Kenyon Martin doesn’t want to play for the minimum. Teams don’t want to pay him.

Kenyon Martin doesn’t have an NBA team yet and it’s not because he has no game left.

K-Mart still brings his fierce brand of hustle and rebounding. He can still stroke the mid-range jumper and still is big, strong, and athletic. He’s 34-years-old and his wild personality can be perceived as a problem even though he is clearly a ferocious competitor. He reminds me a bit of a starving uncaged pitbull in games.

Nearly every team is willing to give Martin the veteran minimum. Martin believes he’s worth more and may opt for somebody to get hurt in training camp or early in the season. In that case a team would be forced to pay him the few million that he wants out of need.

The Knicks are the perfect place for Martin to go and take less. At 34 you are playing for championships. K-Mart should have made his money by now. A great season off the bench anywhere isn’t going to have any effect on his value at his age. He will likely be in line for more one year deals in the future.

In New York, Martin has former teammates J.R. Smith and Carmelo Anthony who he had some of the best success of his career playing with in Denver. New York also provides the biggest stage because it’s the biggest city. There are more opportunities playing in New York than nearly anywhere else.

The Knicks could really use a power forward to backup Amare Stoudemire and play with Marcus Camby on the second unit. At the present moment Kurt Thomas is holding down that spot and he is 39-years-old with nothing left in the tank. Another 3 or 4 would serve the Knicks very well in terms of depth.

Most importantly, the Knicks give Martin a chance to compete for the championship that he’s never won. He was in the playoffs last season with the Clippers and the Knicks give him a better shot than he had then. Knicks are loaded with talent — Carmelo, Amare, Tyson, Smith, Shumpert, Felton, Camby, Kidd. Despite what people may say, New York improved on the off-season even after losing Jeremy Lin.

Maybe he’s concerned with playing time, but injuries happen and even if they don’t he would find himself playing a good 15-20 minutes per game off the bench. Going to the Knicks is the best move for both Martin and the team so lets hope that he can put money issues aside –because he should be paid by now– and try and boost the team past the Heat in the East and on to the Larry O’brien.