“They couldn’t go back to their fans and say, ‘Hey we re-signed David Lee.’ Lee’s a good player, very underrated player. And arguably, for the five years, you’d rather have him over Amar’e based on his health. But if you’re the Knicks, your fans have suffered for two years, you need to sell season tickets, sponsorships, you have to hang your hat on somebody and Amar’e was the best available guy for them.”
“There is a shelf-life with microfracture surgery,” Kerr said. “Amar’e is now five years removed and there’s a lot of wear-and-tear — he’s played big minutes. We looked at the league the last six, seven years and we were very afraid of a Jermaine O’Neal situation, where the Pacers just got hamstrung by a long contract. ... In our situation in Phoenix it didn’t make sense to extend out for five years, but the Knicks situation I understand the gamble and the risk and I think they made a good move.”
“From Amare’s standpoint it was very important for him to get that guaranteed money because he’s more aware of his health than anybody,” Kerr said.
The big question about Amar’e — and with our situation Phoenix last year — was will the knee holdup? Short term, at least, he’s an All-Star.”
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