Mind Over Matter

Whenever the possibility arises that two superstars will be on the same team, people always seem to forget that it's failed more often than not, then after it fails again, they wonder why. The very dominance that have made those superstars the players they are has to be compromised to allow for the other(s). As teammates, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, even without Chris Bosh, won't be getting 30 points and 10 assists a game and that would make them less effective individually. The Kareem Abdul-Jabbar-Oscar Roberston combo was a success in Milwaukee in the early '70s and Shaq and Kobe worked in LA as did Michael Jordan and Scotty Pippen in Chicago, but those last two might actually be more attributable to Phil Jackson than anything. Julius Erving and Moses Malone won a championship with Philadelphia in 1982-83. But look at the failures: Denver's Carmello Anthony-Allen Iverson flop. The Lakers' Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal-Karl Malone-Gary Payton project. The mid '70s saw the 76ers' Julius Erving-George McGinnis-Doug Collins and the Knicks' Bob McAdoo-Spencer Haywood-Walt Frazier-Earl Monroe experiments as well as Denver's David Thompson-Dan Issel-George McGinnis-Charlie Scott mess a few years later. The biggest one of all was the Lakers' celebrated, but ill-fated Wilt Chamberlain-Jerry West-Elgin Baylor disappointment of the late '60s. These examples should convince anyone that failure is more likely in those scenarios. James, Wade and Bosh are good friends so who knows? That rare factor could make it work, but clearly, history isn't a good barometer.

But now that the Knicks have cleared out the garage and made room for two maxed-out Lamborghinis, everyone is having wet dreams about a LeBron James-Dwyane Wade-Chris Bosh combo moving into Madison Square Garden on July 1st. All the rags have Photoshopped pictures of James in a Knick uniform with headlines blaring that he and Wade are already signed, sealed and delivered. It's feels so good to everyone that it's even been deemed perfectly acceptable for the Knicks to sign and trade David Lee to make it happen.

All I can say is: Be careful what the hell you wish for.

In the starry-eyed version, the Knicks sign both James and Wade to max contracts which means they can't afford to re-sign David Lee to the market value he deserves, so they sign and trade him, hopefully to Toronto for Chris Bosh. That would create an irresistible Big Three that would makes the Celtics' Big Three look like the Nets. I mean, think about it! It makes the fans and the media drool...

...Okay, will you please stop thinking about it and wipe the drool off your chin?

Thank you.

Now, in spite of the tantalizing potential, it would actually be much less risky and better for the Knicks to forget about Bosh, sign Lee and bring in ONE max contract and a second star player like Joe Johnson. Yes, Bosh is one of the top big men in the game and in an ordinary situation he'll give the Knicks some desperately needed defense in the middle along with the offensive power Lee provides, maybe a bit more - but not with James and Wade as his teammates. And if the Knicks do go that way, who plays power forward? "Wilson Chandler will be the power forward!" is the prevailing cry. Is that so? Let's take a closer look. Chandler is listed at 6-8, 235. These days, that's not power forward size. Against the likes of Dwight Howard, Stoudemire, Carlos Boozer, Bosh and Gasol patrolling the lane, Chandler wouldn't stand a chance. More proof he's not PF material is that he's averaging only 5.3 rebounds in 34.9 minutes a game. That is a very poor ratio for a power forward. He also averages 2.4 threes at a sickly .283 percentage. Since when do you want your power forward roaming beyond the arc? Chandler is a small forward/guard. That's his game.

Now, David Lee is not only a true power forward (who's doing double-duty playing center defensively), but he's now in the process of becoming one of the dominant players at his position. The baggy-eyed critics bemoan his lack of interior defense, but that can easily be handled by a legitimate defensive center. "Bosh IS a center!!" you scream. Yeah, but if he's the center, he won't get away with it with Chandler at PF. Bosh will get doubled and tripled all night long without somebody to take the heat off him inside, and with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade on the team, he won't see the ball nearly as much as he wants to. Bosh has made it no secret that he wants to be The Man on offense and it's far from a lock that he can adjust to the concept of James and Wade being the 1 and 1A options, let alone adapting to D'Antoni's faced-paced offense. There are too many familiar risks here that have failed miserably in the past. Not worth it.

David Lee, on the other hand, not only knows D'Antoni's system backwards and forwards but he's thriving on it. He's eating everyone up and getting better every week. He has the one thing too many players don't have: Brains. He's a team player, a leader, and with his passing ability he knows he doesn't have to be The Man. Knick fans have been waiting for a player like him to come along for what seems like eons. Why would any sane person want to let him get away? David Lee is the best thing to happen to the Knicks since Patrick Ewing.

With Lee at his natural position at power forward, the Knicks can acquire a center who knows how to play the position without worrying about where his touches are going to come from. One player proved that a defensive center can play effectively in D'Antoni's system. Know who it was? None other than Shaquille O'Neal, of all people. Recall that when the Suns first acquired him, he changed his style and became the third option behind Amare Stoudemire and Steve Nash. Stoudemire moved back to his natural position at power forward and he dominated with O'Neal clearing the offensive lane. And to his immense credit, O'Neal adjusted by scoring only when he had to on offensive rebounds and tip-ins, played solid defense, clogged the middle as only he can, blocked shots, rebounded, fired the outlet pass and did it all exceptionally well. If the Suns hadn't fired D'Antoni, they could easily have won a championship with that unit.

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Instead of the ill-advised LeBron James-Dwyane Wade-Chris Bosh crash test, if the Knicks went with a true defensive center along with Lee and Danilo Gallinari up front and a backcourt of Joe Johnson and James OR Wade, they'd have a much more balanced lineup with size, speed and unbelievable versatility that could create chaotic matchup nightmares for opponents. As for getting that center: The Knicks could - and most likely will - use Chandler as bait to spear a top ten draft pick this summer. He may not be a power forward, but a 23-year old 6-8 230 lb. swingman who's quickly becoming a solid player has tons of value. That's the kind of chip the Knicks haven't had in years. As the main part of a package of some kind, Chandler could get them the center they need either by trade or an acquired draft pick.

The starry-eyed Double-Max dreamers are too infatuated with the JamesWadeMobile to understand this pack of logic, but fortunately for the Knicks, cooler heads prevail where it's most important: Donnie Walsh and Mike D'Antoni. Unlike their predecessors, these are not stupid people. They know what they're doing. Walsh has built good teams before and his amazing job of carving almost $100 million of fat off the Knicks payroll in less than two years is not going to make him big-name greedy and lead him and the franchise over the brink. He is building the best team he can, not the most talented one. It is, almost literally, mind over matter.