The New York Knicks were as active during the summer of 2010 as they plan to be when free agents in the market next July.
Although that summer will always be remembered for LeBron James' "The Decision 1.0," there was a bevy of top-level free agents available for teams to make a run at.
One of those was now-Brooklyn Nets sharpshooter Joe Johnson who says he came very close to become a New York Knick before re-signing with the Atlanta Hawks for six years and $123.7 million.
“Almost. Almost,” Johnson said of the Knicks’ chances to land him, via Fred Kerber of the New York Post. “The Knicks were the first team I met with.”
So, what drove him away from then-coach Mike D'Antoni and the scene at Madison Square Garden?
“We all met and talked and they had a great presentation. It was impressive. You know what threw me off more than anything?” Johnson asked rhetorically. “Obviously there was the money difference, but they said, ‘You needed a place in Westchester and you needed a place in the city.’ They said you would roughly spend like $5 million."
“I was like, ‘aw, no,’ as opposed to being in Atlanta where I was already established with a solid team that was getting better every year," Johnson continued. "And I didn’t have to buy nothing or make any changes, and we had the arena and the practice facility in one place. It took me roughly 20 minutes with traffic to get there. Oh no. So then I never even imagined being in New York.”
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