These days, 7-footers who are both elite defenders and offensively competent are rare in the NBA. Center Tyson Chandler’s imminent four-year, $60 million deal with the New York Knicks will provide his new team with the length and interior defensive presence it desperately needs.

The Knicks’ salary cap space, when the deal becomes official, will be taken up by the earnings of power forward Amar’e Stoudemire, small forward Carmelo Anthony and Chandler, who averaged 10.1 points, 9.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks last season. Veteran point guard Chauncey Billups is the cap casualty in this, because New York—in order to create room for Chandler—is going to use the amnesty clause to clear his $14.2 million salary off their books.

Chandler, 29, won a championship this year by helping the Dallas Mavericks defeat the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. His addition solidifies New York’s front court, leaving coach Mike D’Antoni free to address each guard position.

Toney Douglas, an offensive-minded point guard, still has to learn how to become a better distributor, and second-year shooting guard Landry Fields needs to recapture what he lost after Anthony was traded to the Knicks last February. New York has been interested in inking free agent Grant Hill to be their two guard, but Chandler’s signing may be a huge obstacle toward such happening.

Without Chandler, the Knicks would have entered the 2011-12 season with Jared Jeffries, a good defender but non factor on offense, as their starting center.

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It’s time for the New York Knicks to make a bold move this offseason and go after shooting guard Brandon Roy(notes). ESPN’s Marc Stein has already stated that there is a strong possibility that the Portland Trail Blazers will waive Roy under the NBA’s new amnesty clause. It will make him a free agent right away, and the Knicks should step in and offer him a contract.

New York could offer Roy either the veteran’s minimum or the mid level exception for the 2011-12 season, or even offer up a multiple year deal if Roy was willing to accept it. What he could provide the Knicks is a nice spark off the bench at shooting guard, and a player that could control the tempo of the game when Carmelo Anthony(notes) and Chauncey Billups(notes) are taking a rest.

How much of a deal Roy becomes will depend on the specifics of the amnesty clause. It had looked like the clause would still require the franchise to pay the player, but that the contract just wouldn’t count against the salary cap of the original team any longer. That could make Roy an extreme bargain for any franchise that gives him a chance, and New York should try to become that team. Roy showed in the 2011 NBA Playoffs that he had a lot of value with the Trail Blazers still, and that is something that could translate to another franchise this season.

Roy has knees that have gone through numerous surgeries and he isn’t the star player that he once was. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a lot of value though, and he posses basketball intelligence that could help a team like the Knicks. The Knicks need to get more players on the active roster that can score, especially after dealing away so many assets to get Anthony from the Denver Nuggets. Roy is the type of player who can serve as a catalyst, could act as a great complimentary player to Anthony and Stoudemire and wouldn’t eat up cap space the team might need to pursue point guard Chris Paul(notes).

Maybe the biggest reason to give Roy a try is that no other franchise would get the chance to play him. What the Knicks don’t want to see is a team like the Chicago Bulls step up and give Roy the minutes to prove he can still play the game.

More From YCN :

Knicks Open on Dec. 25

A Look at Knicks Roster

Salary Cap Impact on Knicks

Chris Paul to New York

Source:

New York Knicks Website

*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a fan of the New York Knicks that has followed the team since the days John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason instilled their defensive will on the rest of the league.

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When the new NBA collective bargaining agreement is complete, the New York Knicks will have to make a number of moves to get ready for the regular season. Due in part to acquiring Carmelo Anthony(notes) and Chauncey Billups(notes) during the 2010-11 NBA season, the team is short on players ready to make an impact in the coming year.

The Knicks have two of the most expensive contracts in the NBA for this season; with Anthony owed $18.5 million and Amare Stoudemire(notes) owed $18.2 million. Billups isn’t cheap either, as he will make $14.2 million for the 2011-12 season. That is $50.9 million for just three players, and could really hurt the Knicks when it comes to a new salary cap. The cap for next year is still an area of contention in the negotiations between the owners and players, but it will likely come in somewhere around $60 million.

If the lockout were to come to an end today and the Knicks started up training camp, the franchise would have only nine players under contract. That doesn’t include the players that the Knicks selected in the 2011 NBA Draft though. Those players are Georgia Tech guard Iman Shumpert(notes) and Kentucky center Josh Harrellson(notes), who was part of a draft-day trade with the New Orleans Hornets. That’s two players that will provide youth and depth to the roster if the team can come to terms with them.

As the roster currently stands, the likely starting five would consist of Ronny Turiaf(notes) at center, Stoudemire at power forward, Anthony at small forward, Landry Fields(notes) at shooting guard and Billups at point guard. The bench players are Renaldo Balkman(notes), Toney Douglas(notes), Bill Walker(notes), and Andy Rautins(notes). There is also a qualifying offer out to Derrick Brown(notes), who will likely return as another player to give the Knicks minutes off the bench.

Signing Brown and the two rookies would give the Knicks 12 players on the active roster and enough to begin the season. The franchise would then need to fill out the 15-man roster with three non-drafted free agents if the goal is to stay at or below the new salary cap. The team could also use the mid-level exception to bring in a free agent that would want to play with the current roster. The amount the exception is worth will also depend on the new CBA, and could dictate which players the Knicks can pursue in free agency.

The best case scenario for the Knicks to improve the current roster is to either trade Billups to a team in need of a veteran point guard or to sign someone willing to take a pay-cut at the mid-level exception. Outside of those moves, the Knicks will likely enter the 2011-12 season with roughly the same roster they finished with last season. The team has a lot of talent between Stoudemire and Anthony, but it’s hard to envision them keeping up with the Boston Celtics or Miami Heat unless a big move gets made.

*Ryan Christopher DeVault is a fan of the New York Knicks that has followed the team since the days John Starks, Charles Oakley, and Anthony Mason instilled their defensive will on the rest of the league.

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The NBA lockout is over, so claimed former New York Knicks president Dave Checketts on ESPN 700 AM—based in Salt Lake City—on Thursday, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.

Checketts, who owns the Major League Soccer team Real Salt Lake, told the radio station that he has heard—as written by The Salt Lake Tribune—that the new collective bargaining agreement is a “10-year deal based around a 50-50 split of basketball-related income.”

At the moment, there is no way of confirming the information Checketts reportedly heard from league sources, though he is described in the report as a friend of NBA commissioner David Stern.

If nothing else, Thursday’s meeting between the owners and players union is a sign that each side is working toward a new CBA—not spending time taking shots at one another through the media as the parties did in recent weeks.

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Press Release
Source: Scholastic

On Thursday August 11, 2011, 12:02 pm EDT

NEW YORK, Aug. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Six-time NBA All-Star and New York Knicks captain Amar’e Stoudemire has signed with Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, which has acquired world rights to STAT: Standing Tall and Talented, a chapter book series for middle-grade readers launching in August 2012. Stoudemire is committed to turning kids, especially boys, into readers. The new series, named after his nickname STAT, will be based on the life of Stoudemire, who overcame many obstacles to become one of the most popular figures in sports today. The deal was negotiated by Happy Walters from Rogue Sports, Aaron Spiewak from Designers Management Agency, and Cathy Hemming from McCormick and Williams for Amar’e Stoudemire and Debra Dorfman, Vice President Publisher for Paperbacks, Non-fiction and Licensing, from Scholastic.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110811/NY51025 )

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100907/SCHOLASTICLOGO )

“Amar’e Stoudemire is a NBA megastar and a New York hero. He is passionate about reading and education and we are proud to partner with him to publish a new chapter book series that will inspire more kids to embrace reading through Amar’e's story,” said Debra Dorfman.

“I am excited to create my book series with Scholastic,” said Amar’e Stoudemire. “They are the best in the business so I trust them with my stories. I decided to write for children because although I am an avid reader now, I wish I had read more as a child. I hope that together with Scholastic, we can creatively inspire a new generation to read.”

The first book in STAT: Standing Tall And Talented will be published in both hardcover and paperback on August 1, 2012, to be followed by new books in October 2012 and January 2013. In STAT #1: Home Court, eleven-year-old Amar’e Stoudemire has a lot going on. He plays sports with his friends. He takes his school work seriously. He helps out with his dad’s landscaping company. And he loves to go skateboarding in the park. But when an older group of boys start bullying his friends on the basketball court, Amar’e is forced to step in and use his athletic ability and intelligence to save the day. He realizes that basketball is his true passion.

About Amar’e Stoudemire

Widely considered one of the best high school players in the country, Amar’e Stoudemire was selected ninth in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. His ability to adjust and learn helped him become the first player to be drafted out of high school to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. In 2010, Stoudemire joined the New York Knicks for his ninth year in the league. This six-time NBA All-Star is a well-respected professional basketball player who continues to leave a legacy in the game and in the community through his award winning outreach.  

Through the Amar’e Stoudemire Foundation, Stoudemire is focused on creatively inspiring youth to avoid poverty through education. Amar’e has been able to provide needed resources for New York’s Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), Beacon Centers, AAU programs, youth basketball tournaments and projects abroad.  Stoudemire was named a Good Will Ambassador to the country of Sierra Leone and he is currently developing a community center in the African nation of Mali. In Spring 2011, the National Father’s Day Council honored him as one of their Fathers of the Year.  Learn more about Amar’e Stoudemire at: www.Amarestoudemire.com; facebook.com/AmareStoudemire; twitter.com/amareisreal; and youtube.com/stattv.

About Scholastic

For more about Scholastic (NASDAQ:SCHL – News), visit our media room at:  http://mediaroom.scholastic.com