NEW YORK _ When the Knicks cleared $70 million of cap space for this summer's free-agent market, Garden Chairman James Dolan didn't hide his belief that the stars were coming to join the planned remaking of the long-suffering franchise.
In his appearance on ESPN radio's Michael Kay Show in March he reminded the audience that New York was the mecca of basketball and admitted, "We hear from people all the time, from players, representatives. It's about who wants to come. We can't respond because of the NBA rules, but that doesn't stop them from telling us and they do. I can tell you from what we've heard I think we're going to have a very successful offseason when it comes to free agents."
And when the dust cleared the Knicks hadn't even scored a meeting with the top free agents, signing seven players who could be aptly described as journeymen to fill the cap space and the nearly barren roster. To add insult to injury, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant landed in New York _ just across the bridge in Brooklyn with the Nets.
