Although hardly anyone expected the New York Knicks to make it to the post-season or show any significant improvements in this year’s NBA campaign, the incredibly poor performance of Mike D’Antoni’s squad still managed to raise some eyebrows. More precisely, Nate Robinson and company posted a 1-9 record in the first three weeks of play and showed a wide range of shortcomings on their way to the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

That said, GM Donnie Walsh is obviously counting on the Knicks to use their cap space wisely in the 2010 free agent bonanza. However, the franchise might also consider that being able to lure star-caliber players to one of the worst teams in the league is not necessarily a given. Moreover, it remains to be seen how much the cap limit will drop next year in the aftermath of the economic crisis. Initially estimated to be about $65 million in 2010, most experts now reason that it could fall to approximately $52 million. In other words, $13 million less to spend could mean missing out on that second maximum contract player, inevitably affecting the struggling Knicks. After all, adding one superstar and one other All-Star with a smaller contract to the current team will most likely not get the Knicks to a contender level. In fact, it might not even be enough to make it to the playoffs if the franchise is unable to re-sign David Lee and Nate Robinson next summer. Therefore, it is not beyond the realms of reality that GM Donnie Walsh might try to get some trades done as the season goes on. As of now, it looks like this year’s NBA campaign could be over relatively early as far as the Knicks are concerned, thus Walsh might be willing to get some moves done in order to change the roster composition a bit without adding further payroll commitments.

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