Although the now infamous summer of 2010 is still 12 months away, the Knicks and GM Donnie Walsh still have significant decisions to make this offseason that will affect the future of the franchise… 

The offseason began with the Knicks utilizing their first-round draft pick – the 8th overall selection – to nab University of Arizona big man Jordan Hill.  Knicks fan in attendance were hoping that sharpshooter Stephen Curry would fall into the thier lap, but Curry was scooped up by the Warriors one spot ahead of New York.  Thus, when Hill's name was called, he got a bit of a Bronx cheer.  Nonetheless, Hill was a highly regarded power forward/center that provided the Knicks with a promising, if raw, big body.

The Knicks were also involved in a few other transitions on draft night.  They completed a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies, sending Quentin Richardson to Memphis in exchange for Darko Milicic.  In addition, the Knicks paid $3 million to acquire the Lakers late first-round pick (#29 overall), and used it to take FSU's Toney Douglas.  Douglas projects as back-up point guard that can score – but whose calling card is defense, as he was named the ACC's Defensive Player of the Year his final season at Florida State. 

Once July arrived, the Knicks - because the were capped out - sat on the sidelines as the big name players were wined and dined by organizations with cash to spend.  However, Donnie Walsh and company did make a run at two established veterans: Jason Kidd and Grant Hill.  The thinking was that New York desired leaders and winners to show the youngsters the right way to approach and play the game.  Just as much as the Knicks need shooters and rebounders, they need influential veterans to take charge and change the losing culture that has enveloped this entire organization for the better part of a decade.   So even though it would have eaten into the precious 2010 cap allowance, Walsh offered J Kidd the most he could, the full mid-level exception over a three-year period.  But Kidd turned down the $18+ million the Knicks were dangling, in order to re-up with Mark Cuban's Dallas Mavericks, who were offering upwards of $25 million.

Similarly, the Knicks put two deals on the table for forward Grant Hill: a one year offer at $5.8 million, or three years at a total of $10 million.  In the end, Hill decided to stay with Phoenix.

After swinging and missing on their two free-agent targets, the Knicks shipped out Las Vegas, to partake in the LV Summer League, where New Yorkers would get their first look at the first-rounder's Jordan Hill and Toney Douglas.

Unfortunately, after a week's worth of games – the Knicks contingent went home without a single victory and not an overwhelming sense of optimism regarding their newest additions.  Both Hill and Douglas had moments where they showed signs of promise and potential, but neither looked ready to handle significant responsibility or playing time during the upcoming 2009-2010 season.

Hill's most impressive attribute is his size.  He possess legit NBA length and has a solid frame and base which he can add muscle too.  But the word most commonly associated with Hill this week was "raw."  And that is not a good thing, considering he has three seasons in college under his belt.  Still, although his shot wasn't falling in Vegas, he wasn't afraid to fire away, and that confidence in his offensive game is encouraging.  However, Hill tended to fade away from the basket, instead of going straight up and drawing contact.  He should use that size to attack the bucket and get to the stripe.  Hill played his best game of the week on Sunday, when he poured in 21 points (on 9-17 shooting) and grabbed seven rebounds.  Over the course of the five contests, he averaged 14.4 points and 8.2 boards. 

When Walsh landed Toney Douglas, most Knicks fans thought they would be watching an undersized two-guard who could light up the scoreboard but would have trouble running the point.  However, in his first few outings in a Knicks uniform in Las Vegas, Douglas showed he is highly capable of facilitating the offense.  His handle is better than advertised and he possesses impressive court vision and passing skills.  On the other hand, his jump shot abandoned him in the dessert, as Toney couldn't find an offensive rhythm.  Douglas, who missed Sunday's contest with a calf injury, ended the week averaging a team high seven assists (versus just 2.8 turnovers) – but shot just 29.3% from the field and converted just one of the 11 three-pointers he attempted. 

Again, although a win/loss records mean very little in summer league play, it is hard to get too jazzed about the Knicks summer league performance as a whole – especially considering the team went 0-5.

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With the Las Vegas Summer League wrapping up, most team's offseason activities are winding down.  However, Donnie Walsh still has plenty left on his plate.

Heading into this offseason, the biggest questions facing the Knicks franchise was how there were going to resolve the status of restricted free-agents David Lee and Nate Robinson.  Now, here we are just 10 days away from June, and both players remain in limbo. 

Ideally, the Knicks would like to lock Lee up long-term, but would only do so at a reasonable rate.  Lee and his agent, Mark Bartlestein, continue to insist that Lee is worth $10-$12 million a year.  Walsh is of the opinion that $6-$8 million annually is fair compensation.  Obviously, the two sides remain far apart.  And because no other team has been willing to make D Lee an offer (likely due to the fear that the Knicks would match any reasonable offer) – very little progress has been made thus far.  However, Walsh has recently intimated that both the team and Lee would prefer a resolution sooner rather than later.  Lee's agent has also discussed the possibility of a sign-and-trade, but that hasn't picked up much steam.  If no agreement is reached, Lee has the option of accepting the Knicks one-year qualifying offer (which would pay him $2.7 million) and becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer. 

Similarly, Nate Robinson and the Knicks haven't had much progress in their discussions.  Nate hasn't received as much attention on the free agent market as he would like, and he may end up accepting the Knicks qualifying offer ($2.9 million) and going the unrestricted route next summer also.  However, rumors have swirled that Greek team Olympiakos is interested in inking Nate to a two-year $10-million contract.  (Neither side has confirmed that information). 

In addition to their own free agents, the Knicks still have some cash to spend.  Walsh still has the full mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception to burn.  There are some interesting candidates out there for the Knicks to pursue – and the Knicks would surely pony up their full MLE – but they are likely pipedreams at this point.  New York would love to bring Queens' own Lamar Odom back to the Big Apple, but Odom has better offers for more money and better situations elsewhere. 

Walsh would also like to land a point guard of the future in the form of Ramon Session, but it has to be assumed that Milwaukee would match anything under $6 million per, especially after cleaning out the contracts of Richard Jefferson and Charlie Villanueva. 

One potential MLE nominee would be former 76er Andre Miller.  If Miller can't find the money and contract years he is looking for on the open market, a one year deal at the mid-level exception to play in New York under Mike D'Antoni might make a lot of sense for both parties.  That would be a marriage of convenience and last resort – so that deal likely wouldn't go down until the end of the summer, if at all…                      

And Walsh and company will also obviously be keeping an eye on the Carlos Boozer situation.  After bringing Paul Millsap back, the Jazz are looking to unload Boozer and his $12+ million expiring contract.  The Knicks would love to add Boozer for the 2009-2010 campaign – and would then also control his 'Bird Rights" when Carlos becomes and unrestricted free agent next summer, but coming up with the pieces that interest Utah would be a challenge.  (David Lee could be an asset in that potential trade?)

Nevertheless, all these scenarios remain somewhat unlikely.  But, while a quite and relatively uneventful summer would usually be considered a negative disappointment, this lull is merely part of Walsh's longstanding plan to maximize and maintain cap space for the summer of 2010.  And with the reports surfacing that the salary cap may potentially drop south of $50 million next summer due to a decreasing BRI, fiscal frugality is as imperative as ever.  As of this moment, the Knicks have six players with guaranteed contracts that run into 2011: Eddy Curry ($11.2M), Jared Jeffries ($6.8M), Danilo Gallinari ($3.3M), Wilson Chandler ($2.1M), Jordan Hill ($2.2M), and Toney Douglas ($892,500K).  That totals out to $26.4M.  And that obviously doesn't include Nate or D Lee.

And as I detailed last week, Eddy Curry, and his mammoth contract, will have a tremendous impact on the future of the franchise – so Curry's 2009-2010 season is incredibly significant. 

So while these past few months could certainly qualify as boring (at best) the final grade can't be handed out just yet…