I don't know. I think how the Knicks play this season will determine a lot. If they continue to stink, even with Stoudmire, I don't see anyone really wanting to play for them. With Eddie Curry coming off the books, they'll have the cap room... unless the collective bargaining agreement for next season undermines the whole system (assuming there even will be a new season, speaking of the CBA...). If Stoudmire doesn't look so good this season, whether injury-related or otherwise, a player looking to win won't go to a team with his salary eating into the cap. That said, Carmelo still gets the hero treatment up in Syracuse, so he's be an instant hoops legend in NYC, and that's got to be a big deal for him. And if he an Paul teamed up, all they'd need is a center who could run the court and that would be a really high-scoring team.
But I in the category or critics who think the Knicks will continue to be really bad. Without a serious backcourt, Stoudmire is going to get very frustrated as defenses won't let him breathe down low, and of course the current coaching philosophy is "what's defense?", and that's not going to work well on team that lacks talent. I think Stoudmire was the only player offered a max contract with five guaranteed years who didn't have any better options other than to stay at home, and he couldn't walk away from all the cash the opportunity to be the best player in the biggest market. The Knicks were desperate to sign ANY superstar, and throwing five guaranteed at a player with a huge injury history was to only way to dupe fans into thinking they have a plan for rebuilding the team. In the end, I think this will just another chapter f the Knicks overspending on a long-term salary cap burden, and Knicks fans will yet again be watching the calendar waiting for this next bad contract to expire (Eddie Curry, Jamal Crawford, Stephon Marbury, Chris Duhon, Anfernee Hardaway, Latrell Sprewell, Allan Houston...)
Don't ask what sort of Chunks they are, you probably don't want to know. Blowing Chunks since Season 4!