The New York Knicks reached an agreement Monday with free agent Amare Stoudemire after receiving assurances it would not be an impediment to their pursuit of LeBron James.

The All-Star forward will receive a five-year, $99.7 million contract that will reunite him with coach Mike D'Antoni.

Stoudemire's agent, Happy Walters, said last week there was a "structure of an offer on the table," but no actual offer was put forth by the Knicks until they met with Stoudemire at Madison Square Garden on Monday afternoon. The deal cannot be signed until Thursday.

"The fact that Amare really wanted to come here and stepped up front, it got to the point that we had to acknowledge that," team president Donnie Walsh said. "That means something to us."

The Knicks believe they are still in the hunt for James (and, to a lesser degree, for Dwyane Wade), but Sunday night's news that James planned to delay making a decision until Wednesday or Thursday helped force their hand in regards to Stoudemire.

New York has been assured the Stoudemire agreement will not be an impediment to their chances of signing James or Wade, sources told ESPN.com, and the Knicks ultimately decided it might give them an advantage in the LeBron sweepstakes because James wanted the Cavs to acquire Stoudemire last February at the trading deadline.

"I feel great, really, about being a pioneer," said Stoudemire, who said he had spoken with James several times recently. "I think he feels great about it. It's a situation where no one wanted to make that first move, and I felt confident enough to take that first step, and hopefully now we can bring in a few guys to join us."

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