The Knicks have cleared enough salary cap space to sign two max contracts this offseason. Will this be the summer they finally succeed in bringing in top tier players?

The Knicks missed on LeBron James in the Summer of 2010 but ended up with Amar'e Stoudemire

The New York Knicks sent shockwaves around the NBA last week when they traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks.

The deal that sent the young Latvian star to Dallas helped free their books of Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee's contracts, further proving their desire to sign not one, but two big names this offseason.

MORE: How does Porzingis fit with the Mavs?

This isn't the first time the Knicks have cleared cap space in an effort to bring superstars to The Mecca, though they have yet to be successful in their endeavours.

Knicks fans probably still have nightmares of the Summer of 2010. The Summers of 2015 and 2016 weren't ones to write home about either.

It has been 20 years since the Knicks last appeared in the NBA Finals in 1999. The laundry list of trades and free agency signings since that season is less than ideal for a big market NBA team.

With viewer discretion, that list can be found at the bottom of this article.

But with that being said, let's focus on the Knicks' biggest misses in the free agency market as well as trades and signings that did not work out.

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In 2001, New York signed sharpshooter Allan Houston to a six-year, $100 million deal after back-to-back All-Star seasons. Houston found personal success with the Knicks but never played in another playoff game (or All-Star Game) after inking his big contract.

In 2002, they sent Marcus Camby and the draft rights to Nene, who would later put together a solid NBA career, to the Denver Nuggets for Antonio McDyess.

McDyess was already coming off of an injury that caused him to miss the entire season prior when the Knicks chose to trade for him. He then re-hurt himself in a preseason game and only played in 18 games for the Knicks before they moved him again.

Fast forward to 2005 when their major offseason signing was Jerome James to a five-year, $30 million deal. James' best season in the NBA before that contract was averaging 5.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. In his four seasons in New York, he never played more than 9.0 minutes per game, averaging 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds.

The Knicks went four offseasons without any crippling signings or trades, leading up to...

The Summer of 2010

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The Knicks went into the 2010 offseason with hopes of signing some combination of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh or Joe Johnson.

They traded for Amar'e Stoudemire but failed to pair him with any of the aforementioned free agents.

As we all know, James, Wade and Bosh decided to team up in Miami, leading to two NBA championships. As for Johnson, he re-signed a huge deal with the Atlanta Hawks.

The Knicks filled the voids in their roster with a three-year, $25 million deal for Raymond Felton and a three-year, $9 million deal for Timofey Mozgov.

The following offseason, they signed veteran Jason Kidd to a three-year, $9 million deal after he helped lead the Mavericks to an NBA title. Kidd played one year on that contract before retiring.

The Knicks signed J.R. Smith to a four-year, $24.7 million deal in 2014 then signed Carmelo Anthony to a five-year, $124 million deal in an effort to build a Big 3 of their own in one of the following two offseasons.

Back-to-back offseason misses

That brings us to the 2015 offseason, where New York had their eyes set on three free agent big men to pair alongside Melo. They extended offers to DeAndre Jordan, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Monroe but went 0-for-3.

What did they end up with? Robin Lopez for three years, $60 million.

One offseason later, in 2016, when they couldn't get a meeting with their top free agent target Kevin Durant, they dispersed that money over three free agents.

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They signed Courtney Lee (four-year, $48m), Lance Thomas (four-year, $25m) and Joakim Noah (four-year, $72m) while also trading Lopez, among others, for Derrick Rose.

So while the Knicks do have two max-contract slots available this offseason, only time will tell what they will end up doing with that money.

With Durant and Kyrie Irving in their sights, it will be intriguing to see if they will be successful in signing both of them or continue their streak of offseason misses.

All transactions were found via ProSportsTransactions.

1999 offseason

Signed

John Wallace - 3 years, $6.6 million

Latrell Sprewell - 5 years, $61.9 million extension

2000 offseason

Signed

Kurt Thomas - 3 years, $13 million

Traded

John Wallace and Donnell Harvey for Erick Strickland and Pete Mickeal

2001 offseason

Signed

Clarence Weatherspoon - 5 years, $27.5 million

Allan Houston - 6 years, $100 million

2002 offseason

Traded

Marcus Camby, Mark Jackson and rights to Nene to the Denver Nuggets for Antonio McDyess, the rights to Frank Williams and a second round pick

Signed

Frank Williams - 3 years, $2.7 million

Michael Doleac - 2 years, $3 million

2003 offseason

Traded

Latrell Sprewell for Keith Van Horn

Signed

Dikembe Mutombo - 2 years, $8.5 million

2004 offseason

Signed

Vin Baker - 2 years, $7.35 million

Traded

Othella Harrington, Frank Williams, Dikembe Mutombo and Cezary Trybanski for Jamal Crawford and Jerome Williams

2005 offseason

Traded

Kurt Thomas and Dijon Thompson for Quentin Richardson and Nate Robinson

Signed

Jerome James - 5 years, $30 million

2006 offseason

Signed

Jared Jeffries - 5 years, $30 million

2007 offseason

Traded

Steve Francis, Channing Frye and a second round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers for Zach Randolph, Fred Jones, Dan Dickau and Demetris Nichols

Sent cash to the Los Angeles Clippers for Jared Jordan

2008 offseason

Traded

Renaldo Balkman and cash to the Denver Nuggets for Taurean Green, Bobby Jones and a second round pick

Sent Frederic Weis to the Houston Rockets for Patrick Ewing Jr.

2009 offseason

Traded

Quentin Richardson and cash to the Memphis Grizzlies for Darko Milicic

Sent a second-round draft pick and cash to the Los Angeles Lakers for Toney Douglas

Re-signed

David Lee - 1 year, $7.5 million

Nate Robinson - 1 year, $4 million

2010 offseason

Traded

Cash to the Milwaukee Bucks for Jerome Jordan

Sent a second round pick and a $16.5 million trade exception to the Phoenix Suns for Amar'e Stoudemire

Sent David Lee to the Golden State Warriors for Kelenna Azubuike, Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf and two second-round picks

Signed

David Lee - 6 years, $80 million (then traded)

Raymond Felton - 3 years, $25 million

Timofey Mozgov - 3 years, $9 million

Roger Mason Jr. - 1 year, $1.4 million

2011 offseason

Nothing

2012 offseason

Signed

J.R. Smith - 2 years, veteran minimum

James White - 1 year, minimum

Jason Kidd - 3 years, $9 million

Steve Novak - 4 years, $15 million

Pablo Prigioni - 1 year, veteran minimum

Ronnie Brewer - 1 year, veteran minimum

Traded

Tony Douglas, Jerome Jordan, Josh Harrellson and two second-round picks to the Denver Nuggets for Marcus Camby

Sent Jared Jeffries, Dan Gadzuric, Kostas Papanikolaou, Giorgos Printezis, a second-round pick and cash to the Portland Trail Blazers for Raymond Felton and Kurt Thomas

2013 offseason

Signed

Pablo Prigioni - 3 years, $4.5 million

J.R. Smith - 4 years, $24.7 million

Metta World Peace - 2 years, $3.2 million

Kenyon Martin - 1 year, veteran minimum

Traded

Steve Novak, Marcus Camby, Quentin Richardson and two second-round picks to the Toronto Raptors for Andrea Bargnani

2014 offseason

Traded

Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton to the Dallas Mavericks for Jose Calderon, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington, Samuel Dalembert and two second rounders

Sent Wayne Ellington, Jeremy Tyler and second rounder for Quincy Acy and Travis Outlaw

Signed

Carmelo Anthony - 5 years, $124 million

Jason Smith - 1 year, $3.3 million

2015 offseason

Traded

Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Atlanta Hawks for Jerian Grant

Sent a second round pick and cash to the Orlando Magic for Kyle O'Quinn and a second round pick

Signed

Aaron Afflalo - 2 years, $16 million

Derrick Williams - 2 years, $10 million

Robin Lopez - 3 years, $60 million

Kevin Seraphin - 1 year, $2.8 million

2016 offseason

Traded

Robin Lopez, Jerian Grant, Jose Calderon to Chicago Bulls for Derrick Rose, Justin Holiday and a second-round pick

Signed

Marshall Plumlee - 1 year, minimum

Brandon Jennings - 1 year, $5 million

Courtney Lee - 4 years, $48 million

Joakim Noah - 4 years, $72 million

Lance Thomas - 4 years, $25 million

Ron Baker - 1 year, minimum

2017 offseason

Signed

Luke Kornet - 1 year, minimum

Tim Hardaway Jr. - 4 years, $71 million

Ramon Sessions - 1 year, $3.2 million

Traded

Second-round pick and cash to the Sacramento Kings for general manager Scott Perry

2018 offseason

Signed

Mario Henzonja - 1 year, $1.6 million

Noah Vonleh - 1 year, $1.6 million

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