Do the New York Knicks have a chance of winning the championships this year?

Everyone thought it was a big deal when New York Knicks general manager Donnie Walsh cleared out enough salary cap space at the trade deadline to sign not one, but two max free agents this summer.

Not big enough.

Everyone figured that when Pat Riley couldn’t come up with a game-changer of a deal for the stretch run this season that he was saving up all of his poker chips to get Dwyane Wade an A-list playmate as the grand plan in Miami.

Think grander. Think bolder. That’s what the Knicks and Heat are doing.

Quite simply, it makes no sense to limit your vision or your reach, so the Heat and the Knicks won’t. Think LeBron James, Wade and Chris Bosh all together on the same team. That’s the play.

The Three Musketeers. The Three Amigos. Three-mendous.

Call them whatever you want, but there is every reason to believe that the Knicks and Heat will make the calls and make the tries to make that happen.

Imagine the scenes when the clock strikes midnight on July 1 …

An executive Learjet, lifts off from a private airport in Westchester County (N.Y.), stuffed with Walsh, coach Mike D’Antoni and enough leftover Wall Street bonus cash to fill Lake Erie, and heads toward a late-night rendezvous in Akron, Ohio.

About 1,100 miles away, a Cessna Citation X leaves the Opa-Locka (Fla.) Executive terminal with a Hall of Fame club president at the controls and a co-pilot wearing a long scarf, the goggles of a World War I flying ace and a No. 3 jersey, headed north.

Talk about your amazing race.

The Knicks and Heat shoot for the trifecta. Why couldn’t it happen? Why shouldn’t it happen? Some around the league already think it will.

If the appeal is supposed to be getting a pair of individual superstars to come together and pool their talents on the same team, then the logical extension — and the biggest splash — is to make the same pitch to all three.

In Miami and New York, the appeal would be for the threesome to remember the bonds they forged while playing for USA Basketball, where D’Antoni served as an assistant coach, and the dominance that went into winning the Olympic gold medal at Beijing in 2008. If that experience was fun, wouldn’t grabbing the entire NBA by the throat for the foreseeable future be a giddy delight?

Surely, they’d be able to do that even if every other player on the roster were a minimum salary player. And they would be.

The impediment, of course, is the money. Each of them would have to leave something on the table. And, so far, no maximum level free agent in the NBA has ever done that.

Still, even if the Knicks were encumbered by Eddy Curry’s $ 11 million, they could squeeze all three in, assuming everybody made a bit of a sacrifice. For James, any location outside of Cleveland will cost him $ 30 million for the extra year he could get — according to NBA rules — from the Cavs. Then you tack on the incremental raises he’d be eligible for and that probably amounts to another $ 36 million.

Hey, $ 66 million is nothing to sniff at, even if you’re already wealthier than a few low level oil sheiks. Yet LeBron is much more of a wild card if you figure that whatever he gives up on the front end of his basketball salary will come back if he adds a few titles to his resume.

And isn’t it all about the rings more than the other things? And didn’t Michael Jordan play for way under his market value, until those last two years in Chicago, in order to let the Bulls assemble the complementary parts around him?

Would Wade, who already has one ring, give up part of his paycheck to get another one or five with LeBron and Bosh as the toasts of Broadway rather than risk becoming a wasted spot of spilled suntan oil around South Beach?

Bosh has made a few noises, asking why he should be the one to move on from Toronto when he can stay put and be the highest-paid center of the Raptors’ universe. Really? Would James and Wade in New York be enough to lure him?

As much as there is the appeal for the Knicks to try the triple play, it could be easier to see it happening in Miami. For one, the Heat have to recruit only two outsiders, not three. Then there’s the appeal of the South Beach lifestyle. And the Heat have an up-and-comer already on the roster in Michael Beasley.

As an inducement, Riley might even offer that if LeBron, Wade and Bosh would join forces in Miami, he could guarantee the services of a Hall of Fame coach.

Go to www.nba.com and look for article. Now people will believe me when i say that the knicks are going to get Lebron,Wade,and bosh.read the begining of this question about 3 muskateers or 3 amigos…the article also says that the 3 amigos have already played under mike d’ntoni,in the olmpics for team USA! They all say the like him and would have fun playing for him.They like his aggressive attitude and they like that he will bench players for trash talking or doing foolish stuff du

Miami will likely have either the #1 or the #2 pick. Everyone is in love with Beasly, but is he the answer? Who are your #1 and #2 options that will help D-Wade build another winner in South Beach?

Who will coach the New York Knicks? Why?

Who can the Indiana Pacers get for Jamal Tinsley and/or Jermaine O’Neal that can help them move up the food chain in the East?

What 3 players currently on the Bulls’ roster will definitely be there to help make a run next season? Should they completely clean house?

If Portland gets a high pick, what marquee player can they trade for since they already have next season’s potential ROY-in-waiting (Oden)?

Can Chris Mullin justify allowing Nellie to decide his own fate?

The Sonics have two 1st round picks due to the trade. Would they do better to use the two picks or trade at least one of them?

When he announced his intent to sign a contract with the Miami Heat, Le­Bron James stressed winning championships, not cutting his taxes.

Even so, Florida economic boosters pounced on James’ decision as an opportunity to tout the state’s lack of an income tax.

“Make no mistake, Le­Bron James is as large as any corporation moving to our area,” said Kelly Smallridge, president of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County.

Smallridge noted that James will save millions over the life of the five-year contract he’s expected to sign.

James entertained pitches from teams in six states. Five of those states – Illinois, Ohio, New York, New Jersey and California – impose income taxes. The highest rates on individuals in 2010 range from 3 percent in Illinois to 10.55 percent in California, according to the Tax Foundation.

If James signs a deal totaling $ 96 million over five years, his state income taxes would range from nothing with the Heat to nearly $ 2.9 million with the Chicago Bulls, roughly $ 8.6 million with the New York Knicks or New Jersey Nets and $ 10 million with the Los Angeles Clippers.

And those bills could increase if tax-strapped states raise their income tax rates. But an income tax in Florida is a near impossibility in the next five years.

Don’t forget city income taxes. Cleveland has a 2 percent income tax on top of Ohio’s income tax, while New York City’s income tax tops out at 3.65 percent.

“We think that’s why so many millionaires move to Florida,” said Edie Ousley, spokeswoman for the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/by-choosing-miami-heat-lebron-james-saves-millions-794079.html

God bless Florida!
D.R., East-Coast Elite – I’m here in Miami, Fl my thermosat for my air condtioning says 68 deg. I feel cool and comfy, how do you feel?
Lebron – was seen hanging out here yesterday!