http://www.knicks4life.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9989

^ refer to this thread........where the author claims that not only is "ISIAH THOMAS A BETTER GM THAN YOU THINK", but that "IF (HE) WERE A BETTING MAN, (HIS) MONEY WOULD BE ON ZEKE AND MELO CELEBRATING A KNICKS PLAYOFF RUN IN APRIL 2008."


Call me inspired, but he makes a few good points. And I checked it out. The cap right now is 49.5 Million (*The league and Players Association agreed to use a figure of $49.5 million for the 2005-06 cap, rather than the calculated figure, which would have resulted in a salary cap of $50.9 million). So when you adjust it to allow for next year's adjusted percentage of 51 % instead of 49.5 %, I'd guesstimate that, based on the past few years' trend, the salary cap for 2007 will be anywhere between 52-55 Million (remember, there will be a raise this summer, as well as next).

I delve into all that in this thread
http://www.knicks4life.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9996

but http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htmthis also an excellent site for all things "cap".

What all this means is, given that 'Melo will demand the Max in '07 (and believe me, if Michael Redd got it, so will Carmello), then we'd need to be EXACTLY 12 Million under the cap (or more).

If we're to believe the cap will be anywhere between 52 and 55 Million, then we'd need to find a way to get our cap # to around 40-43 Mill.

I've exhausted ALL possible ways of getting that done, and this is pretty much the only semi-realistic way to get far enough under the cap to sign 'Melo......




A.) Convince, Jerry West, THIS SUMMER, to take on Marbury, James, 20th Pick, '07 1st (probly a low end 1st b/c of swap /w/ Bulls), & 3 Mill. in Cash for E. Jones, Roberson, Roberts, resigned Troy Bell (1 Yr / 1.75 Mill), & Fut. 2nd.

Personally, I do think there's a chance they'd do it, b/c they need another Center, and while James is overpaid, he's still worth the money when he's playing well. The picks would help round out their bench, and are really just extra compensation for taking so much salary on.


B.) Convice Bird and Walsh, BEFORE THE '06 DEADLINE, to take on Francis for Tinsley, Croshere, and a Fut. 2nd.

Less explanation needed for this one. It's even been rumored lately.



C.) DON'T resign anyone this summer, and DONT use the MLE.


D.) DON'T use any of the expirings (Rose and Taylor)




Where does that all get us to?


Well, our cap going into next season is 125.5 Million. Take away all the expirings:

Houston(20.75), Shandon(7.25), Jalen(17), Taylor(9.75), Junkyard Dog's Team Opt.(6.5), Francis minus Tinsley(9.25), Marbury & James (23.75)

and that brings us to 43-44 MILLION (dont worry I checked it thrice)


That may JUST give us enough to afford 'Melo when it times come to max him out...

Maybe not.


But IMO, its worth the risk, b/c let's face it, the way we keep rehashing the roster with parallel trades and low draft picks, we'll NEVER turn this franchise around.

The last time we had cap space was in 1996, when we signed Houston, Childs, and LJ. And we all know what kind of effect that had.....

Coincidence?


I think not....

planning to go after one particular player is not wise.

but planning to get under the cap so a team has OPTIONS is.

i'm not going to think about guys like melo or lebron. just get under the cap and we can see where we are as a team at that point and then make choices based on that.

right now, the most REALISTIC thing is to hope for cap space in the summer of 2009.

moving steph AND francis for deals that end sooner is a daunting task. and only if both are moved do we have a legitimate shot at getting under the cap. remember, we still have jamal + eddy + q making about $30 mil that year. not to mention picking up the option on frye and possibly nate and lee.

we need a smart guy here to make smart decisions - both talent wise and financially.

[Edited by - djsunyc on 05-20-2006 6:06 PM]

Posted by bobs3304:

I already did the math DJ.


It BARELY puts us in position to sign a player to the Max (or close to it).

It's a gamble, but '07 is gonna have a TON of star FA's.

We can't wait until 2009. Stern cant. The league cant. Isiah cant.


And only 2 trades are needed to get us there.

It's not THAT much of a stretch...

it's not about math. it's about luck in moving steph + francis for what we need. i'm 100% convinced that isiah is incapable of making those type of deals.

for a team to take back marbury + james - they have to commit to close to $100 mil for them. so subtract off the $$$'s they move in return and we're still looking for a longterm committment of about $80 mil from memphis. IF memphis is willing to take on the money, then this is possible but trying to CONVINCE the logo and more importantly, his owner is something different altogether.

is a fanbase, outside of minny, ready to embrace a guy like marbury? francis is alot easier to push on memphis but marbury? that entails something entirely different. that's why i think the only legimitate partner is minny.

my best financial and realistic proposal for steph? steph for jwill and posey (2 years $15 mil). both would then expire by 2007. and if we want, we can always try to pawn off jwill to atlanta.

Posted by bobs3304:

^ Why would Miami do that?

Makes no sense at all.


And that would only give us 7 million in expiring. J-Dub expires in 08.

Anyway, Memphis MIGHT do it. And thats the whole point. They'd be taking on about 60-65 Million longterm, not 80.

And whose to say exactly what Isiah's plan has been along.

Did you read that Espn mag article i linked to?

Maybe Isiah's plan all along was to win-now to boost fan morale right away, and if that didnt work (which it hasnt), then find a way to garnsish enough cap space for the big FA class of 07.


Sounds plausible to me...

bringing in francis just doesn't jive with the 2007 plan.

the miami deal is b/c, if they don't win the title this season, they enter the desperation zone as shaq's window will almost be shut. they need another big time player and they've been disappointed with jwill and posey. this would let us have two expirings for the summer of 2007 to enable and s&t. getting totally under the cap to sign a max guy within one more year is almost impossible. getting some expirings for the summer of 2007 is a little less so.

[Edited by - djsunyc on 05-20-2006 6:42 PM]

lol cmon now, im tryin to make this work.

^ if you say so mang.


you may be right, i may be crazy.

but it just might be a lunatic we're looking for...

Posted by VDesai:

Those sound sorta like the trades I proposed a couple of weeks ago to get the Knicks in a position of fiscal sanity.

The 3 words 'Knicks', 'fiscal', and 'security' should never go in the same sentence.

I've been saying this all along...Melo, Wade or Bron or any of that class is the way to go and we will be under the cap by then...barring Kmart or some other whacked out please people panic move...way to come around bobs.

We've been rebuilding the entire 2.5 years...trust me.

^ so you think he's basically stockin all his cards on the hope of pulling a vince carter trade?


ummmm, earth to isiah, thats a VERY risky and dumb plan.