JrZyHuStLa wrote:

holfresh wrote:

JrZyHuStLa wrote:

holfresh wrote:

JrZyHuStLa wrote:

holfresh wrote:Losing Felton at a great salary will be huge for the Knicks...I would definitely be more willing to pay Denver the 7 mil(half Billups salary)to keep Felton...It will have impact in adding pieces to under the cap later...That and he is younger...Not sure if up-front money payout hits the cap but I'll definitely look into it if I were the Knicks....

Billups expires the same time as Felton. Knicks are only getting a better PG.

Yeah..Who is that going to be?

Billups.

at age 40?...Bullips is done...U will only see when you watch him nightly...

Felton isn't exactly an all star caliber PG.

relax.

He sure as hell was right up until just a few of weeks ago when his play tailed off, probably from overuse. Up until then, I was voting for him every single day to make the all-star team because he deserved it..

Bonn1997 wrote: If you need more time to think about whether Amare/Melo are on the same level as a Lebron/Wade combo, I don't know what to think. Lebron and Wade are outstanding two-way players. Amare and Melo will never be credited with that.

Unless we're gonna play a 2 man tournament, it's not gonna be just about Lebron/Wade vs. STAT/Melo. The idea is to try and improve your team. The Magic made moves to improve their team. They can't say well no sense making improvements, cuz we can never match Lebron/Wade. You have to try and build the best TEAM that you can. That also includes your coaching staff. All aspects of the franchise come into play. The Heat are not a perfect team. They have flaws too. We have to look to exploit those flaws in order to beat them. Melo gives us a better shot at doing that over the next 5 years. We'll continue to look to improve the team, but this is a big step.

Denver and New Jersey sense dysfunction behind the scenes in New York and seem determined to see if the chaos shakes out the deal they want.
http://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA

skeng wrote:If it wasn't because we knew Melo wanted to go to NY, this trade would be magnificent. But the situation isn't like that. If Melo had just plainly said what he should've said, then we'd probably not be having a proposed deal like this. I mean, how hard is it to say: "I will only sign with the Knicks. I will be a Knick in 2011-2012, no matter what. So either trade me now or trade me for lesser value in the summer."

Instead, he went on to "think" about the Nyets, think about staying in Denver. I'm positive that if Melo hadn't given any indications of signing with any other team than the Knicks, then he would've been dealt for a lesser package than this one.

But hey, he's not a rocket scientist.

Truer words we're never spoken.he screwed it all up by waffling. about

A lot of fans are neglecting that we'd still actually have almost all our picks after this trade, with the exception of the 2012 pick we gave up to Houston. Moreover, by having two stars in place, and being in the NY market, we're going to be a MAGNET for vet min signings. Sure, it might only be over-the-hill players, but I'm talking of Rip Hamilton, when he gets bought out, Steve Nash or Marcus Camby in 2012 (both of whom have a connection to the city and have played with Melo or Amar'e before), and many more.

Gallo/Chandler CAN be replaced. And really, we'd only have to replace one of them, in a bench role, since Carmelo is already an improvement over the other.

Put it this way. Back in June of this year, other than FA signings, we had only two ways to improve our asset base -- a couple of 2nd rounders, which normally amount to nothing in the NBA, and a David Lee S&T. Amazingly, the David Lee trade amounted to nothing, but out of the scraps, we developed two more commodities in Fields and Mozgov. Which is why I don't understand all this doomsday about lack of depth post-trade. We simply re-work on our depth over the next 2 years, the way Boston did when they first acquired their big 3, and the way Miami is doing now.

scoshin wrote:People bring up the Spurs as a team who built via the draft, but then neglect to mention that they also did it by finding diamonds with late 1sts/2nd rd picks. The kind of diamonds that the Knicks organization has had success in the past few years with Ariza, David Lee, Chandler, and now Fields.

A lot of fans are neglecting that we'd still actually have almost all our picks after this trade, with the exception of the 2012 pick we gave up to Houston. Moreover, by having two stars in place, and being in the NY market, we're going to be a MAGNET for vet min signings. Sure, it might only be over-the-hill players, but I'm talking of Rip Hamilton, when he gets bought out, Steve Nash or Marcus Camby in 2012 (both of whom have a connection to the city and have played with Melo or Amar'e before), and many more.

Gallo/Chandler CAN be replaced. And really, we'd only have to replace one of them, in a bench role, since Carmelo is already an improvement over the other.

Put it this way. Back in June of this year, other than FA signings, we had only two ways to improve our asset base -- a couple of 2nd rounders, which normally amount to nothing in the NBA, and a David Lee S&T. Amazingly, the David Lee trade amounted to nothing, but out of the scraps, we developed two more commodities in Fields and Mozgov. Which is why I don't understand all this doomsday about lack of depth post-trade. We simply re-work on our depth over the next 2 years, the way Boston did when they first acquired their big 3, and the way Miami is doing now.

BlueSeats wrote:Billups/Melo/Amare

I don't know the answer but I think it's a question worth asking. How much worse is that core than the Nash/Richardson/Amare team that beat the Spurs 4-0 and went to the Western Finals last year?

I think Billups/Melo/Amare makes a better lead-3 tandem than last year's big 3 in Phoenix. Supposing we get to keep Fields or Gallo, we'll still have a solid 4th key player.

I'm getting the feeling that Melo and his agents CAA are active and are a major force in getting the deal done and also in keeping it balanced. Denver needed a certain amount back from the Knicks to accept the deal. Melo and agents want the extension signed now. So they held out, talked about the Nets until the Knicks finally had to up their offer by including Gallo, thinking that now the deal is done. Melo, CAA, Knicks are satisfied. However, Denver keeps upping their demands especially knowing that Dolan will stop at nothing to get Melo.

This would create an imbalance and Melo wouldn't have a team to play with. So Melo finally says that he hasn't and isn't meeting with Prokhorov. Then it is leaked that Melo will definitely not sign an extension with the Nets. This weakens Denver's position, hopefully enough so that they will now agree to the original deal with the Knicks. The deal goes through and everyone is happy.....except some fans from UK. And we are saved from Dolan gutting the entire team to get Melo.

Edit: So much for this thought as Melo is meeting with the Nets.
But I don't understand this if Melo really wants to play for the Knicks. He can't want the Knicks to up their offer too much as to gut the team. Melo knows NBA basketball better than anyone here. If we have a large number of posters worried about giving up too much and depleting the team, Melo has to realize this even more.

I wish it were Wednesday already.

CrushAlot wrote:

scoshin wrote:People bring up the Spurs as a team who built via the draft, but then neglect to mention that they also did it by finding diamonds with late 1sts/2nd rd picks. The kind of diamonds that the Knicks organization has had success in the past few years with Ariza, David Lee, Chandler, and now Fields.

A lot of fans are neglecting that we'd still actually have almost all our picks after this trade, with the exception of the 2012 pick we gave up to Houston. Moreover, by having two stars in place, and being in the NY market, we're going to be a MAGNET for vet min signings. Sure, it might only be over-the-hill players, but I'm talking of Rip Hamilton, when he gets bought out, Steve Nash or Marcus Camby in 2012 (both of whom have a connection to the city and have played with Melo or Amar'e before), and many more.

Gallo/Chandler CAN be replaced. And really, we'd only have to replace one of them, in a bench role, since Carmelo is already an improvement over the other.

Put it this way. Back in June of this year, other than FA signings, we had only two ways to improve our asset base -- a couple of 2nd rounders, which normally amount to nothing in the NBA, and a David Lee S&T. Amazingly, the David Lee trade amounted to nothing, but out of the scraps, we developed two more commodities in Fields and Mozgov. Which is why I don't understand all this doomsday about lack of depth post-trade. We simply re-work on our depth over the next 2 years, the way Boston did when they first acquired their big 3, and the way Miami is doing now.

I think when you assess how this team does in the draft you have to focus on the Walsh/D'Antoni era. I think the Fields pick would grade out as an A+. However, the Hill/Douglas draft would be a D in my opinion. I think the Gallo pick is a B because there was a ton of talent in that draft. I hated the pick but have come to love Gallinari as a player. However, I think it is just a solid pick. I don't think you can count on finding a diamond in the rough very often with these guys in place. They had a tremendous offseason with Fields and Mozgov but Walsh has had his share of busts in the draft.

Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Walsh inherit pretty much the same scouting team we've had under Isiah's rein? Hell Rodney Heard only got fined, and not suspended/fired for his illegal workouts. Sure Walsh makes the ultimate decisions in the end, but I don't know, I've noticed our track record from our scouting department, especially with late 1st rounders, 2nd rd picks, and finding undrafted gems like Mozgov and Shawne Williams, has improved tenfold from the 90's and Layden era.

I agree we've flubbed big time on almost all our lotto picks with the exception of Gallo. Even then, in hindsight, I would've rather we picked Eric Gordon. But that could just be that we feel more pressure to pick the consensus pick instead of going for unheralded steals like Fields or Chandler, both of whom would probably be drafted in the top 10 if their drafts got a do-over. Even the Hill pick seemed like a rushed decision cause we had clearly anticipated drafting Stephen Curry from the beginning.

holfresh wrote:

BlueSeats wrote:It's time for the Knicks to call Melo's bluff.

I think all parties have operated in good faith, each just looking after their own best interests. But the Knicks have a good hand here, and it's time to play it. If Melo says he's willing to sign with the Nets, so be it. We can't compete with their offer - let him live in purgatory.

Melo, our cards are down, show your hand.

I'm with u Blue...I'll go so far as to pull players off the table...

I don't know about that. Why do something that could kill your goal of landing the player you want? I think we need to finally hear Melo say to Denver that he chooses the Knicks. It's his call. If he won't sign with NJ, then that means they have to accept the deal with NY. I've always felt that it's up to Melo to make this thing happen and i'm not happy that he's strung us out like this. What's the risk for him. EVERYONE knows he wants the Knicks!!!!