For a team that has had its success this season playing small ball, the Knicks have a lot of guys in their frontcourt. They start Tyson Chandler and Carmelo Anthony but behind them are Kenyon Martin, Amar’e Stoudemire, Andrea Bargnani, Jeremy Tyler and Cole Aldrich.
The challenge has been keeping all those banged-up bodies healthy and contributing.
So the Knicks seem to be looking to add another frontcourt body — and that effort started with trying to land Andrew Bynum.
The Knicks made a late run at Bynum, reports the New York Post.Knicks personnel director Mark Warkentien tried to arrange a meeting with Bynum and the Knicks staff, but it never materialized.
“The Knicks were very aggressive in the end,” his New York-based agent David Lee told The Post. “In the end, they did everything they could.”Bynum signed with the Pacers. The issue with the Knicks was money — Bynum wanted more than the minimum ($550,000 for the rest of the season) and the capped-out Knicks couldn’t offer it. The Pacers, who had their mid-level exception left, could and spent $1 million to lock up Bynum for the season.
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This move signals the Knicks are still targeting a big to go with their rotation, reports the Post.
If you’re asking yourself “why would the Knicks add a big man so Mike Woodson can keep going with big lineups?” you’d be asking a smart question. The Knicks have had their run of success with a Raymond Felton, Pablo Prigioni, J.R. Smith starting lineup and some depth behind them (rather than trading Iman Shumpert for another big) would seem to make more sense.
The Knicks have 15 guys on the roster so to add anyone would require either a trade or to waive a player such as Toure Murry or Aldrich. At this point in the season those guys would still get paid for the full year.