6. Amar’e Stoudemire, 5 year, $99.7 million
This one really hurt, as Amar’e Stoudemire should have been one of the greatest Knicks to ever live. Unfortunately, however, injuries derailed what would have been one hell of a time in the Garden, thus making him in the most technical way, a free agency bust.
During his one genuinely healthy season in New York, Stoudemire was an All-Star who averaged 25.3 points per game. This was his first year on the Knicks after being the first star player in a long time to choose New York in free agency.
However, not long after this season, it would only go downhill for Stoudemire, who only played 50+ games in a season one more time and by then, the writing on the wall was clear that his career was coming to an end, and the Knicks sent him to Dallas the following year.
In four and a half seasons with the Knicks, Stoudemire averaged 17.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 51.8% from the field. During this tenure, Stoudemire only appeared in 244 out of 364 potential games with the Knicks.
It always sucks to see such a great talent suffer this many injuries. You could tell Stoudemire loved New York and the fans and that he really wanted to be a part of a successful Knicks team. Maybe in another universe, Stoudemire never suffered so many injuries and became the Knick legend he should have been, maybe even helping Carmelo Anthony lead the Knicks past the second round in 2012-13.