Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 at 9:00 am  |  63 responses

Amar’e Stoudemire Comes to New York

by Marcel Mutoni / @marcel_mutoni

“The Knicks are back,” Amar’e Stoudemire declared to a group of reporters outside of Madison Square Garden yesterday, a few minutes after verbally agreeing to a max deal with New York.

The contract won’t become official until Thursday, but the deal calls for the Knicks to pay STAT approximately $100 million over the next five seasons.

Due to understandable injury concerns, the Phoenix Suns weren’t willing to commit to five fully-guaranteed years with Stoudemire, and after the power forward rejected their advances, the Knicks were able to quickly swoop in with their max offer.

And, well, let’s face it, turning down $100 mil and all the opportunities playing in New York offers a star athlete just wasn’t going to happen.

Amar’e immediately becomes the biggest star to join the Knicks in about a decade, but you have to understand the team’s fan base not being totally satisfied.

The signing doesn’t represent a major turnaround for the franchise. Stoudemire needs to help his new front office bring in another prized free agent or two this summer. Otherwise, the Knicks will go from being terrible to simply interesting. Not exactly “back.”

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  • Logan Posted: Jul.6 at 9:16 am
    ‘not exactly back’ yet indeed

  • Hussman25 Posted: Jul.6 at 9:17 am
    Nice move… needs another piece; or 2

  • BostonBaller Posted: Jul.6 at 9:18 am
    Has anyone else noticed that all/most of the hi-lites of the FA’s doing work on the court have been against The Lakers or Celtics? That is a throwback concept from way back. lol. Almost all of the posters I used to buy (real posters, not inserts from a mag) of my favorite players was of them going against The Washington Bullets who were on top back then. Yes Wash used to be that good. hahaha.

  • BostonBaller Posted: Jul.6 at 9:22 am
    h yeah, good deal for Amare

  • L Posted: Jul.6 at 9:28 am
    The guy doesn’t rebound, does’t play D and at least 6 of his 21 points per were due to the amazing play of Nash. Those Knicks were desperate to sign somebody but he is no max contract player just a good sidekick to a franchise player. L

  • kh Posted: Jul.6 at 9:45 am
    Salaries and demands have gotten out of control. Definitely not a max contract guy, he’s damaged goods. I don’t think this is going to end well in New York.

  • pablasso Posted: Jul.6 at 9:45 am
    He may be popular, but he’s far from being a franchise player.

  • jumpman3224 Posted: Jul.6 at 9:47 am
    I think this move was more to inspire other free agents to come and play with another All-Star, good situation for Amar’e. He is my boy and I hope he doesn’t pull a Marion sans Steve Nash.

  • zabba Posted: Jul.6 at 9:48 am
    Next up is Steve Nash. The run and gun Suns trifecta will be complete!

  • ClydeSays Posted: Jul.6 at 9:56 am
    Eh. Could work out, but signs point to ‘no’. As ‘L’ says above, injury prone, lack of D, rebounds and he seems to think he’s the primary scorer no matter who he’s playing with. Knicks will need a vet playmaker and a defensive center to make it all work.

  • Boy Sanchez Posted: Jul.6 at 10:28 am
    OK, there is a good big man and a good coach now in NYC. But that’s not enough. The recipe includes a good SG or PG or SF too. Take the Lakers for example. At first there was Jackson AND Kobe AND Shaq. The result was 3 championships. Then Shaq left and Kobe had to carry the team on his shoulders all alone. That obviously didn’t work. Then Gasol came and there was balance again. The result? 2 more championships. So, the Knicks need to sign a good player for playing the 2 or 3.

  • SK6 Posted: Jul.6 at 10:32 am
    Stat is happy now with D’antoni as coach and the free style play he runs with; wait until the knicks struggle and Coach D is fired and the knicks bring in someone who is all about Defense and not run and gun. It is hard to beleive someone with all of the injuries the last couple of years can sign for so much money. Jon Koncak is still smiling.

  • Javy Posted: Jul.6 at 10:34 am
    Great!!! They are ready now to be eliminated in the 1st round….Unless you get another player.

  • T-Money Posted: Jul.6 at 10:40 am
    You can question his D and his rebounding but one thing Amar’e can do is get buckets. Regardless of who’s passing him the ball. If they don’t bring another alpha dog, I expect 25+ from him. (and lots of Ls)

  • Anton Posted: Jul.6 at 10:41 am
    How the west was lost

  • LeoneL Posted: Jul.6 at 10:54 am
    Somehow, if this does not turn out well for the Knicks, I’m sure we can live with that… We have a good history of mediocrity albeit in recent years only.

  • The Philosopher Posted: Jul.6 at 11:08 am
    Amar’e Stoudemire has a lot of heart.
    ANYONE who takes on New York… their heart goes unquestioned to me.

  • vtrobot Posted: Jul.6 at 11:10 am
    steve nash, CP3, and j kidd have made people look much better than they actually are. i hope this works out for amare and the knicks because the people in MSG deserve something good for a change. at least they’ll get to enjoy the dunks where amare simultaneously sh*ts on the defender. amare’s jump shot is surprisingly good, so he probably won’t be post-kidd k-mart.

  • The Seed Posted: Jul.6 at 12:09 pm
    Steve Nash didn’t make anybody look good. Amare got off with a me first player like Marbury. Nash is overrated. Amare will be a beast, people forget he can shoot now and gets to the free throw line better now. Amare doesn’t need Nash, Nash needs Amare to get to West Finals again. New York made a great move, and will be better. BOOK IT!!!

  • Atrain Posted: Jul.6 at 12:13 pm
    I would have re-signed David Lee for half the price

  • Jackie Moon Posted: Jul.6 at 12:22 pm
    The apostrophe is the biggest winner in all of this. The apostrophe hasn’t gotten this much play in NYC since Terence Trent D’Arby and D’Angelo had hits.

  • Jackie Moon Posted: Jul.6 at 12:23 pm
    OK, I forgot about D’Antoni …

  • Overtime Posted: Jul.6 at 12:26 pm
    The Seed has shrewdly observed that the Knicks will be better than last year

  • LA Huey Posted: Jul.6 at 1:15 pm
    Good move for the NYC. I really don’t think they have a shot at LBJ or Wade. Bosh doesn’t have the balls (shout out to P Double) to take a leading role. Unless Melo turns down his extension offer, I can’t see them being able to make the moves/signings to be a real contender. Might as well grab Monta and be fun to watch and get some false hope.

  • The D Train Posted: Jul.6 at 1:22 pm
    No worries, Jackie Moon. You were obviously blinded by the brilliance of Terence Trent D’Arby.

  • Chris Posted: Jul.6 at 1:25 pm
    Amare is great. I think it was the right and necessary move. The Knicks still need another player. Whether this be Carmelo next year, LBJ, this year, or something in between… They took a step, that is for sure. They needed to. It was their only move. Judging by the reports, Bosh didn’t want to play in NY. So the Knicks best hope for LBJ is that Bosh goes to Miami (or Chicago) with Wade, and LBJ thinks to himself, “If I am going to get out of the East, I need a monster power forward of my own.” Now, there is always the chance he can go to New Jersey, but let us not forget the same exact team only won 12 games last year, albeit without Favors; however, Favors is unproven. He may turn out to be a Darko Milic… If I’m Lebron, I would rather play in NY with a proven elite Power Forward than Brook Lopez and the Nets 12 game winning season. But, then again… there is still Chicago. I like Derek Rose and Noah, but now you’re asking Lebron to give up playing with Amare, Chanlder, and Gallinari (in NY) for Rose, Deng, and Noah. Wow. It is a difficult situation. Because who knows who else the Bulls can pick up this year. AND, if LBJ doesn’t win with the respective team he chooses, not only did he move away from a town that loved him so much, but he will be told he is not good enough to win a championship and thoroughly criticized. I’m glad I’m not Lebron (not really, I would love to be Lebron, but this is one difficult decision).

  • SLAM ONLINE | » Hot Topics Posted: Jul.6 at 2:10 pm
    [...] Amar’e a Knick [...]

  • permaculture james Posted: Jul.6 at 2:14 pm
    He certainly is athletic. I’d like to see him develop more finesse in his shot (Dirk) and footwork (Duncan). He seems to have a good head on him, potential to do just that. Otherwise, I think he can be shut down and benefits from a Nash.

  • Hursty Posted: Jul.6 at 2:24 pm
    Nah, Marbury coming back in 03/4 was the biggest player for the Knicks the last decade. You guys may forget how brilliant he was at the time… but…he was that good.

  • Jackie Moon Posted: Jul.6 at 2:43 pm
    “They scared now!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaVa6NHwUUg

  • JE Posted: Jul.6 at 2:51 pm
    If they were smart at this point, they would re-sign David Lee (for more than one year) and keep him instead of trying to trade for Tony Parker. Instead, try to trade for Darren Collison.

  • dfrance Posted: Jul.6 at 3:13 pm
    If the Knicks sat on their cash and came away with nothing, everyone would have been calling them the laughing stock of FA 2010. They sign a perenial All-Star and now they spent too much money. I think it was a necessary move. They had to grab any of the top FAs that would bite and thats what they did. As much as NYers love D.Lee, if the Knicks would have resigned him and thats it, they would be less than thrilled.

  • Clay Posted: Jul.6 at 3:25 pm
    I’m not crazy about the signing, but some other desperate team would have paid Stoudemire the max. At least NY will have something to build on.

  • Clay Posted: Jul.6 at 3:28 pm
    The truth to all this crazy free-agency stuff: Teams are still built through the draft. There may be some exceptions, like the current Celtics, but the draft is more important than free agency. How often do teams trade away their first round pick of that year halfway through the season like the Knicks did last season? That’s not a well-run organization.

  • Spaceship Jay Posted: Jul.6 at 3:50 pm
    Boo.

  • ccantrell Posted: Jul.6 at 4:20 pm
    the knicks wont even make the playoffs

  • Shem Posted: Jul.6 at 5:16 pm
    The knicks throw away 2 years, trade all of there draft picks (excluding Galinari) to make a splash in free agency and all they do is overpay Amar’e not even one of the top 5 free agents.. wow good stuff (By the way, Wade, Bosh and LeBron have all ruled out NY)

  • cp3fan Posted: Jul.6 at 5:24 pm
    Amare’s going to have to decide that he needs to be a 20-10 guy every night. If he does that, then maybe if they add a solid point guard and a star wing player, they will be back. Or a star point guard and a solid wing player. Right now, they’re still not a playoff team with just STAT.

  • The Promise Posted: Jul.6 at 5:35 pm
    Just a puppet to woo LeBron.

  • Troy Posted: Jul.6 at 5:56 pm
    NBA players are just worried about the money anymore if they really wanted to win a championship they would take less money to give their team more money to get better players for their team. But all they crae about is the money just like Amar’e he should have taken less money so they could’ve gotten a couple more players or offered Lebron more money.

  • Dyce Posted: Jul.6 at 6:13 pm
    He’s not a dominant player in any shape. This has Antonio Mcdyess written all over it! I hate that the Knicks are stupid..I hope they prove me wrong by having more things coming…But David Lee easily puts up Amare’s numbers and gets more boards, just doesnt have that big point explosion game that Amare has every once in a while.

  • rainman10 Posted: Jul.6 at 6:30 pm
    Minnesota and David Lee like eachother. The Knicks need to sign and trade him for Ricky Rubio and some money or a pick. Then go after Travis Outlaw and a shooter or two. Sometime around the deadline, if Eddy Curry isn’t doing anything, trade his contract for a guy like Pryzbilla or any defensive/rebounding center. Bringing in Rudy Fernandez wouldn’t be a bad idea either. @ Dyce…a lot of NBA players would dispute your claim that Amare is not dominant. He led the NBA in points in the paint last year, and often commands a double team unlike David Lee.

  • The D Train Posted: Jul.6 at 7:26 pm
    hoopsworld is reporting LBJ and his people in NY tomorrow for a 3rd meeting. NYC back in the running?

  • cp3fan Posted: Jul.6 at 7:32 pm
    If Amare cared about winning, he would have stayed with the Suns who just went to the Western Conference Finals lol. Obviously about money here. We all know that he does not deserve a max contract.

  • Dyce Posted: Jul.6 at 7:45 pm
    Lamar Odom barely knows the game is going on, and he out rebounded Amare in Western finals.

  • Michael NZ Posted: Jul.6 at 8:32 pm
    Would rather have Lee.

  • GametimeWeezy Posted: Jul.6 at 8:32 pm
    Amare is gonna do his thing n be an allstar…that’s what the fk I’m talkin bout. I don’t care what he averages for rebounds he just need to do what he do. Knicks can’t b turned around in one year but I’m feelin this signing…all these expiring contracts we are finally seeing something rea. Talkin bout Rubio and Lebron (hell yea he’s in the running he knows he needs to b here!!!) Oooooweeeeee!!!

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Jul.6 at 9:04 pm
    Welcome to New York, Amare!

  • Klav Posted: Jul.6 at 9:12 pm
    forgot about Rubio and s/t for Lee? cool. cosign Troy

  • Sporting-Lisbon-Blazers Posted: Jul.6 at 9:43 pm
    Anton continues to be delusional…Amare was just one of the very good big man in the West dude(and he doesnt play D or pass the ball), EVEN MEMPHIS HAS A BETTER FRONTLINE WITH Z-BOO AND LIL GASOL than the Suns had last year! Suns reached the conf.finals with PERIMETER EXCELENCE. not that Amare´s no good, hes top3 PF on offense, is that hes not top 25 on defense and rebounding.

  • doyouwantmore Posted: Jul.6 at 10:36 pm
    Amare isn’t going to be the cornerstone by any means, right? So that means that Donnie just paid a hundred million to…slightly increase the odds of getting Lebron or Wade.

  • Teddy-the-Bear Posted: Jul.7 at 12:10 am
    How can people even complain about this move? The only reason would be that you’d think David Lee to be the better choice… Seriously, the Knicks spending this money on Amare Stoudemire is WAY BETTER than waiting another freaking year of obscurity, for a shot at not getting Carmelo Anthony. Get real. The Knicks aren’t buying a championship team–it’s best to get some great players (NOT the super elite LeBron and Wade) and slowly build their way up, developing these guys into a close-knit organization.

  • The Philosopher Posted: Jul.7 at 12:13 am
    @Teddy-the-Bear:
    Your loyalty to your team is admirable.

  • Dre Baller Posted: Jul.7 at 2:00 am
    i get a feeling this is gonna end up like Grant Hill’s years in Orlando

  • Hambone Posted: Jul.7 at 2:16 am
    stat has never and will never be a max guy,cant see this enticing bron,not enuff pieces hed be better of in clevland or chi

  • Dacre Posted: Jul.7 at 3:17 am
    He’ll play in front of a crowd that will love him… if he can board and stay injury free. He’s yet to prove he can do either. Suns to repeat as WCF appearance. Essentially Robin Lopez grabs 3 more boards a game and you’ve got what Amar’e left behind. Amundson can dunk easy passes under the basket and channing frye can do the high/low post thing (PLUS he has the three point shot) add to that Hakim Warrick IS DYING TO GET SOME NEAT NASH PASSES IN HIS CAREER – Look for him to get that most improved award this season… and two decent rookies that wanna rebound and hustle. They still have the ‘our bench is better than your bench’ going on…..
    :) Still looks bright in PHX boys!

  • The Seed Posted: Jul.7 at 8:02 am
    I would take Amare over Bosh, so I think the knicks made the right choice. If Lebron is smart he will go to the knicks with Amare, but he will stay in Ohio. I like Amare alot, I think people try to disregard his play, because he played with the overrated Nash. Amare will get his numbers and Knicks will be back. BOOK IT!!!

  • BostonBaller Posted: Jul.7 at 8:19 am
    Breaking News……Wade gets Bosh to chill in Miami…..Does that mean LBJ goes to NY to be with Amare or Chicago to lead those young guns…

  • The Philosopher Posted: Jul.7 at 8:36 am
    ^^Maybe LeBron goes to Miami too?

  • Mack Posted: Jul.7 at 1:01 pm
    Why don’t the Knicks just resign David Lee? The two can be a perfect fit for each other and we’ve seen what both can do in the system of D’Antoni: they produce outstanding results!

  • AmareFan Posted: Jul.8 at 1:00 pm
    Live chatting with Amare now:
    http://www.nba.com/knicks/chat/amarechat_100708.html He’s saying some good stuff. You should check it out!

  • phil Posted: Jul.12 at 3:59 pm
    Amare photo gallery that you may like: http://www.msg.com/2.163/2.1609/january-2006-1.46146

  • SLAM ONLINE | » Amar’e Stoudemire: Knicks Lack Winning Attitude Posted: Nov.15 at 10:00 am
    [...] Knicks — a team Stoudemire declared was “back” this summer — fell to 3-7 last night, falling at home to the Rockets. It was the team’s [...]

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