The Knicks had contacted celebrity restaurateurs and Knicks fans Danny Meyer, Phil Suarez and Drew Nieporent about preparing an elegant dinner party in Manhattan for LeBron James and his advisors at some point after the free-agency period begins at midnight Wednesday, according to sources.
But those plans will have to be scrapped after James’ longtime manager, Maverick Carter, announced yesterday that LeBron does not want to stage an elaborate recruiting tour and prefers to meet with the Knicks and other teams on neutral turf.
“LeBron is not going on a tour,” Carter told ESPN.com. “He never planned to go on a tour and has not been a part of any team’s plans for a recruiting trip.”
Carter said James prefers to meet with teams on neutral ground but not at his mansion in Akron, Ohio.
Carter’s pronouncement throws a wrench into the Knicks’ extravagant plans but does not kill them entirely. The Knicks have known about the possibility of having to take the party to Akron — or wherever James would like to meet.
In 2000, Knicks brass and assorted celebrities visited free agent Grant Hill in Detroit, and in 2004, owner James Dolan and president Isiah Thomas flew to Newport Beach, Calif., to huddle with free agent Kobe Bryant.
The Knicks have prepared scenarios for any and all possibilities, though Carter’s rare remarks yesterday underscored a fear that James’ courting could turn into a circus. Carter likely was ticked at this past Thursday’s report in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer that a Manhattan dinner party already was arranged for Thursday instead of tentative.
As the start of free agency approaches, the Knicks had planned to go all-out and over-the-top to impress James, but that seems like it is not going to work.
A source said P. Diddy, James Gandolfini of “The Sopranos” and Philip Seymour Hoffman have been added to the Knicks’ growing celebrity roster assembled to try to convince James to sign with the Knicks.
James’ camp has given few signals that New York is his dream destination. For months, Carter has privately wondered if New York’s bright lights are too glaring for James.
Carter’s remarks yesterday could indicate he has grown tired of recruitment trappings. There have been rumors Carter would prefers LeBron land in Chicago. His NBA agent Leon Rose, based in Cherry Hill, N.J., seems more eager to have James in New York or New Jersey.
LeBron’s culinary experience will not decide whether he signs here and neither will the majesty of the Empire State Building, as Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni suggested on draft night Thursday.
“As long as we don’t move the Empire State Building, we’ll be OK,” D’Antoni said Thursday.
Now it appears James won’t get near the Empire State Building on July 1, even though D’Antoni talked Thursday about selling New York City’s big-city charm.
“I’m excited about it, but at the same time everybody’s a little nervous,” D’Antoni said. “That’s because it’s high stakes out there. But again, the biggest point is we have a good hand. We’re selling a very good product in New York.”
Knicks brass realize James’ decision comes down to basketball, and they conceived of the dinner as an event that would be fun for James. Indeed, New York’s top fine-dining figures can’t concoct a more seasoned Knicks roster.
The Bulls have the better core and now almost as much salary cap space following Thursday’s Hinrich Maneuver — their draft-night trade of guard Kirk Hinrich that choked some life out of the Knicks’ bid to sign James. With it, the Knicks lost their lone edge as the only club with enough cap room to sign both James and fellow free agent Chris Bosh.
Once the Hinrich trade becomes official, the Bulls will have $31 million worth of cap space, nearly enough for two maximum contracts, probably enough to get James to bring along Bosh or Amar’e Stoudemire to a roster that includes star point guard Derrick Rose, talented big men in Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson and scoring forward Luol Deng.
The Heat moved Daequan Cook on Thursday to open up more cap room and are one Michael Beasley deal away from having enough funds for Dwyane Wade to draw in two max players.
With the Heat and Bulls improving their cap situation Thursday, Knicks president Donnie Walsh is in jeopardy of having not just James but all five elite free agents — James, Wade, Bosh, Stoudemire and Joe Johnson — elude his grasp. No wonder D’Antoni talked about not getting any sleep the next four days.
Walsh has had better nights than Thursday. He looked haggard and sounded grumpy by night’s end. Perhaps Walsh knows his trio of second-round picks (Andy Rautins, Landry Fields and Jerome Jordan) may be forced into big roles next season.
“The situation in Miami is a little different than us,” Walsh said. “Well, now they’ve got a lot more cap room, yeah, they do. But if they’re wanting to sign some of their own players then that would lessen it. As far as Chicago, they’ve got more cap money than they had, there’s no doubt about that.”
If you take James at his word, he will go to the team with the best chance of winning a title and hooking up with Bosh and Wade in Miami or teaming with Bosh and the Bulls’ strong nucleus in Chicago seems more appealing than the scenarios in New York or Cleveland.
The Knicks boast Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler, but D’Antoni recently has stooped to talking up swingman Bill Walker’s weight loss and point guard Toney Douglas’ gym work. The Knicks cannot match what the Heat, Bulls or even the Clippers have.
James still may schmooze with Woody Allen, Donald Trump and Tony Soprano, but he seems a longshot to sign here. You can bet the Empire State Building on it.