The Knicks' New Franchise Player They sign Amare!

We asked our NBA experts to give us their thoughts on Amare Stoudemire coming to New York.

Who is the most prominent player you expect the Knicks to get besides Amare in this offseason or the next?

J.A. Adande, ESPN.com: Mike Miller. Not the name Knicks fans hoped for, but he could flourish in Mike D'Antoni's offense, and the Knicks can use a chunk of their remaining cap space to lure Miller away
from a team such as Cleveland that is offering the mid-level exception.

Henry Abbott, TrueHoop: Through NBA history, a lot of coaches have preached the merits of the up-tempo offense. You know how many of them have had good teams without great point guards? Just about none.
If your coach is Mike D'Antoni, you simply have to have a really good
point guard. That's doubly true if you're building around Amare
Stoudemire, who is amazing at catching and finishing, and less good at
posting up.

The Knicks are long overdue to get a good point guard. Luke Ridnour is said to be the pick of those available. Perhaps he's good enough.

But I don't expect anything too exciting here. The King is not walking through that door.

Kevin Arnovitz, TrueHoop: The Knicks are going to have a hard time luring LeBron or Wade, the remaining perimeter stars. So unless they are willing to slot Stoudemire as a center and go after one of the
elite power forwards, this could be it in terms of impact signings.
Stoudemire's signing doesn't help them with LeBron much -- and doesn't
change much -- because he's always had the power to go to New York and
would probably take a top power forward with him.

Zach Harper, TrueHoop Network: LeBron James has been the No. 1 target for years, and he has to continue to be. Putting him in pick-and-roll sets with Amare in an up-tempo system would set the
league on fire. If they miss out on LeBron, then the Quest For Carmelo
begins immediately. As good as Amare is, the Knicks must know they have
to put a better player alongside him in order to maximize his
production.

Dave McMenamin, ESPN Los Angeles: If New York can't land The King in LeBron James, their next-best option is to find a serviceable point guard who can play up and down (think Jordan Farmar or Kyle
Lowry) and go after a player whose game resembles another King from
Knicks history -- Bernard King (here's a photo of him
hamming it up in a crown ) -- Carmelo Anthony next summer. Like King,
Anthony is a do-it-all scorer with NYC roots -- he was born there --
and his authentic charm and ability to fill it up would be electric in
a city desperate for a star.

Chris Sheridan, ESPN.com: I still believe they are going to land LeBron James, and the fact that they made sure to get his blessing before committing to Amare only strengthens that belief. To me, the
fact that James has delayed announcing his decision until after his
camp in Akron ends is a sign that he is leaning toward leaving
Cleveland.

Marc Stein, ESPN.com: I have little doubt that the Knicks would have interest in Tony Parker. I also believe that Parker would embrace life as a Knick if he had to leave San Antonio. But a third
team would have to get involved to facilitate a Knicks-Spurs deal,
because I don't see anything on the Knicks' roster that would prompt
the Spurs to send them an All-Star point guard.

I also have little doubt that Carmelo Anthony would have serious interest in signing with the Knicks as a free agent next summer … but I struggle to see him turning down the extension offer he has on the
table from Denver. Just can't see Melo making it to next summer's
free-agent market. Can they get someone good in a sign-and-trade for
David Lee? Knicks fans will be dreaming of a deal with Minnesota that
somehow lands Ricky Rubio, but I don't see the Wolves giving Rubio in a
Lee deal. Golden State and Monta Ellis? Maybe.

If Amare is the only top free agent signed by the Knicks this summer, rate their offseason on a scale of 0 (worst) to 10 (best).

Adande: 7. They signed an All-Star, but they wouldn't have The Star, so a letdown. Not a total disaster, however, which is why they were wise to strike early and lock up Amare.

Abbott: 2. They fought forever to get that cap space -- and cap space really can be used reliably to create great teams over the long term -- but they spent a lot of it on a guy who has been longing
to be the centerpiece but who doesn't play defense and has some of the
more profound injury concerns in the league. What's more, his calling
card is offense, and while he is right there with LeBron James in
finishing with power when catching the ball on the run, he has only
really been efficient when catching passes from the kind of guard the
Knicks don't have. Don't get me wrong; he's an amazing player, but chart his efficient scoring, and you'll see the best parts of his game feature a ton of Steve Nash.

He's the Knicks' best player, but they're still far from contending, while they have already given up a lot of hard-won cap space.

Arnovitz: 3. Stoudemire is a potent offensive force, but his deficiencies as a defender and rebounder will be as problematic for the Knicks as they've been for Phoenix. But for a few days, at least, they
can bask in the warm glow of being the first team to poach a max player.

Harper: 7. The Knicks needed to get one of the big free agents in order to finally start the reclamation project. Now they have an actual direction instead of just pipe dreams.

McMenamin: 3.5. Out of all the max players on the market, I put Amare behind only LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (and ahead of guys like Chris Bosh and Joe Johnson) because he's a highlight machine and
is a player who actually puts butts in the seats, which is a necessity
in today's economy. His numbers might not be all that different than
David Lee's were, but his a star quality makes the Knicks more relevant
than some of the other available free agents could have.

Sheridan: If he is the only one, I'll give them a 1. They could have had David Lee at a fraction of that cost, and Lee has none of the injury history or other assorted baggage that Amare brings. But
again, I don't believe they are done, and an LBJ signing would bump
them to 11.

Stein: It would be a 5 at best. As much as I've always been an Amare fan, I can't ignore the red flags here. The health concerns, concerns about Amare reuniting with Mike D'Antoni, concerns about
Amare's ability to score freely without the set-up work of Steve Nash …
all valid concerns. The presumably outgoing David Lee, who actually
became something of a point forward in D'Antoni's system last season,
is more versatile and can fill more holes for the Knicks as the roster
currently stands.

The good news for New Yorkers: Amare has a long history of proving us know-it-alls wrong, especially when it comes to his durability. And I see his supreme confidence as a big plus in the cauldron of Gotham.
He's going to take criticism for his rebounding and defense like he's
never heard before, but I think he has such stubborn self-belief that
he's going to be able to tune it out.

Are the Suns done?

Adande: As we knew them, they're done. Yes, they did well when Stoudemire missed most of 2005-06 with knee injuries, but that was with Shawn Marion and an in-shape Boris Diaw. Nash was younger, too.

Abbott: How best to express support for Grant Hill and Steve Nash? Say that it's impossible to count out such warriors? Or admit that the chaos at the top of their organization has dealt them a very
tough set of cards?

Amare was most valuable as a Sun, so it's a crying shame to think that he won't be there. However, this team nearly made the West finals this year, and they'll see some more development from young players
like Robin Lopez and Goran Dragic, and they added Hakim Warrick. Maybe
they can conjure the magic one last time to get Suns fans the ring they
have felt close to for a long time.

Arnovitz: Unless the Suns can replace Stoudemire's production in the pick-and-roll with a mobile power forward (David Lee in a sign-and-trade, anyone?), the days of putting up ridiculous offensive
numbers are over in Phoenix.

Harper: The Suns are not done in terms of getting to the playoffs. They are such a difficult matchup on any given night of the regular-season grind; they can still take advantage of that by running
teams out of the building and accumulate enough wins. However, their
realistic hopes of title contention are officially dashed.

McMenamin: Not in the least. Everybody was ready to close the window on Phoenix before last season began, and Steve Nash & Co. smashed it wide open by winning 14 of 17 games to start the season
before ending their improbable ride just two wins away from the Finals.
They should win a playoff series or two again next year. They made a
smart free-agent signing in Hakim Warrick, getting a gazelle who can
run the floor and finish well enough to fill in as Amare Lite, and
Robin Lopez showed that he's closer to Brook than George on the
last-name scale.

Sheridan: Depends on whether they can salvage something through a sign-and-trade with the Knicks, but New York has little of value to move except David Lee, and they can probably get more for Lee
in a sign-and-trade with someone else. As I said in a chat the other
day, the over/under on Steve Nash's trade request is Feb. 4.

Stein: Can't say I'm feeling a lot of optimism. They're not just asking Hakim Warrick to replace an All-Star. They've also lost their whole front office and much of the momentum from the Cinderella
season we just witnessed. It's not exactly breaking news to reiterate
that I'll be the last guy who ever exits Steve Nash's bandwagon, so
"done" is too strong, but layers of a franchise that has always been
one of the league's best keep getting stripped away.