New York Knicks and Amar’e Stoudemire’s reps are talking about a buyout.
Amar’e Stoudemire has a tattoo that reads “knowledge is power,” (pictured above). How much power comes with the knowledge that the Knicks might be buying you out?
Ian Begley of ESPN New York tweeted that New York and Stoudemire are in talks about a buyout of his contract.
Sources: #Knicks & Amare's reps remain in talks about a possible buyout but Amar'e hasn't yet made a definitive decision about his future.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) February 13, 2015
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Various reports from around the league have the Mavericks and the Suns as potential frontrunners to sign Stoudemire if he is indeed bought out.
The Knicks signed Stoudemire away from the Phoenix Suns with a five-year, $99.7 million deal in the prolific summer of 2010. His signing was hailed as a start of a return to prominence for the Knicks, especially when it was soon followed up with the move for Carmelo Anthony, but it has since become an albatross, due mostly to the forward’s multitude of knee injuries.
Stoudemire was a perennial All-Star with the Suns of the mid- to late-2000s, but since coming to New York his knees have cost him most of his productivity. He averaged between 20 and 26 points per game for Phoenix between 2004 and 2010, but has averaged 12 over the past two seasons. Additionally, Stoudemire has started just 35 games over the past three seasons combined, as he was often injured and when healthy, the Knicks have preferred to use him as a sixth man. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but you don’t pay $100 million for a sixth man. It got so bad that last year, Grantland’s Bill Simmons listed Stoudemire’s deal as the worst in the NBA for the second straight year–even though there were just one and a half seasons to go at the time.
And so the deal that was supposed to usher in a new age for the Knicks is almost at a close, with just one playoff appearance to show for, will end as an albatross the Knicks have to buy out because no one would possibly trade for it. It’s a sad turn of events for a guy who was once one of the best in the league. He deserved that $100 million contract in 2010; it’s just a shame things didn’t work out.
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