Highly Anticipated Summer of 2010 Up Next for Knicks
Jun 30 2010 11:32PM
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Two years after arriving together in New York, Mike D'Antoni and Donnie Walsh are ready for the summer of 2010.
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Knicks Head Coach Mike D'Antoni and President Donnie Walsh can't understand why free agents would pass up the opportunity to play for the Knicks. Considering both of them made the move to New York two years ago, how could they?
D'Antoni left the Phoenix Suns after averaging 58 wins over four seasons and Walsh came to the Knicks following a very successful career with the Indiana Pacers. The reason why they both chose the Big Apple was because of the incredible sports atmosphere in the city and the opportunity to jumpstart a historic franchise that hasn't made it to the postseason in six years.
"Do you want to follow John Wooden or do you want to come here and turn something around that has not been great lately?" D'Antoni asked a day after the team closed out the 2009-10 season with a 29-53 record. "Wouldn't anybody be excited if we can start winning? Sure they would. They would be out of their mind (not to).
"It's an unbelievable opportunity. To me, it's also a selling point. One of the reasons I came here was because if you do get to turn things around knowing how hard it is, it makes it just that more exciting. It takes a little leap of faith a little bit, but if you're competitive enough and you want to get it done, I mean isn't it if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere? I didn't make that up. That's just the way it is."
Walsh says the Knicks will do all they can to convince marquee free agents to come to the Big Apple. They will roll out the red carpet for visiting players and show them everything New York has to offer, including the World's Most Famous Arena.
"We think we have a great city, a great franchise and a great building, so whoever we bring in here, we'll want to expose them to that," Walsh said. "There are great people in this city. We'd like to show them what we have and that's what you do when you bring people in."
The Knicks are not targeting any one player in particular come July 1, the first day of free agency, which leaves them with several options. Walsh has a plan in place for any scenario that could be thrown the Knicks' way.
"I've never said anything about any player," Walsh said. "I think the best way to go about trying to rebuild this team is to get under the cap. We haven't been under the cap in 13 years and we've done that. Now, we'll have opportunities and we'll go after the best players we can get for this team and try to build that into a contending team. I haven't focused on any one player, but as we go into it, I probably will."
Since Walsh took over as the team's president prior to the 2009-10 season, the Knicks have made several cap-clearing moves, leaving them with currently only five players under contract entering the offseason. Rookie Toney Douglas, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Bill Walker and Eddy Curry are the only players signed for next season, leaving at least eight spots to fill. According to Walsh, this was the best way to rebuild the franchise.
"This had to get done in my mind for the New York Knicks," he said. "I understand why it wasn't done, but I felt that this was the only way to really rebuild a team."
Don't miss your chance to be at The Garden in 2010-11. Click here to purchase your tickets today.
D'Antoni left the Phoenix Suns after averaging 58 wins over four seasons and Walsh came to the Knicks following a very successful career with the Indiana Pacers. The reason why they both chose the Big Apple was because of the incredible sports atmosphere in the city and the opportunity to jumpstart a historic franchise that hasn't made it to the postseason in six years.
"Do you want to follow John Wooden or do you want to come here and turn something around that has not been great lately?" D'Antoni asked a day after the team closed out the 2009-10 season with a 29-53 record. "Wouldn't anybody be excited if we can start winning? Sure they would. They would be out of their mind (not to).
"It's an unbelievable opportunity. To me, it's also a selling point. One of the reasons I came here was because if you do get to turn things around knowing how hard it is, it makes it just that more exciting. It takes a little leap of faith a little bit, but if you're competitive enough and you want to get it done, I mean isn't it if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere? I didn't make that up. That's just the way it is."
Walsh says the Knicks will do all they can to convince marquee free agents to come to the Big Apple. They will roll out the red carpet for visiting players and show them everything New York has to offer, including the World's Most Famous Arena.
"We think we have a great city, a great franchise and a great building, so whoever we bring in here, we'll want to expose them to that," Walsh said. "There are great people in this city. We'd like to show them what we have and that's what you do when you bring people in."
The Knicks are not targeting any one player in particular come July 1, the first day of free agency, which leaves them with several options. Walsh has a plan in place for any scenario that could be thrown the Knicks' way.
"I've never said anything about any player," Walsh said. "I think the best way to go about trying to rebuild this team is to get under the cap. We haven't been under the cap in 13 years and we've done that. Now, we'll have opportunities and we'll go after the best players we can get for this team and try to build that into a contending team. I haven't focused on any one player, but as we go into it, I probably will."
Since Walsh took over as the team's president prior to the 2009-10 season, the Knicks have made several cap-clearing moves, leaving them with currently only five players under contract entering the offseason. Rookie Toney Douglas, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Bill Walker and Eddy Curry are the only players signed for next season, leaving at least eight spots to fill. According to Walsh, this was the best way to rebuild the franchise.
"This had to get done in my mind for the New York Knicks," he said. "I understand why it wasn't done, but I felt that this was the only way to really rebuild a team."
Don't miss your chance to be at The Garden in 2010-11. Click here to purchase your tickets today.
