The Memphis Grizzlies and guard Allen Iverson recently came to an understanding that things simply weren’t going to work out. Iverson was waived, and became a free agent.

There have been rumblings that the Knicks were strongly considering adding the former All-Star and league MVP, but apparently it isn’t going to happen.

Howard Beck of the New York Times reports:

The Knicks’ pursuit of Allen Iverson is dead.

In an abrupt reversal, Knicks officials decided late Thursday not to offer Iverson a contract, putting an end to their brief flirtation, according to a person close to the deliberations.

Although team officials were highly intrigued by Iverson, a four-time scoring champion, they finally decided that he posed too great a risk because of his long history of problems on and off the court.

Team officials spent three days weighing the potential merits and pitfalls of signing Iverson, and alternately talked themselves into and then out of making the move.

Iverson is obviously seen by most teams as more trouble than he’s worth right now, but it still made sense for the Knicks to consider adding him. Although he’s best as a scorer, Iverson could have been used as a starting point guard, since Chris Duhon and rookie Toney Douglas are best suited as reserves. The Knicks currently aren’t winning very often. And they don’t really have a lot of top-level youth that would be affected by Iverson being there.

But, Iverson reportedly won’t be heading to New York.

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Marc Berman of the New York Post reports:

If LeBron James is crazy enough to take the leap this summer, he must realize he could join the worst team in Knicks history — Team Titanic version 3.0.

The franchise was born in 1946. Last night, the deplorable 2009-10 Knicks set the mark for worst start in franchise history. The pitiful Knicks fell to a humiliating 1-9 after another loss, 121-107, to the dysfunctional Warriors, after which they got booed leaving the Garden court.

No Knicks team has ever been as bad as 1-9 after 10 games. They genuinely appear on the way to post the worst record in franchise history. Afterward, coach Mike D’Antoni called his team “zombies.”

Even if LeBron James doesn’t come in 2010, the Knicks objective — to clear the roster out and start the team anew — makes sense and needed to be done. So, as bad as this season looks, the team is now bad for the right reasons.

The AP reports:

Frustrated by the repeated questions about his future, LeBron James said Wednesday that he won’t talk about his possible free agency next summer until after this season.

The Cleveland star and reigning NBA MVP said before the Cavaliers’ game against Orlando that all the talk is “getting old.”

“This free agent talk is getting old. It’s getting old and I think I’m going to stop. Tonight will be the last time I answer any more free agent questions until the offseason,” James said.

“I think I owe it to myself, and I owe it to my teammates. It’s just getting old. I’m focusing on this season, and this is going to be a really good season for us. I don’t want anymore distractions for my teammates, for my organization, for my family. This will be the last time I answer a free agent question for the rest of the year.”

The official InsideHoops.com opinion is that it’s most likely LeBron winds up re-signing with the Cavs in 2010. Talk of him going to the Knicks, or maybe the Heat or elsewhere also could be legit. But there’s no reason to think LeBron knows for a fact where he’d go. It makes sense to wait until the time comes and see the roster situation on all these teams before having a sure opinion. He’d probably love to star in New York’s Madison Square Garden, but only if he’ll be surrounded by real ballers, not fill-in guys that drag him down.

Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News reports:

Eddy Curry might never be cut out for Mike D’Antoni’s open-floor style of basketball, but at least the Knick center finally looks like he can get up and down the court without any difficulty.

Looking nothing like the slow, burly player with a history of weight and conditioning problems, a streamlined Curry returned to practice Tuesday and took the first major step toward resurrecting his disappointing career.

From the looks of it, he’s considerably lighter than he was when he left the team with a knee injury on the first day of training camp. So how much weight did he lose while working out with the Knicks’ conditioning guru, Greg Brittenham?

“I didn’t keep track of it,” said Curry, who was believed to be around 320 pounds when he reported to camp and is now listed at 295. “I just know I look different. Everybody says I look different.”

Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports:

After a knee injury limited him to just 12 minutes last season, Curry’s weight ballooned to 365 pounds. He worked out away from the team over the summer, showed up weighing 317 pounds but having already tweaked his calf and hamstring, then tore his right plantaris muscle on his first day back.

Curry was banished from the team last month until he got down to a certain weight. The Knicks won’t say how much he lost, but assistant Greg Brittenham’s regimen clearly worked.

It’s common knowledge that the Knicks want to clear salary cap room, and trading Eddy Curry would greatly fasciliate that. But, even if they can’t deal him, if he’s actually in shape it’s possible he’ll emerge as a real basketball player again.

When at his best a few years ago, Curry wasn’t a great player but was very functional as a rugged inside scorer.

The AP reports:

Al Cervi, a pro basketball star who coached the Syracuse Nationals to the 1955 NBA championship, has died in upstate New York at age 92.

The 5-foot-11-inch Cervi was one of the strongest backcourt players of the 1940s and 1950s. Nicknamed “Digger,” he was the 1947 National Basketball League scoring champion and MVP as a guard for the Rochester Royals.

New Phoenix Suns center Channing Frye began his NBA career in 2005-06 with the New York Knicks.

His rookie year was solid. Playing 24.2 minutes per game, Frye averaged 12.3 points and 5.8 rebounds on good shooting, looking versatiel and talented.

Frye stayed with the Knicks for his second season, then spent two years with the Portland Trail Blazers. But of his first four seasons, his rookie year stood out the most.

Now with the Suns, something crazy has happened. The 6-11, 245-pound big-man has become a huge threat from three-point range.

In his first four seasons, Frye’s three-point shooting totals were: 3-of-9, 3-of-18, 3-of-10, and 11-of-33.

This season, in the six games Phoenix has played, Frye has fired 33 three-pointers and hit 16 of them; a 48.5% clip.

The team, meanwhile, is off to a great 6-1 start.

Playing a faster style of basketball now that Shaquille O’Neal is gone, the Suns are playing fun, winning basketball and are worth watching. Steve Nash is playing great. The fans are entertained. And Frye has been a great surprise.

Have an opinion? Share it in this forum topic.

New York Knicks forward Al Harrington has been fined $25,000 for publicly criticizing game officials, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, Executive Vice President, Basketball Operations.

Harrington was fined for comments he made on Friday, October 30.

We’ll add more info to this post later Sunday night.

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that the team has exercised its fourth-year option on forward Wilson Chandler and its third-year option on forward Danilo Gallinari.

Chandler, 6-8, 225-pounds, has averaged 12.3 points and 4.9 rebounds in 117 games over his first two NBA seasons. The Benton Harbor, MI-native enjoyed a breakout sophomore campaign last season, averaging 14.4 points and 5.4 rebounds while playing in all 82 games and was also selected to play in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge at 2009 NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix.

Gallinari, 6-10, 225-pounds, averaged 6.1 points and 2.0 rebounds in 28 games as a rookie in 2008-09. The Milan, Italy-native was selected by New York with the sixth overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.

New York Knicks center Eddy Curry was once considered a good young talent and a solid inside offensive force. Now he’s simply a huge, out-of-shape, financial burden who can’t help the team.

Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reports:

Curry, the team’s out-of-shape center who was banished from practicing with his teammates two weeks ago, must meet a certain weight before he will be allowed to rejoin the Knicks. According to a source close to the team, Garden Chairman James Dolan was involved in the decision to keep Curry away from the Knicks until he improved his conditioning.

Curry does not practice with his teammates or attend preseason games. It is unlikely that he will accompany the Knicks to their Oct. 28 season opener in Miami. Curry suffered a leg injury on the first day of training camp, and the club claimed that he would be out three days.

But Knicks president Donnie Walsh later said that Curry wasn’t fit enough to practice. Walsh said the plan to ban Curry had nothing to do with the center’s weight, which now appears to be a way for the Knicks to protect him.

The Knicks still want to trade Curry and free up more future salary cap space.

Good NBA seats are expensive. Fans shelling out big money to sit near the court should expect a good view of the action.

But what about when players get off the bench and remain standing for a while? On the one hand, it’s nice to see guys cheer their teammates. On the other, these giants prevent fans from seeing what they paid to see.

The Cavs are one team with players who remained standing a lot, and now the league office has reportedly taken action.

Brian Windhorst of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

The NBA has issued a memo to its teams directing players on the bench to remain seated during games. Game officials will be keeping a closer eye and will issue faster warnings and possible technical fouls if not followed. Players are permitted to cheer, but standing during regular-game action and blocking the fans’ views apparently isn’t going to be allowed.

That goes for Tuesday night’s first preseason game at The Q, where the Cavs will host the Charlotte Bobcats in the first of eight practice games before the season opener.

The Cavs weren’t exactly thrilled that their custom has been legislated.

“It is hard to take that out of the game,” LeBron James said. “Part of the game is emotions, your teammates are all you have. That was part of the reason we played great basketball, because we cheered each other.”

I support the league protecting the paying fan’s view.

The AP reports: Al Harrington scored 23 points and Wilson Chandler had 21 to help the New York Knicks beat the New Jersey Nets 115-107 on Sunday in the preseason opener for both teams. David Lee added 20 points and nine rebounds, and New York made 13 of 31 3-pointers. Chris Douglas-Roberts led the Nets with 21 points, and Brook Lopez had 19, and Bobby Simmons added 16… Newcomer Darko Milicic was 1 of 4 from the field in limited action for the Knicks. Danilo Gallinari had nine points in 26 minutes after playing only 28 games last season in an injury-plagued rookie year.

Eddy Curry showed nice potential offensively as an inside force with the Chicago Bulls and early on with the New York Knicks, but things have gone downhill since 2006-07. In 2007-08 Curry played just 59 games and averaged an unimpressive 13.2 points and 4.7 rebounds. Last season he didn’t really exist, registering a mere three games played and spending the season an injured, out of shape mess.

Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reports:

Curry is also one of the highest-paid Knicks despite never appearing in a playoff game. He has two years left on his contract and his future in New York is shaky at best. Curry was never in shape last season and quickly fell out of favor with D’Antoni. It began when he missed camp with a stomach virus. His year was further derailed by a series of events off the court, including the murder of his infant daughter, which set him back emotionally as well.

Curry dropped 40 pounds but he’s not 100% fit. He already has injured his left hamstring and right calf during scrimmages last week but plans to practice with his teammates today at Skidmore College. It’s not much but it’s something.

The Knicks, in full rebuild mode, still look to deal Curry for expiring contracts.

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that forward David Lee has been re-signed to a contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. It’s been widely reported that that the deal is for one year.

“While this was a long process, we always wanted David to remain in New York and we are very happy to have him re-signed,” said Walsh. “David really flourished playing for Coach D’Antoni last year and we once again expect him to play a big role for us this season.”

Lee, 6-9, 240-pounds, averaged career-highs of 16.9 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 34.9 minutes in a career-high 81 games during the 2008-09 season. He also posted a league-high 65 double-doubles, while also ranking third in the NBA in rebounding and seventh in field goal percentage.

Lee was drafted by New York with the 30th overall selection in the 2005 NBA Draft and has career averages of 10.9 points and 9.0 rebounds in 287 career games over four NBA seasons with the Knicks. The University of Florida product set the Knicks franchise record for field goal percentage, shooting .600 from the floor in 58 games during the 2006-07 season. Lee was also named Most Valuable Player of the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge at 2007 All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas, after scoring a game-high 30 points.

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that guard Nate Robinson has been re-signed to a contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. It’s been widely reported to be a one-year deal.

“We are very happy to have reached an agreement with Nate,” Walsh said. “Nate established himself as one of the top reserves in the game last season and we expect him to play a key role for us this season.”

Robinson, 5-9, 180-pounds, averaged career-highs of 17.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 29.9 minutes in a career-high 74 games during the 2008-09 season and finished third in the voting for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award. The Seattle, WA-native was also the winner of the 2009 Sprite Slam Dunk competition at NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix and joined Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins, Harold Miner and Jason Richardson as the only two-time winners of the competition. Robinson first won the award at the 2006 dunk contest in Houston.

Robinson has career averages of 12.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 282 career games over four NBA seasons all with New York. The University of Washington product was originally drafted following his junior season by the Phoenix Suns with the 21st overall pick of the 2005 NBA Draft, before having his draft rights traded to New York on draft night.

Madison Square Garden announced today that the New York Knicks plan to use new state-of-the-art LED signage courtside at home games during the 2009-10 season. The Knicks will become the first NBA team to utilize the technology at the courtside location. The new signage will enhance game presentation, expand partner integration opportunities and allow for instant customization from Knicks pregame through postgame at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks will premiere the new LED courtside signage at their first preseason home game on Tuesday, October 13 against the Philadelphia 76ers.

“At Madison Square Garden we are always looking for innovative and cutting-edge technology that will enhance the game experience for our fans and create value for our partners,” said Scott O’Neil, president, Madison Square Garden Sports.  “The new LED courtside signage for the Knicks is extremely dynamic and offers instant customization, which will not only enrich the viewing experience for fans, but provides a visual enhancement for our partners brands and helps us maximize their exposure throughout a game.”

The new courtside LED signage will be synchronized throughout games with all of the digital signage in the bowl at Madison Square Garden, including MSG’s GardenVision center hung scoreboard and ribbon boards circling the middle-level, creating a 360 degree experience for fans and partners.  The LED technology provides clear off angle viewing for fans in-arena and those watching Knicks’ telecasts on MSG. The signage has also been designed with player safety in mind, featuring a spring mount mechanism that allows for up to four inches of flexibility in case of a collision.  The specially created LED signage combines a scorer’s table designed by Signco, LED panels by Mitsubishi and integration control software by ANC. Madison Square Garden Sports worked in conjunction with the NBA to trial the signage at several New York Liberty games at the end of the WNBA regular season.

The Boston Globe reports: Lou Bender, an all-American basketball player at Columbia whose stellar play during the Depression helped popularize the game and make Madison Square Garden a magnet for college basketball, died Sept. 10 at his home in Longboat Key, Fla. He was 99. The cause was cancer, his son Steven said. Mr. Bender, a 6-foot-1 forward who played at DeWitt Clinton High School in the late 1920s, received the nickname Lulu when he sank a two-handed set shot from long range and a fan shrieked, “Now that was a lulu of a basket.’’

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that guard Sun Yue has been signed as a free agent. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. InsideHoops.com assume it’s not a guaranteed contract and is for low money.

Sun, 6-9, 205-pounds, averaged 0.6 points, 0.2 assists and 2.8 minutes in 10 games as a rookie last season with the L.A. Lakers. The Hebei, China-native was selected by the Lakers of the second round (40th overall) in the 2008 NBA Draft and also averaged 9.8 points, 3.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds in six games on assignment last season with the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League. The 23-year old is a member of the Chinese National Team and started all six games for China in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that free agent guard Gabe Pruitt has been signed to a contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. InsideHoops.com assumes it’s a small, non-guaranteed deal.

Pruitt, 6-4, 170-pounds, has career averages of 2.0 points and 7.4 minutes in 62 games over two NBA seasons with the Boston Celtics. The Los Angeles, CA-native was selected by Boston, following his junior season at the University of Southern California, in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft. Pruitt averaged 2.1 points in 15 games as a rookie in 2007-08, but was inactive for the Celtics during the playoffs and NBA Finals. He averaged 2.0 points and 7.8 minutes in 47 games last season and appeared in four games for the Celtics in the first two rounds of the 2009 NBA Playoffs.

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that forward Warren Carter has been signed as a free agent. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. InsideHooops.com assumes that this is a nonguaranteed contract.

Carter, 6-9, 220-pounds, averaged 5.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 13.9 minutes as a member of the Knicks entry in the 2009 NBA Summer League last month. The Dallas, TX-native spent the last two seasons playing overseas in Spain and Turkey following his four-year collegiate career at the University of Illinois.

The Minnesota Timberwolves today announced the team has signed restricted free-agent guard Ramon Sessions to an offer sheet. Under the terms of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Milwaukee Bucks will have seven days upon receiving the offer sheet to match Minnesota’s offer.

SEPT. 11 UPDATE:  The Bucks did not match the offer.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the deal was for four years and $16 million.

“We are excited about the opportunity to have Ramon Sessions on our team,” said David Kahn, Timberwolves President of Basketball Operations. “Ramon has the ability to play both guard positions, and thus will be able to complement the members of our current backcourt. At only 23, Ramon also has the potential to improve and fits our plan of building a young, up-tempo team with championship contending potential.”

Sessions, a 6-3 guard from Nevada-Reno, had a break-out season in 2008-09, averaging 12.4 points (.445 FG%) and 5.7 assists in 27.5 minutes per game in 79 contests (39 starts). His 5.7 assists per game led the Bucks and ranked 18th in the NBA. Sessions scored in double figures 53 times (12 times 20+ points), dished out 10+ assists on 10 occasions and posted nine double-doubles during the season. Additionally, he finished the year with a 2.97:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, the ninth-best ratio in the NBA. He scored a career-high 44 points, along with 12 assists, against Detroit on Feb. 7.

In 2007-08 as a rookie, Sessions averaged 8.1 points, 7.5 assists and 3.4 rebounds in 17 games. He set a Bucks franchise record with 24 assists against Chicago on April 14, while also tallying 20 points. He became the first Bucks player to notch 20 points and 20 assists in the same game. Selected by Milwaukee in the second round (56th pick) of the 2007 NBA Draft, Sessions has averaged 11.6 points, 6.0 assists, 3.4 rebounds in 27.3 minutes per game in 96 contests (46 starts).