Knicks Need to Re-Sign David Lee, Nate Robinson

As another failed basketball season in New York comes closer to an end, once again there is more talk in the Big Apple of what the Knicks will do in the off-season than there is around what's going to happen in the next game. While most fans are praising Donnie Walsh for unloading the contracts of Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph, and Jerome James, some fans are still cursing him for not re-signing Nate Robinson and David Lee before the start of the season.

Robinson and Lee have made a statement this year that along with Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, and a few potential draft picks, the Knicks could have a great young core: the type of core that a marquee free agent such as Dwayne Wade or Chris Bosh may have an interest in signing with during the summer of 2010. The problem that presents itself, though, is that if the Knicks pay too much to re-sign Robinson and Lee this summer, with the contracts of Jarred Jeffries and Eddy Curry on the books for 2010-2011, they won't have room to sign a player such as Wade or Bosh.

On the other edge of that sword, however is the question: without Robinson or Lee on the roster, can the Knicks offer a playoff-worthy supporting cast to a marquee free agent? Without a shot at a championship, would any NBA stars really consider the day-to-day risk that in the absence of food, Curry might set his sights on a teammate? Or who would take the chance that the horrible illness that Jeffries calls his basketball game could be contagious? Once again, the Knicks need to bring back Robinson and Lee.

There's no question that Robinson and Lee have made great strides in proving themselves as bona fide NBA contributors this season, but while some believe that they have raised their market value, I for one believe that the greatest contributing factor to their market value this summer is not their play, but the economic conditions of the NBA. Before we even get into who can offer what to free agents this summer, we must remember that the NBA did have a layoff less than six months ago and is currently looking into taking out a loan to distribute amongst its franchises. Salary cap aside, the days of teams overpaying for mid-level stars may be at least on hold, if not over.

Taking a look at who can offer what this summer, there are currently nine teams with cap space to offer more than the mid-level exception. As one of those nine teams, New Jersey has little room, but must re-sign Devon Harris this summer and they will not leave him on the market longer than necessary to tinker around with Robinson or Lee. Atlanta and Portland both have room, but have a significant portion of their rosters to fill with their available money, so neither of them will spend too much on any single player.

Having cut the field of suitors down to six, let's look at Minnesota, Oklahoma City, and Memphis together. Simply put, Krypto-Nate is much more marketable in Metropolis than it is in Smallville. As far as Lee is concerned, he's looking for a major market as well. He's already made it clear that he won't go to Memphis, Minnesota has no use for him, and Oklahoma City's not worth another word.

With the Sacramento Kings facing serious financial difficulties, it is unlikely that the Maloof brothers will be looking to pay more than the mid-level exception for either Robinson or Lee. If either of them decides that they'd like to get a red jacket and ride a horse up through the mountains, Toronto could be an excellent destination. Aren't all the great players being drawn north of the border these days, eh? The final financially able suitor for these guys would be the Pistons, but with the direction that franchise is heading in, they may not be able to offer a contract that would justify putting up with the smell of Detroit.

Now that we've torn apart all of the potential bidders, let's look at the free agent competition. Should Nate choose to aggressively market his services, he will be up against Devon Harris, Stephon Marbury, Jason Kidd, Allen Iverson, Mike Bibby, and Ben Gordon, just to name a few. The fact of the matter is that with that type of competition, a dunk title and one great month of offensive production under Mike D'Antoni (after shipping out Crawford and Randolph) won't mean as much to the rest of the league as it will to New Yorkers.

As far as Lee is concerned, though he excels on the glass and is putting up the points, the invisible man act that he does on defense won't help him stand out this summer against Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, Shawn Marion, Rasheed Wallace, and Drew Gooden. Lee is a very strong player, but he's not the only talented big man who will be available this summer.

Robinson and Lee both want to be in New York and New York needs them. Without them, the Knicks can't draw a marquee free agent. Without them, the Knicks can't be competitive if they fail to land a marquee free agent. Knick fans are bracing themselves to lose at least one of their favorite players because Walsh has played it cool with them, but that's what Donnie Walsh does. Walsh is using the same poker face to keep Robinson and Lee in New York that he used to ship Crawford, Randolph, and James out. It's the same poker face that he'll use to ship out Curry and Jeffries (without giving up Robinson or Lee) so that he can afford to keep the team's core together and land a strong talent. Donnie knows that he needs Robinson and Lee to compete; he just also knows that he can keep them for less than their agents are willing to admit yet.