Dear New York Knicks,

Nobody likes your team. Your fake superstar has a game built on offensive fouls and pull-ups. You have Tyson Chandler, so you have one defender. Everybody else is an old man jacking 3s. You have one thing going for you: You are not the Indiana Pacers. So I’m pulling for you.

I should preface this open letter with the obvious fact that whoever wins your series, it won’t make a bit of difference to the Miami Heat. There is no team in the East who stands a chance against the Heat. Good luck with that.

The Indiana Pacers are a poor man’s (which is to say “Eastern Conference version” of the) Memphis Grizzlies. Roy Hibbert can’t

May 14, 2013; Indianapolis, IN, USA; New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony (7) warms up before the game against the Indiana Pacers in game four of the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

hold Marc Gasol’s jock, but he’s a defensive presence. David West is a thug of a power forward who doesn’t block shots and likes his mid-range jumpers, just like Zach Randolph. Mike Conley and George Hill are underrated point guards who get the job done. Tony Allen is shooting 41% from the field and is still shooting better than Lance Stephenson. I love Paul George, so I won’t compare him to Curious George Tayshaun Prince.

We already have the Grizz slipping into the conference finals, mucking up offenses everywhere they go. Knicks, we need you to hit a few more of those threes and play just enough defense that Stephenson will be forced to shoot.

Should you fail, which any team built on volume three-point shooting is destined to in the Playoffs, an Indy-Miami Conference Finals will be an entertaining sweep, and maybe you’d be interested in a nice backup point guard from the Wolves. Like a Luke Ridnour? Or maybe a Jose Juan Barea? We’ll wait and talk to you Monday.

Feb 8, 2013; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic (14) tries to get around New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler (6) in the first half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Four years ago Tyson Chandler was 26 and the New Orleans Hornets starting center. Hornets owner George Shinn saw the Hornets were at $67 million, set to jump to $77 million the following season and mandated payroll slashing.

Chandler made $12.3 in 2009 and $13.2 in 2010. While Peja Stojakovic also had a horrible, no good, very bad contract, the Hornets couldn’t find any takers until 2010 when Peja was a $14.25 million expiring contract, so it was that Chandler found himself on the block.

Boy genius OKC General Manager Sam Presti pounced and added Chandler for the price of Joe Smith, Chris Wilcox and change before Oklahoma City team physician Dr. Carlan Yates said no, due to concerns over Chandler’s big left toe — the same toe he himself had performed surgery on in 2007.

You know the rest of the story. Because Jeff Green was no longer deemed part of the Thunder’s core, they moved him for what they figured to be their missing piece — Kendrick Perkins — and James Harden became the Thunder’s ridiculously productive and inexpensive third or fourth luxury.

Tangent: The sad fans of Oklahoma, having experienced their first real disappointment, will have plenty to complain about in the coming weeks. It’s tempting to complain about non-calls on Zach Randolph and behold the brilliant statistics of Durant. Wolves fans have been there. Kevin Garnett needed to average 30, 20 and 7 in order for Minnesota to have any chance of being competitive against San Antonio, Portland, Dallas or the Lakers. The tough truth is that Durant, like Garnett, can’t do it all alone and Harden’s offense would’ve helped a lot more than Serge Ibaka’s defense against Memphis.

I bring up the Thunder’s blundered Chandler trade not to compare the Wolves to OKC, or Chandler to Nikola Pekovic, but to point out that a team having one or more top players still on their rookie contract allows them to carry a high price tag player to fill in the cracks without carrying the otherwise prohibitive penalty of overspending. Andrei Kirilenko is a good example of such a player this season.

Having established roles, a core group of players, should make it easier to identify both inexpensive free agents and specific types of players in the draft.

In short, sign Pek and scout, scout, scout.