The guy that says we are the Hawks is straight up right. Melo hasnt done anything Joe Johnson hasnt done.. in fact I think JJ has been to the AS game more. Whoop de do.

The way the Knicks make a run at being elite is keeping Gallo, beause he's the guy that when Amare/Melo are struggling or defenses key on them can light it up at any time.

I would rather them trade Fields, Chandler, AR, Curry, Felton and take back some crap contract like Harrington, because Mosgov and Gallo are the hard tro find pieces (skill + size + athleticism) that separate the good teams from the elite.

We will see...

martin wrote:But there is a corollary to that too: you have to be able to get better AFTER that significantly enough to meet your goals of championship.

Absolutely. But let's just look at the current Knicks. Two starters on a play-off team came from a international free agent signing out of nowhere, and a second round pick, one that just held his own in the starting line-up of the stronger of the rookie/sophomore teams).

Three significant rotation players from the Celtics were 21st (Rondo, arguably there second most valuable player), 27th (Perkins) and a second round pick (Davis).

Another was a MLE signing and a veterans minimum signing (the O'Neals).

Chicago is built on 3 lottery picks (finally success after a decade of futility) and a free agent who was once a 2nd round draft choice.

Two of Orando's main gogs were non-lottery selections (Nelson and Turkoglu). And they're built on a overall first.

The point being, getting a Rose or Howard via the draft is NOT an option to the Knicks at this point... BUT ... getting good players with draft choices, making astute trades, and whatever free agent exceptions exist in the CBA is not off the table.

Knicks can add 'Melo and still get better.

And the NBA is NOT a parity league. 85% of the league is searching for that magic formula of how to get better but always leave room in the equation to get to the championship level.

At a certain point, you have to make your bed. You can't construct your roster on a hedge waiting for that once-in-a-lifetime piece to fall into your lap.

What are we really talking about here?

Keeping Gallinari and Chandler, letting Chandler walk or trying to salvage a draft pick for him so as to not eat into your 2012 cap space, and HOPE Howard or Williams come?

What other meet your championship goals are out there?

Knixkik wrote:It will hurt to lose both gallo and Chandler but as long as we end up with a lineup of billups fields melo stat and mozgov we are in great shape. We will be light off the bench but it will be easy to fix that this summer. We already have a solid 6th man in Douglas.

Moz couldn't of figured things out at a better time, not totally there yet. I don't want to overplay the mentoring angle because TD is a veteran now but I wouldn't be surprised if he picked up some pointers from Billups. Chauncey will know better than anyone how to incorporate Melo into the offense without freezing out Amare and the rest of the team.

We've talked about "dangerous" teams, this could be a dangerous team. They would still be a relatively new team as far as the rest of the league is concerned, harder to plan against.

Silverfuel wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

Silverfuel wrote:

foosballnick wrote:Gotta love it. Same people who are blasting the Knicks for this proposed trade will be the same ones blasting the Knicks if Melo goes to the Nyets.

And they were against signing Amare and letting David Lee walk.

And proudly so on my part (except for letting Lee walk). Nothing against Amare either, as I've explained before.

I missed your explanation on why you were against the Amare signing. But thats fine because I am not going to agree with it!

Lee might not have been right fit long term as far as a title run, but the simple fact is we have NOT replaced what Lee gave us and its hurt.

Water under the bridge.

Gallo is the perfect 3rd option behind Amare/Melo.

Gallo is one of the top guys in the NBA in points per shot attempt. He doesnt need 20 shot to score. I dont care what you label him, role player, etc... you dont just go out and "get" a guy who is 6'10 and gives you mis match advantages on both ends of the floor.

I have no problem with moving a lot of our good young pieces for Melo, but the two guys are pieces of an elite team are Gallo and Mosgov. Chandler, Fields, Turiaf, AR, picks... those are replacable.

We NEED Mosgov/Amare/Gallo/Melo to be elite. THATS an elite combo of size and skill. When Melo has one of his 6-20 shooting nights in the playoffs and Amare is getting doubled Gallo is a guy who can win games. Fields isnt. Dude cant create his own shot, doesnt get to the line. His scoring comes from the talent around him. The other week he hit that big 3 it was Gallo who created the space as Gallo was hot, drew the defense and dished to Fields after his guy came to help.

Knixkik wrote:It will hurt to lose both gallo and Chandler but as long as we end up with a lineup of billups fields melo stat and mozgov we are in great shape. We will be light off the bench but it will be easy to fix that this summer. We already have a solid 6th man in Douglas. We will need to add a backup PG, a defensive big man, and another strong outside shooting wing to the rotation. Our first round pick should solve one of those areas. We will just need to rely on FA signings or trades to fill the other two needs. If that is done we are a contender. If we stand pat then add Paul or d Williams we are a favorite to win it all for the next 3 or 4 years. I can definitely stand by this plan moving forward despite losing a lot now.

I like Billups as a backup at this point in his career, not as a starter on a team which was built to run.

The above starting lineup will also suck on D.

By the way, how do you add Paul or Williams if you don't know what the CBA will be like and you are paying out $40M/ for Melo and Amare?

Silverfuel wrote:

fishmike wrote:

Silverfuel wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

Silverfuel wrote:

foosballnick wrote:Gotta love it. Same people who are blasting the Knicks for this proposed trade will be the same ones blasting the Knicks if Melo goes to the Nyets.

And they were against signing Amare and letting David Lee walk.

And proudly so on my part (except for letting Lee walk). Nothing against Amare either, as I've explained before.

I missed your explanation on why you were against the Amare signing. But thats fine because I am not going to agree with it!

Amare was a great addition, then and now. The Lee trade has not worked out.

Could we have paid Lee $80 million and still signed Amare?

Yes. If you remember, the holdup on the Lee trade was LeBrons decision. If he said he was going to sign with the Knicks, we would have signed him to even more than that 80.

Just remember, it was a sign and trade, so we had the ability to make the signing first, then trade him.

fishmike wrote:includong Gallo makes this pointless. Keeping Fields isnt that great. Because 6'7 guys who cant create their own shot are so hard to find. Fields is a great addition but he's so replacable. No body is worries about Fields beating you. Having a 6'10 guy who's shown he can guard opposing PGs and SGs, who can get to the line at will when his shot doesnt fall and has the stretch the defense ability that Gallo has.. THATS no replacable. Sure... he would be a 3rd option and thats OK.

The guy that says we are the Hawks is straight up right. Melo hasnt done anything Joe Johnson hasnt done.. in fact I think JJ has been to the AS game more. Whoop de do.

The way the Knicks make a run at being elite is keeping Gallo, beause he's the guy that when Amare/Melo are struggling or defenses key on them can light it up at any time.

I would rather them trade Fields, Chandler, AR, Curry, Felton and take back some crap contract like Harrington, because Mosgov and Gallo are the hard tro find pieces (skill + size + athleticism) that separate the good teams from the elite.

We will see...

Fields will get better and he's a terric rebounder and plays defense. I like Gallo but at the end of the day he a SF and Carmelo is a SF. The Knicks offered either Gallo or Fields and the Nuggets selected Gallo. At the end of the day the Knicks have the opporunity to get a star player and they need to pull the trigger. We can speculate all we want about the next few years but a lot can happen in that time frame. Gallo is a RFA at the end of next year. Whose to say the Knicks don't try and make a run at him?
Heck, the Knicks could also make a run a Felton at that time. Either way the Knicks are not winning a championship this year and they stand a better chance of getting their sooner than later by getting Melo.

Allanfan20 wrote:

Silverfuel wrote:

Allanfan20 wrote:

Silverfuel wrote:

foosballnick wrote:Gotta love it. Same people who are blasting the Knicks for this proposed trade will be the same ones blasting the Knicks if Melo goes to the Nyets.

And they were against signing Amare and letting David Lee walk.

Ohh this is so wrong it's not even funny. Yeah, people wanted to keep Lee, but not for the bigger picture.

You either have selective amnesia or you missed those threads. What bigger picture were they thinking of by giving Lee $80 million? See how Bonn's feels!

And proudly so on my part (except for letting Lee walk). Nothing against Amare either, as I've explained before.

First off, no need for the insults. I am going by what I read. Second off, Bonn wasn't even posting a year ago when we were talking about Lee Vs Stat and Bosh vs Lee (Which I actually said I'd rather have Lee over Bosh at a cheaper price).

And finally, when it was Free Agent time, I'm almost positive that I would say, 85% of us were thrilled that we signed Amar'e and then made the Lee trade. And I know Bonn would have preferred another way and I he stated that, and that's fine and his opinion. It's not right or wrong because so far, we haven't won a championship, so each opinion is every bit as valid.

And for the record, the bigger picture was LeBron. There was no way we'd keep Lee and have LeBron and Amar'e. If both of those guys decided to go to Miami and stay in Phoenix, then I am pretty sure most of the board (Myself included) would have been happy to keep Lee.

fishmike wrote:Gallo is the perfect 3rd option behind Amare/Melo.

FisolaNYDN
NBA TV reporting that Nuggets want Fields & Mozgov in the deal instead of Gallinari. Thus far, as source said neither side will budge.

Really...