So I know we've all been hating on the whole ESPNNY Website (and I'm not really sure if this is from that or not), but Chris Sheridan just dropped some serious knowledge on me regarding one unique aspect of the Knicks' summer plans:

"One other important note: Should Plan A fail, or should the Knicks go after one max player and two $8 million players, they will have one trick up their sleeve. Those two $8 million players would be able to sign contracts with $2 million bonuses for making the playoffs. 

In salary cap parlance, those are known as "unlikely" bonuses -- unlikely because the Knicks did not make the playoffs this season. And it is to the Knicks' benefit that two of the other likely heavy hitters in free agency, Chicago and Miami, cannot offer playoff bonuses because that money would be considered "likely" to be earned, and thus would count against those teams' caps. "

Can anyone else see how huge this might be?  The ability to sign a max guy AND two guys at what could/would/should amount to 10MIL each?  I mean, it's POSSIBLE that we could get a Max-type guy, D. Lee, and an extremely solid C or PG.  Whatever the strategy chosen, however, it's a major advantage over the two teams I see us competing against most this summer -- Chicago and Miami.  Thoughts?  Oh and here's the link, Seth:

ESPN Knicks Blog