We use stretch provision on Calderon which gives us 4.4mm more in spending

We give Dragic 4 years 62mm (15.5per)

and shore up the club based on who we get out of the draft.

If we get Okafor

Spend the rest on Danny Green (4 years 30mm) (Branden Wright 4 years 24.5mm)

That would give us a big three in Melo Dragic Ok4

and efficient role players @ C and SG.

Get aggressive in draft by using Tim Hardaway 3mm in cash and if need be our 2017 pick to retool the entire 2nd half of roster with 2 more bigs and a guard.

The goal would be to retool/rebuild the entire roster in 1 year while leaving about 7-8mm in flexibility open for 2016

nixluva wrote:I wouldn't bet on that high pick. I have a fear that unless Phil makes a trade this team is gonna get healthier and might actually win some of these close games they've been losing. It's just the law of averages. They've been right there at the end of so many games and if they get even just a little bit of a surge in production from guys who have been playing below their talent level it could mess up any draft position we have now. It won't take many wins to do that.

As for Dragic I have no problem with him as a target, but I think we should also look at one of the younger guys like Brandon Knight or Reggie Jackson.

Sadly, this may happen. In which case the team is profoundly fukked.

nixluva wrote:I wouldn't bet on that high pick. I have a fear that unless Phil makes a trade this team is gonna get healthier and might actually win some of these close games they've been losing. It's just the law of averages. They've been right there at the end of so many games and if they get even just a little bit of a surge in production from guys who have been playing below their talent level it could mess up any draft position we have now. It won't take many wins to do that.

As for Dragic I have no problem with him as a target, but I think we should also look at one of the younger guys like Brandon Knight or Reggie Jackson.

We suck--we wont win 20 games this year. Don't be fooled by anyway you lose. It takes a lot of scking to be 5-25. I expect at some point to see Melo down for 20 games or more.

Bonn1997 wrote:So we're going to use up the majority of our cap space on Melo and Dragic? How are we going to build a roster that competes with teams spending less money on Westbrook + Durant or Love + Lebron? Or even ordinary .500 teams?
This most likely is going to be a 3 or more year process of rebuilding if we're going to actually build anything meaningful. If Butler doesn't take a max contract offer from us, then I can only hope Dolan will display a level of patience he never has before.

stretch provisions and future amnesty gifts

I agree ... I am a very big dragic fan but I don't give him 15 per.

I would give him 10, though I am not sure how triangular he is

mreinman wrote:

Knicks1969 wrote:I don't like that kid. We better drafting a PG that can run a team, shoot the ball and defend. It is time we start a culture in NY

you don't like that kid?

ok ...

you like thj but you don't like dragic?

bizarre

Bonn1997 wrote:So we're going to use up the majority of our cap space on Melo and Dragic? How are we going to build a roster that competes with teams spending less money on Westbrook + Durant or Love + Lebron? Or even ordinary .500 teams that are getting better use out of their payrolls?
This most likely is going to be a 3 or more year process of rebuilding if we're going to actually build anything meaningful. If Butler doesn't take a max contract offer from us, then I can only hope Dolan will display a level of patience he never has before.

It makes no sense to not be aggressive. Bonn you do understand we have a top 3 draft choice right? Were going to get a great cost effective player right away. Whether Stein or Okafor my bet is we get 1 of them---Dragic is probably the best FA we can get. That gives us a foundation up the middle--then we can fit in players---a shooter a couple of young athletic bigs keep Larkin or find another really cheap PG back up. Use the rest of what we have this year on 2 other starters who fit in. What exactly am I waiting for?

If we are aggressive in the draft and smart--we could walk away with 2-3 quality bigs and a guard that will all be cost effective and long term foundation players. This is a combo retool /rebuild. We dont have any draft picks next year--we have zero incentive not to be a s good as possible.

H1AND1 wrote:No thanks to Dragic who will be rounding the wrong side of 30. And he's only averaged over 20 points once in his career. His numbers last year look like an aberration to me. He isn't playing nearly as well this season and never played like that before last season either.

Dunno, if we are going to insist on blowing our entire wad of FA cash on second and third tier guys instead of possibly holding off, maintaining flexibility, and waiting until someone actually worth max dollars comes along then we should go after Butler or Jackson who are at least young and at the end of their prime. Dragic had one good season and now will get paid a boatload to decline in skill over the course of the contract and to boot we arent even sure he will ever put up numbers like he did last year ever again, his natural physical decline in skill notwithstanding. Bad gamble.

Butler is my number #1 too but I would be willing to spend if that doesnt come to fruition. Remember Dragic plays with 2 other PG's now. Its more likely that his 20 points 7 assists 4 rebounds are true. The thing about Dragic is he shoots 50%

mreinman wrote:I guess all that will probably happen

Yup this is how it will go....

ok well I guess we can all go home now.

BRIGGS wrote:

nixluva wrote:I wouldn't bet on that high pick. I have a fear that unless Phil makes a trade this team is gonna get healthier and might actually win some of these close games they've been losing. It's just the law of averages. They've been right there at the end of so many games and if they get even just a little bit of a surge in production from guys who have been playing below their talent level it could mess up any draft position we have now. It won't take many wins to do that.

As for Dragic I have no problem with him as a target, but I think we should also look at one of the younger guys like Brandon Knight or Reggie Jackson.

We suck--we wont win 20 games this year. Don't be fooled by anyway you lose. It takes a lot of scking to be 5-25. I expect at some point to see Melo down for 20 games or more.

This may be true but there's still the potential for players that are slumping to get back to playing at normal level. We're getting next to nothing from the SG spot and that could easily change. People rag on Jose but he's actually rounding into mid season form. I fear that we'll end up much further back in the draft position with a mini win streak or two over the remaining games of the season. They've got 52 more games to go and a lot can happen in that many games.

Sixers    3-23
Knicks    5-25
Pistons   5-23
T'Wolves  5-21
Jazz      9-20
Hornets   9-19
Pacers    9-19
Lakers    8-19
Magic     10-20
Celtics   10-15

In order to preserve a high position I think Phil will have to make a trade. So far he hasn't actually been trying to tank, but now it would actually be in our best interests to do so.

Also if we go with a high draft pick i'd like to go after a younger Free Agent to balance the age of our future core. That's the only thing I have against Dragic.