Knicks Go On A Bender

Posted by Stephen Rhodes under COMMENTARY, NBA Free Agents

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems to me that a sign of a desperate ball club is when they sign a player who has been out of the league for a season or longer.A good example of that was when Michael Jordan came out of retirement to play for the Washington Wizards. Suffice it to say, that experiment failed miserably. You’d think that the remaining NBA franchises would learn a lesson from that exercise in futility.

Apparently, one team hasn’t.

The New York Knicks, winners of five of their last 6 games (even a blind squirrel finds a nut on occasion), have decided to roll the dice and sign a player who has been out of the league for three seasons, according to Jonathan Abrams of the New York Times. Who might that player be? Former Indiana Pacer Jonathan Bender. Folks, that’s not a typo. Jonathan Bender.

The rationale for the Bender signing? Let’s hear it from the mouth of Donnie Walsh, team president:

“He can put the ball on the floor. He used to be able to get to the basket on one dribble from halfcourt. There’s not a whole lot of guys who can do that. I don’t know if he can do that now, but he knows how to play.”

Ummm, ok. If you say so, Donnie.

It’s a good thing that Bender’s contract in not guaranteed, otherwise this transaction would make even the brass in Memphis look Einsteinish. As an Indiana Pacers fan, I am here to tell you that Bender is a bust, in the truest sense of the word.

Firstly, he is injury-prone. He somehow managed to play seven seasons with Indiana, playing 60 games only once, back in 2001-2. Which begs the question: How did Bender manage to stay with one team for 7 seasons and produce so little? My best guess is his relationship with Walsh during his stint as the Pacers president.

I am supposing that he keeps a Rolodex of Pacers rejects (Austin Croshere, keep your Blackberry near you!) on his desk somewhere. So with this signing, is Walsh sending a message that there’s a current shortage of power forwards and centers in the NBA free agent pool? Someone – anyone, for that matter – please explain the rationale for this signing.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see Bender experience some resemblance of career success at the NBA level. But it seems to me that Walsh and the group of George Costanzas in the Knicks front office really dropped the ball on this one. Certainly David Lee and Eddy Curry are quaking in their hightops with this transaction.

If there’s anything to be learned from this Knicks signing, it is this: The Knicks are a team where mediocrity isn’t just tolerated, but a lifestyle.

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3 Responses to “Knicks Go On A Bender”

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MJ on December 14th, 2009 3:02 pm

Dude, this signing means nothing. They are just throwing the dice offering a non-guaranteed contract to a guy for the 15th spot on the roster. I don’t even know why everyone is talking about this.
Nixluva on December 14th, 2009 4:24 pm

Man it’s not like this is going to crush future plans! I think they already have an idea that the guy can play or else why even go it. Despite what many seem to think NY isn’t a mess anymore. We’ve got a good GM and a great coach, good young players and a TON of cap space coming over the next two summers. We’re in a great position to improve and it’s time the media stop rehashing how bad things were. Those days are over. Just watch what happens in NY from now on.