The allure of the Big Apple and the prestige of Phil Jackson were thought to be the New York Knicks' two biggest advantages in free agency this summer. Indiana Pacers adviser and ex-Knicks president Donnie Walsh, though, disagrees and believes those two "advantages" won't actually do anything when it comes to recruiting big-name free agents - such as Marc Gasol, Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo - in July.
On paper, there isn't much there to attract free agents. New York will be coming off its worst season in franchise history with a porous roster headlined by an aging star. Still, the Knicks' big-market franchise, the hiring of the legendary Phil Jackson and the estimated $21 million in available cap space have been enough to make the team de facto contenders for just about every big-name free agent this summer.
For many Knicks fans, this summer - between the draft and free agency - would be what catapulted New York from the league's worst team this season to a playoff contender the next. Draft a Jahlil Okafor or a Karl-Anthony Towns, bring in a big-name star through free agency and boom: the Knicks are playoff-bound next year.
If those things were to happen in the offseason, the Knicks could have a huge turn around and by next April be gearing up for the postseason in a weak Eastern Conference.
The biggest obstacle for New York, however, may be convincing a star free agent to sign. Walsh spent three years as the Knicks' president and experienced firsthand how it takes more than a big city to lure a top-tier free agent.
"That's one of the most misunderstood things in the NBA, to be honest with you, that you can talk a veteran NBA player into coming to a city just by sitting down with him, talking to him and offering him the most money," Walsh said on SiriusXM radio, according to the New York Post. "These guys know what they want to do. They have their own agendas, and they know whether they want to go to New York or they don't want to go to New York. And there are a lot that want to go to New York, so it isn't like there aren't people out there.
"But if you pick out, let's say, LeBron James, you don't know like what he wants to do. If you think you can go up and talk to him for a while and he's going to come flying down there, that's not going to happen. They see their careers in certain ways and what they want to do, they want to do."
Walsh said not every player is attracted to New York City, and he used his signing of Amar'e Stoudemire in 2010 as an example. According to Walsh, he signed Stoudemire only after his first four free-agent choices - LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Joe Johnson - turned him down.
He also cautioned fans not to put too much hope in Jackson's ability alone to entice free agents into signing this summer.
"I don't think it's really up to Phil Jackson to talk them into it. They know if they get the salary they want, they know what New York's all about, if they want to get into that, a big city like New York and live in it and an exciting city with good fans, then they're going to do it. If they don't like that, and not everybody likes that, they'll go somewhere else."
New York has been linked to a number of free agents, including Gasol, Love, Rondo, Goran Dragic, Brook Lopez, Greg Monroe and Tobias Harris.
