NBA silly season is getting sillier

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An already loaded free-agent class looks to be getting even more overstocked with talent, given reports that all-stars Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki are opting out of their contracts and hitting the market.

Nowitzki would join premiere front-courters Chris Bosh, Carlos Boozer and Amar’e Stoudemire, while Lebron James (the prize of the off-season), Dwayne Wade, Pierce and Joe Johnson make up a serious set of twos and threes. And this does not account for David Lee.

There also are former stars — Allen Iverson, Shaquille O’Neal, Jermaine O’Neal — and some former high draft choices like Adam Morrison and Ray Felton that could help some teams. But the big eight will be the focus.

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Ian Thomsen offers a bizarre scenario that he says is the Knicks’ actual blueprint for landing James:

A league source with understanding of New York’s plans told SI.com that the Knicks will recruit the Cavaliers’ two-time MVP with a grandiose vision of surrounding him with Hawks shooting guard Joe Johnson as well as an elite power forward — Chris Bosh of the Raptors or Amar’e Stoudemire of the Suns — to form a starring trio capable of contending for championships for years to come.

The idea would be to take the Knicks’ cap space and divide it by three, which would require the players to sign for less than they could get as max players. The draw is supposed to be the chance to bring New York a title and create history.

Is that something that might happen? Seems a long shot. More importantly, does it make sense? James obviously is a dominant force, while Bosh and Johnson are legitimate second bananas. The problem, however, is that the team would lack power in the paint (ask the Celtics what happens when you’re undermanned in the middle) and a point guard.

The team also would lack something that David Lee, the odd man out, brings — a lunch-pail ethos. The Celtics’ success in recent years had as much to do with strong, scrappy secondary players as with the big three plus Rondo. This Knicks team would lack that.

In any case, I suspect this is nothing more than a pipe dream.

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Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet