So the past few days in the NBA have been crazy. Out of all the free agent acquisitions, the biggest thus far has to be the Lakers sign and trade with Phoenix for Steve Nash. The addition of Nash, in my opinion, propels the Lakers back into the top 2 seeds in the West which makes them a championship caliber team once again. Although he was being highly touted by the Knicks and the Raptors, the Lakers surprisingly came in and snatched Nash- keeping him close to his family in Phoenix. Personally, I'm not too upset that the Knicks didn't end up with Nash. Even though he is still one of the best point guards in the league and one of my favorite players to watch, New York can't continue to give up young players for the "big name".
If the Knicks ended up acquiring Nash, they would've had to give up a few players. Among those, Iman Shumpert would have been traded. Shumpert became a fan favorite in his rookie year and I truly believe he has a ton of potential. Despite his terrible injury in the playoffs, he's young enough to come back strong from it. He's the type of player a team needs to hold onto and develop. Too many times in recent memory, the Knicks have given up young players with a lot of promise in order to overpay an aging star. Holding onto Shumpert and retaining possible trade pieces for another deal is HUGE for the Knicks in my opinion and although Nash would have helped the Knicks win now, I believe not making a deal will better benefit the team for the long run.
The move the Knicks did make was signing another veteran hall of fame point guard. In a shocking move, Jason Kidd decided to leave the Dallas Mavericks and join the Knicks. There has been some hesitance on the part of fans with this move. Personally, I really really like it. Although he's not Nash and he's really old, Kidd has proven to still be effective. His stats have declined like they would of any aging player- but Kidd can straight out ball. In addition, he's a hall of famer with championship experience who star players, such as Amar'e and Melo, will listen to (especially if Kidd's former teammate Tyson Chandler has anything to say about it).
Many may ask "What about Jeremy Lin?!?!?!?" Well don't worry. Although the Rockets and Lin agreed to an offer sheet today, the Knicks WILL 100% match Houston's offer in order to retain Lin. Even if Lin as a player doesn't turn out to be worth the amount of money they give him (and hopefully he does), his marketability is incredible. His popularity throughout not only the country, but the world, soared last year during his incredible run. As he improves, that popularity will continue to increase. Once the Knicks do resign Jeremy Lin, he will have the opportunity to learn under one of the best point guards to ever play the game of basketball. I believe this will be great for Lin and the future of the Knicks. Jason Kidd will be able to show him a thing or two about winning and playing the position. Let the tutelage of Jeremy begin because I, along with the rest of New York, wants more and more LINSANITY.
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