David Fizdale has been hired to be the next head coach of the New York Knicks. Could his relationship with LeBron James be an asset in free agency?
The Knicks and their fans have long been fascinated with LeBron James and the possibility of bringing him to New York. Their hypothetical pitch rests mostly on the legacy of New York basketball, the brightness of their stage and the opportunity for LeBron to remake a once-great, now-moribund franchise.
That pitch has not actually been enticing enough in the season’s when LeBron has been a free agent, complicated by a number of factors including the appearance of the Knicks as a team ill-equipped to compete for a championship.
Now, with David Fizdale installed on the bench, the New York Post’s Marc Berman is reporting that the Knicks may be set to try again this summer.
"But after Thursday’s hiring of former Memphis head coach and Heat assistant David Fizdale, the Knicks are prepared to open salary-cap space this summer in the unlikely event they get an inkling LeBron James has some interest in coming to the Garden this summer, according to an NBA source."
Clearing the space to make it possible is no easy feat. As Berman points out, the first move is largely out of the Knicks control — Enes Kanter and Kyle O’Quinn would both need decline their player options for next season. That’s not out of the question but certainly complicates things, not to mention that would have to be followed by trading a contract like Courtney Lee’s into another team’s cap space to shed more salary.
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Even if the financials could be worked out, adding Fizdale may not really move the needle. Yes, he was an assistant with the Heat during LeBron’s tenure there, and the two are reportedly close. But the Kristaps Porzingis is likely out for a portion of next year recovering from injury and James Dolan acknowledged that it could even be the entire season. LeBron is currently in the process of proving he could drag literally any team to the Eastern Conference Finals but many of the other teams who could pursue LeBron can offer a much more realistic shot at a title than the Knicks.
Let’s just call this one optimistic but unlikely.