That the Knicks lose Lee and Nate after this year. What free agent is going to come here and play with Chandler, and Gallinari because by 2010 you have to sign Duhon to a huge payday. Can anyone tell me Plan B if they dont get Lebron. It will be a tough sell to Bosh to come and play with a rookie or a unknown and always get double teamed inside. I havent been a Knick fan for a long time but can someone tell me the last huge free agent that signed here.

what was the last big free agent the lakers signed before shaq?

and why are you assuming they can't keep Lee and Nate? it's not like other teams aren't going to want to keep some 2010 flexibility and it's a horrible economy. i think the knicks can sign both to reasonable deals. Duhon, Lee, Nate, Chandler, Jefferies is a decent enough core. Hopefully they add at least two solid picks to that in the 2009 draft.

the big thing is to trade Curry sometime in the next two years and then Lee can have Curry's salary slot.

it was a trick question. last huge free agent? jerome james.

Whens the last time the Knicks had cap room to sign a huge free agent?

Posted by BlueSeats:

Last decent free agent signing was Allan Houston and LJ in the same offseason.

Would love to keep Lee but its not like he's a viable alternative to a major free agent signing. I take it Lee would like to stay with this team, which is great, but he has to keep perspective on the direction of this team with regard to his contract.

But nothing is going to work out for this team unless it starts killing it in the draft.

I really believe the right player when all is said and done would've been Mcgee or Lopez--and I wouldve favored Mcgee. I just don't think athletic guys who can run the floor like him @7-1 come along to often with the skill sets that are made for this style. All the guy has to do is get dep position in this offense and with his length he would put away 6-8 dunks a game rebound and block shots and slowly and get btter on a yearly basis. We were in a strategic draft position this year--we had leverage and mutliple choice--maybe Gallinari will be a really good player BUT look at the NBA--you need guys who are 7 feet and can play to compete at the top--there is no other way around it.

I think drafting Gallinari is absolutely killing the Knicks. If they would have drafted a two guard or a big then they have flexibility now they Gallo and Wilson that play the same position and no one inside. They had a chance to sign Lee to a reasonable deal and choose not to do it and now I see the leverage moving to Lee. He is going to put up huge numbers playing out of position. Trading him will be very tough because the other team doesnt have a guarantee to sign him. Someone will over bid on him because there isnt a lot of bigs in free agency. If you let him go who will get a rebound for you next year?

Posted by Andrew:

Whens the last time the Knicks had cap room to sign a huge free agent?

Elite and Blueseats just said it...Add Chris Childs to that list too....he was supposed to be really good after having a breakout year with the Nets. He still was a good player for us.

Dont the Knicks have to pay Duhon big money in two years? I just think getting one big time free agent is going to be tough and 2 is a pipe dream. I also want to see how we are going to get a top 3 in the draft this year to get Thabeet. I guess since this is New York we are going to be put in the lottery with 36 wins and stern will make sure we get the number one pick.

Posted by Andrew:

If the Knicks want to resign Duhon, they can do so after they sign their prize FA. Holding a spot for him will take up about 6M in cap space.

According to KBY its a 7.8 mil cap hold for Duhon in 2010.

I can see us renouncing Duhon, then resigning him after using up most of our cap space. But we have to move Curry to free up enough money for 2 MAX contracts and a little left over. We might have 3-4 million left over if all goes well. We can offer whatever we have left over on a one-year deal, then give him the full MLE starting his 4th year here.

Posted by NYKBocker:

Posted by BlueSeats:

Last decent free agent signing was Allan Houston and LJ in the same offseason.

Would love to keep Lee but its not like he's a viable alternative to a major free agent signing. I take it Lee would like to stay with this team, which is great, but he has to keep perspective on the direction of this team with regard to his contract.

But nothing is going to work out for this team unless it starts killing it in the draft.

Just a little correction. It was Houston and Childs that were FA signings that year. LJ was trated for Mason.

i forgot about that. good job.