5 Questions Going into the Season - Part 2

Is James Dolan the Problem?

Dolan looking sad and confused...

After a long and somewhat confusing offseason the curtains will soon be raising on the upcoming season for the Knicks. The Knicks were very busy during this offseason with the additions of such names as Metta World Peace and Andrea Bargnani along with Beno Udrih and Tim Hardaway Jr., who look to bolster NY’s bench. However, James Dolan continues to fly by the seat of his pants when it comes to the managing of his front office when he reassigned Steve Mills to the GM/President position.  This seemed to be somewhat of a panic move as Brooklyn stole many of the offseason headlines with their acquisitions of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. However, it’s tough to blame former GM Glenn Grunwald for seemingly ‘losing’ the offseason to the Nets. The mobility in terms of salary cap limits until they can get out from underneath Amar’e’s behemoth of a contract in the summer of 2015. Patience is a virtue and Dolan needs to start showing patience when it comes to the managing of his front office. The only time we saw Dolan display any type of patience was during the Isaiah years and it is still unclear what kind of spell Isaiah put Dolan under.

There seemed to be patience under Donnie Walsh when the Knicks went all in on trying to lure LeBron three years ago. It is unfortunate that Dolan essentially forced out Walsh, who is now working for the Pacers front office, because again there seems to be little in terms of a long term plan for the Knicks.  The one long term plan that there is for the Knicks is to resign Carmelo Anthony but as Grantland’s Zach Lowe points out;

“if the Knicks sign Anthony to that five-year max deal, they'll have about $41 million committed in salary for 2015-16 once you factor in player options for Smith and Felton, the ballpark cost of New York's 2015 first-round pick, and roster charges for empty spots. That figure does not include cap holds for any of New York's outgoing free agents that summer, a group that includes two valuable players: Chandler and Shumpert. Their holds alone would vault New York over the cap.”

The Knicks are going to be in the playoffs this year no doubt about it. But will they will be able to repeat as a two seed again as Derrick Rose is back, the Pacers continue to improve and the Nets look to make a leap up? The Knicks cannot become the Joe Johnson led Hawks who had decent regular seasons, got mid-level playoff seedings, only to be knocked out in the second round. All us Knick fans are desperate for a championship, however I am beginning to feel that Dolan has no long term plan in mind. Let’s hope Mills attempts to implement a plan – which I believe he will – that has the Knicks set up for long term success, and that championship trophy.