10 Biggest offseason blunders in New York Knicks history
By Tyler Watts
2. Missing out on LeBron, D-Wade, and Bosh in 2010
This blunder could be far and away number one on this list or not even in the top ten, depending on what you believe the Knicks’ actual chances of landing LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh were in the summer of 2010.
The facts were the Knicks had about $34 million in cap space that summer, and could have cleared enough to sign two max free agents. They had a meeting with LeBron, who ultimately decided to team with D-Wade in Miami with Chris Bosh on the Heat. Miami made the NBA Finals four straight years, including winning two championships.
Bill Simmons made it clear on his podcast that the Knicks were LeBron’s top choice in free agency that summer, but his meeting with the team was an absolute disaster. For fans that do not want to listen to the podcast, Bleacher Report’s Tyler Conway covered excerpts from it here.
New York could have acquired all three players in 2010. A sign-and-trade would have been required to land the third, but the franchise had some young and intriguing assets to deal away at the time.
The Knicks would have been favored to win the Eastern Conference had they landed LeBron and company with King James likely delivering at least one if not multiple championships to New York. Blame James Dolan if you wish, but this is a massive blunder if LeBron truly had the Knicks as his top destination.