Before the free agent market opened on the 1^st of July many experts around the league thought it might be the summer the New Yorks Knicks had desperately been waiting for. After all, the franchise was hoping to acquire LeBron James plus one other maximum salary player to field a team that could possibly contend for a championship. Yet, all the sudden, LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade are all headed to Miami, where as the Knicks only drastic improvement was the acquisition of forward-center Amare Stoudemire.

Where as Stoudemire is a great offensive player, it remains to be seen whether offering a max. contract really was such a great idea. More precisely, Amar'e is not exacty known for his energy at the defensive end of the floor and might not be such a significant upgrade over David Lee as one might think. With Lee on his way to Golden State, the Knicks will nonetheless have a slightly better front-court, albeit a playoff appearance should still not bet taken for granted. In 2009-10, All-Star Amar'e Stoudemire averaged 23.1 points and 8.9 rebounds in 35 minutes a night.

Even though Stoudemire is the only premier free agent the Knicks where able to lure to the Big Apple, GM Donnie Walsh is not done tweaking the franchise's roster yet. Most importantly, New York was able to get a considerable upgrade at the point guard position as they signed Raymond Felton to a two year deal worth approximately $15.8 million. Last year, the 26 year old guard put up 12.1 points, 5.6 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals in 33 minutes per contest. While Felton may be overpaid at nearly $8 million a year, he is could very well turn into a valuable trade chip next summer.

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