With so much talk about the upcoming free agent period, not much is being made of the young guns currently occupying the Knicks rotation. Wilson Chandler who's been around for 3 years now, Danilo Galinari a second year kid, and the rookie Toney Douglas. All three players are under guaranteed contracts for next season. Rounding out what I call the "Fantastic 4" is Billy Walker who has a rare team option that the Knicks would be wise to pick up since he's scraping the bottom as far as salary is concerned.
Basketball fans, aside from actually wanting to see their hero's win, love to scout the new kids potential and hope they can realize it. "Gallo" has had an up and down year as a rotation fixture. He's shown signs but has this fly on the wall thing going on that he just fades and watches his teammates dictate the action. I know Knick fans wish Gallo played the 76'ers every day because he basically owned them this season averaging about 22pts against them. That's the intrigue he brings. At his height, mobility and skill set in D'antoni's offense, the kid probably translates into a power fwd. It's all on the kid because if you know who comes over, Gallo has got to be able to slide over to the 4.
Wilson Chandler has shown a few things...he has no fire, he can be consistent on both ends, but he talkes a while to get started and he is injury prone. He's definitely a nba caliber player and starter, but there are some fans waiting for him to become Danny Granger. What makes Granger who he is has nothing to do with talent or God given ability...it's his character and ferocity on the court. Wilson does not impose his will on the defense or possibly believe in himself the way his teammates do. Not really a negative because not everyone is cut out for the star role.
Toney Douglas has most fans purring right now with his scoring ability and poise since being made the starter recently. I don't see much change in the little stint of games Toney played in early on. Yeah Toney is more comfortable running the team. That was gonna come, but his scoring is still incredibly efficient. Toney is not Steve Nash as far as passing, but D'antoni has talked about wanting to have more than just one play maker at other positions. Having a guy as efficient as Toney fits well with this mindset.
I'll pair Bill Walker with his celtic teammate JR Giddens. Both guys were buried on a Celtic team with 2 hall of famers ahead of them in the depth chart. Bill Walker has shown some real basketball skill with his ability to shoot the basketball. His court awareness on both sides of the ball has also surprised many. Guy can flat out play. He adds energy to the team with his thunderous drives to the basket finishing above the rim. JR Giddens in his 2 games since returning from injury has shown confidence and the kind of an edge I'd like to see in Wilson Chandlers game. You can tell both guys were schooled well buy Pierce and Ray Allen since both players display some of their tendencies. JR Gidden in fact had some words for Pierce and went at him on both of his made baskets. The potential factor with these guys is to get numbers close to that of their former teamates in Boston. Only factor with Giddens is he is a free agent after this season. Knicks could look to offer him a low cost deal to keep him around.
With all this potential, why do the Knicks even need to waste money on a Joe Johnson, or even think about extending their own guy in David Lee...the Knicks could very well take a chance and hope the young guys currently on the roster can Blossom into starters in this league. Would it be so terrible to go with a Billy Walker, JR Giddens, Wilson Chandler rotation at the 2-3 spots instead of over paying Joe Johnson or T-mac??? Is it too much to ask Gallo to hold down the 4 spot next year and save money by letting David Lee walk while ignoring players like Bosh and Boozer?
In short, the Knicks have some very low cost, high reward type players already lined up for next season. Gallo, Wilson, Toney, Billy, JR...possibly Sergio and who knows what Curry can even do being that he also is under contract. Some food for thought that should open up ideas to who the Knicks should really be courting this summer.
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