For the Knicks, the real season starts in July

A Knicks season that carries tremendous anticipation and perhaps historic implications has antsy New Yorkers chewing their fingers to the knuckles, and it all starts Opening Night on July 1, 2010.

You thought tipoff was a month from now?

No, not quite. The slab of games between October 28 and April 14 is the equivalent of a six-month exhibition season, filled with players who are here today and gone tomorrow. Nobody in town will remember much about these meaningless 82 scrimmages. Nor will they care. It will be completely written off, like the Mets every September.

Gotham is famously impatient by nature, although in this case, The City That Never Sleeps will power down and happily hibernate until next summer comes, the bidding starts and New York shows that it ain't too proud to beg.

At the stroke of midnight on the first day of July next year, the official tip off of the free-agency period, folks will reawaken to the realization that, yes, there is a pro basketball team in town. Interest in the Knicks will soar suddenly, like it was 1973 all over again, and the city tabloids will give the Knicks the Yankees treatment: headlines, attention, the whole nine.

This franchise spent last season dumping contracts and will use this season to stay financially flexible -- essentially, throwing two seasons away -- just to give itself a chance to buy some credibility. And LeBron James, the apple of the Big Apple's eye, brings plenty of that.

You certainly can't blame the Knicks for concentrating on the future and doing everything necessary to romance the biggest free agent of next summer, if not all time. Just look where they've been. The two playoff wins this decade, eight straight seasons under. 500, bad contracts, poor trades, draft-day gaffes and organizational chaos will all be a fuzzy memory if the Knicks get their man.

But what if they don't?

Well, general manager Donnie Walsh has maintained from the start: "There'll be more than one free agent out there."

What if Dwyane Wade, too, decides to stay put?

The Knicks' plan, while sensible, is fraught with peril should they be forced to resort to Plan D. Which very well could happen. There are a number of signs that say the Knicks will not get LeBron, their first choice, and maybe not Wade, either. With all due respect to Chris Bosh, those are the only two players worth the mega-millions the Knicks are willing and able to pay.

One rival general manager suspects the Knicks will go 0-for-2 and might feel pressured to overpay for a second-or- third-tier free agent, just to save face.

His reasoning: Those two can make more money from their present teams, and with the economy putting a pinch on endorsement dollars, those salaries will be the tipping point.

Of the two, the Knicks stand a better chance with Wade (you can almost see the headline now: Knicks Settle For Wade, Hear Boos). While LeBron doesn't feel any strong sense of loyalty to the Cavaliers, there is a magnetic pull from the Northern Ohio community, his home soil, which helped raise him and steer him in the right direction. He's aware of his social impact in Akron, and as for Cleveland, it's unlikely LeBron wants to give the city another black eye by leaving.

Plus, and this is huge: the Cavs are a championship contender. New York brings no guarantee.

Wade has no such personal legacy in Miami, and the Heat as constructed are not in the title mix. That could change once Pat Riley starts shopping and looking to surround Wade with help. And that's what works against the Knicks. Miami also has a war chest of funds for free agents and an owner willing to spend. Factor in the warm weather and no income tax in Florida, and it's easy to imagine Wade in a Heat jersey for years to come. With as much cap flexibility as the Knicks, the Heat could add Bosh or Amar'e Stoudemire, keep Wade and declare victory.

Decades ago, New York was a prime destination for almost any free agent superstar. The big city held endless fringe benefits, and the big companies would pay a bit more to have their goods hawked by a player from the largest TV market. Then times changed. The scrutiny, for one, can bite harder in New York than, say, Miami when things go wrong. In a global media marketplace, a true superstar can live anywhere and earn decent endorsement bucks. And some folks are just more comfortable in a smaller, more manageable city, without the hassles.

But don't tell this to Spike Lee and Chris Rock and everyone else counting down the days. After enduring Stephon Marbury and the reign of Isiah Thomas, Knicks fans feel they deserve a big break. Their city and team is laying out the velvet rope and red carpet, all in anticipation of a basketball VIP sashaying through and restoring civic pride.

Except that player might be ... Carlos Boozer?