not signed but will automatically be to two-year contracts once things get official again.

And center Jerome Jordan looms.  He's looking to sign again in Europe, but with an opt-out clause.

9. Latest Knicks Rumors

Carmelo Anthony isn't done with fancy exhibition games.  Looks like there will be another later this month in Philadelphia.

Rookie Iman Shumpert is already working out at IMG, and working on that jump shot, and man, it looks pretty good.  He'll be hocking Adidas by the way.

Roger Mason, Jr. is considering playing in Israel.

Forget about Wilson Chandler becoming a Knick again anytime soon, well until April at least.  He won't be playing in the NBA this season. Chandler "has signed a contract with the Zhejiang Guangsha of the Chinese Basketball Association" and he can't opt out until the CBA's season is over—in April.  Wouldn't that be an interesting late-season free agent signing for New York?

Remember Jerome Jordan? Seven-foot Jerome Jordan? The Knicks snatched him from the Bucks after Milwaukee drafted him in 2010.  He played for Krka in Slovenia last year and is in training camp right now in Europe.  Don't be surprised if you see Jordan wearing the Blue and Orange before the end of the season.  This guy's an X-factor who would definitely make the Knicks bigger, and possibly better.

Finally, Madison Square Garden has been voted the No. 1 arena in the NBA.

10. 2011-12 Knicks City Dancers Selected

One of the more pressing matters on Fashion Avenue has been resolved: the 2011-12 Knicks City Dancers, 20th Anniversary edition, have been selected after straining, multiple-day auditions.

Here are the winners.

Gosh, I really hope they solve this lockout.