Money is just a one side thing so I really don't think any team could have any problem of that.
Like I said, they all have the resources or the money to sign and give a player a good salary (of course based on salary capped) that would bring their team to the playoffs at least, but they haven't find that good player yet for many seasons already.
Example: if you are a good player with a talent, and do have a choice on what team you could go with? Knicks offer you a good money, then there are also openings to other teams which you might also like... who would you choose? Not all the time Good players passes by on some teams, even with a good resources how can they make use of them if a player doesn't want to go with them.
And for me, atleast, they have good players, the thing is they just don't have a sufficient force to battle against the other MVPs or Aces of the other teams.
Well, yeah they are lacking, but I don't thinkin they're also slacking... Knicks is also a quite good team, so it's a matter of choice for the players.
Besides all of the NBA Players are already considered as Stars. (AFAIK)
Then how can we distinguish the best among the stars in the NBA? For me Stars are called the best players in the NBA, that is why there is an NBA all star which we will be able to witness soon in just a few weeks.
You can always distiguish them with the line ups/scores and how they play. For me, ALL STARS are for the best players among the team, and what I meant for Stars is once you have been chosen or one of the team then you're already good for the fame.