GREENBURGH, N.Y. _ While the Knicks may have dreamed of a summer makeover that would have brought some of the top free agent stars to Madison Square Garden, the team insisted on Monday that this was the plan all along.
The Knicks went into the free agency with $70 million of salary cap space. Despite a public proclamation from Madison Square Garden executive chairman James Dolan that stars were assuredly joining the franchise, the Knicks came out of free agency without a meeting with any of the stars. What they did get was a group of seven solid veterans, without an All-Star among them, but a group that they hope will change their fortunes.
"Obviously, we had a summer that we were really excited about as well," Knicks president Steve Mills said Monday, addressing free agency for the first time at the team's media day. "We were able to add nine quality players to our roster. We added seven via free agency and two via the draft. We all know free agency is a very fluid process in the NBA. And our look at free agency and that one thing we know is what's important is that for you to control the things that you can control. And guys make decisions about where they want to play, and those are things that they come to on our own.
