New York Knicks Rumors: No Need To Deal with Overweight, Injured Baron Davis

The New York Knicks have been rejected by Jamal Crawford and Shawne Williams in the past two days, but now they are the ones that need to be doing the rejecting.

The Cleveland Cavaliers used their amnesty clause to rid themselves of point guard Baron Davis, and the New York Post is reporting that the Knicks are interested in picking him up.

The Knicks are very interested in signing him for the $1.4 million veterans minimum, but he first has to clear through the bidding process from under-the-cap teams. If nobody claims him then he instantly becomes a free agent, and sources from the New York Post believe he intends to sign with the Knicks.

This is not what the Knicks need. Davis waited until training camp for his agent to release this statement regarding his health:

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Baron’s focus is his health. He’s going to be out for a minimum of eight to 10 weeks if there’s no setbacks, according to the Cavs’ medical staff. He’ll do the physical therapy now until he’s healthy and able to ease his way back on to the court

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So he has an entire summer plus most of the fall to take care of the injury, and he waits until now to do something about it? That’s a good example of much Davis cares.

He grew a beard to make a fashion statement? No. I think he grew it to hide the double chin he had accumulated as a member of the Clippers. His weight fluctuates more than the stock market, and at the age of 32, it’s unclear if his primary focus is still on basketball, let alone winning.

The Knicks would provide him the sort of media market to really advance his production company and the other business ventures attached to his name.

Let’s say he misses nine weeks (which gives him ample time to crush plenty of Twinkies and doughnuts). That means he would be lucky to get back on the court by the end of February. That gives him less than two months to get comfortable running a completely unique offense under coach Mike D’Antoni with a bunch of players he’s unfamiliar with.

His numbers have gotten progressively worse since his last season in Golden State during the 2007-2008 season. His explosiveness is all but gone, and his defense is really starting to show signs of age.

The 12-year vet has a positive attitude and certainly has plenty of experience, but he’s going to slow up a potentially high-powered Knicks offense and pairing him with Mike Bibby will make the backcourt a bunch of fossils.

The Knicks are better off taking a stab at a younger guy like Carlos Arroyo, Charlie Bell, Marcus Banks or Michael Redd. They are all younger, more athletic and in Redd’s case looking to rejuvenate his career.

Davis was a great player in this league for over a decade, but with a bum back and a large stomach…he simply isn’t worth the trouble anymore.