As soon as the 1983 NBA Finals ended, the New York Knicks began their pursuit of Boston Celtics forward Kevin McHale, a restricted free agent. The Knicks offered McHale $3.6m over three years.
In response, the Celtics Red Auerbach signed three Knick free agents to exorbitant offer sheets. The Knicks immediately matched the offers Boston had made to Marvin Webster, Sly Williams and Rory Sparrow, and thus spent the money they had allotted to get McHale. Red then resigned McHale to a four-year, $4m deal.
New York team officials later claimed that McHale and his agent had used the Knicks to get more money out of the Celtics, and that McHale never really had any interest in coming to the Big Apple. Shortly before McHale signed with the Celtics, his agent pretty much confirmed the Knicks' suspicions: "I think it's obvious now that all along Kevin's priority was not how much money he could get but that he could stay with the Celtics. He really loves Boston, its fans and his teammates."
The Knicks' hasty decision to match Red's offers showed they had not thought through the situation or explored all their options. The salary cap had just been instituted and the guidelines weren't clearly defined. The Knicks might have been able to sign McHale and then go over the cap to re-sign their own free agents.
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